DAVIS, Calif. >> Brocke Stepteau was excited. Eddie Stansberry had just been fouled by UC Davis’ TJ Shorts II late in Hawaii’s 76-69 win over the Aggies on Thursday night and Stepteau was looking to celebrate.
“Eddie! Eddie!” Stepteau shouted in his teammate’s face.
“He’s huge to the team,” Stepteau said. “He can space the floor, he hits a lot of big shots. He hit a lot of big shots in the second half. He’s a good defender, he’s one of our best defenders on the perimeter. He means a lot to this team, and when he gets going, I think everybody feeds on that.
“I wanted to get him going, get him excited.”
Stepteau and Stansberry keyed a big turnaround for the Rainbow Warriors, who came into the game on a three-game losing streak. Nothing seemed to have changed in the first half, as Hawaii fell behind 36-25 and looked lethargic at best and awful at worst.
However, the worm turned after the break. The Warriors (17-12, 8-7 Big West) went on a 23-4 run, blowing past the Aggies (11-18, 7-8) to take sole possession of fourth place in the Big West. Hawaii’s defense tightened up, UC Davis couldn’t hit a shot and every rebound seemed to fall into the hands of a Warrior.
Stepteau scored 14 of his team-high 17 in the second half and Stansberry scored nine of his 12. Leland Green sat out the first half then came on and scored 10 points in the second half.
“I think Leland Green ignited a spark,” Hawaii coach Eran Ganot said. “It’s in us. And I think the spirit was from him and then everybody else found theirs. We’ve got a lot of guys who care, but sometimes you just need a spark, and Leland Green gave it to us.”
The halftime box score was dreary. The Warriors were 10-for-28 (36 percent) from the floor, even in rebounds at 16-16. The first minute of the second half was more of the same as UC Davis upped its lead to 40-25 and then 42-28.
Then, the wave came. After Shorts made a layup with 18 minutes, 41 seconds left in the game, the Aggies missed their next seven shots. Throw in a pair of missed free throws and three turnovers and the Warriors went on a 13-0 run to cut the lead to 42-41. Siler Schneider temporarily restored order for UC Davis with a layup, but Green then buried a 3-pointer for the tie at 44-44. A moment later, Stansberry hit a 3-pointer and Hawaii had its first lead since it was 5-4.
“In the first half, we weren’t playing too hot,” Stansberry said. “Going into timeouts, and then going into halftime, we just talked to ourselves, saying, ‘We just got to get ourselves going, start playing our brand of basketball.’ Which is finding each other and finding great looks. Going into the second half, our mind-set was to limit the other team on offense and take away what they’re going into and be solid on offense.”
Said Stepteau, “Our energy, our effort. We talked about how our season’s coming to an end. It’s the last stretch and we don’t want to live with regret. We know what we’re capable of. We hadn’t been playing with that spirit and passion that we need. We got out in the second half, got a couple of plays going our way and we just fed off of that and we just started playing with the intensity we had earlier in the season. And when we do that, we’re tough to beat.”
The Aggies regained the lead briefly at 52-51, but another 3-pointer by Green gave the Warriors the lead for good. UC Davis hung tough and cut the lead to two twice in the final minutes, but Stepteau came through each time, hitting a jumper one time and burying two free throws the second.
Hawaii finishes the regular season at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, then stays in Southern California for the Big West tournament.
“I can’t wait to get into the league tournament,” Stansberry said. “Now, it’s just taking it game by game. The sky’s the limit for us.”
Added Stepteau, “This is a big win for momentum as we’re heading into the last regular-season game and the tournament. We’ve just got to focus on Fullerton. We’d love to get a road sweep before we head to the tournament. We’re happy for this win and now we’re going to try to get the next one.”
