Hawaii wins Big West basketball opener over UC Riverside

Breakthrough performances — individually and collectively — combined to send the University of Hawaii basketball team to an 88-83 road win over UC Riverside on Friday.

UH forward James Jean-Marie scored 24 points, eight coming in a pivotal second-half burst, and guard Junior Madut finished with 21, his final four free throws helping seal the victory in the Rainbow Warriors’ Big West Conference opener at UCR’s SRC Arena in Riverside, Calif.

Prior to the team’s departure, UH coach Eran Ganot said the new-look ’Bows were “a different kind of battle tested” through enduring the challenges of the start-and-stop season to date.

They passed their toughest on-court test to date led by Jean-Marie, a transfer from San Diego who set his season high on 10-for-15 shooting from the field, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range in his first start of the season. Madut, who redshirted last year, went 7-for-11 from the field with two 3-pointers, made five of six free throws and led UH with seven rebounds.

“We do believe in the character of this group, they’ve handled it very professionally and I’m glad they earned a different moment for them, the first time they won a game together on the road,” Ganot said in a phone interview.

“Gotta enjoy it for a sec and get ready for a quick turnaround.”

The Big West schedule calls for back-to-back matchups each week, so the Rainbow Warriors (3-0, 1-0 BWC) and Highlanders (3-2, 0-1) meet again today at 2 p.m. Hawaii time.

Jean-Marie and Madut led four UH players in double-figure scoring. Guard Noel Coleman contributed 11 points and Justin Webster finished with 10. Hawaii commited only seven turnovers, one in the first half, to UCR’s 15 and had a 20-10 advantage in points off turnovers to help overcome the Highlanders’ 42-30 rebounding edge.

The Rainbows didn’t trail after the 10-minute mark of the first half, when a Madut 3-pointer gave them a 16-15 lead.

After UCR battled back from a 10-point deficit in the second half to tie the game, UH edged away again to lead 62-56 with 5:58 left. Jean-Marie then drained a 3-pointer from the right wing, scored deep in the post, and hit another 3 from the left wing over the span of a minute to stretch the UH lead.

“He’s had the one year playing at the Division I level (at San Diego), but he needs some of these breakthrough performances because you see the talent is there,” Ganot said. “He’s versatile, you go big on him he can take you outside, you go small he can take you inside.”

UH held a 10-point lead when Webster made two free throws with 48 seconds left. But UCR’s Arinze Chidom converted a three-point play and George Willborn converted a steal into a layup to cut the Highlanders’ deficit to five with 31.8 seconds remaining.

After a UH free throw, Flynn Cameron added another three-point play to draw the Highlanders to 84-81 at the 21-second mark.

Madut answered with two free throws with 18 seconds left and another two following a Cameron layup and UH held on for their first Division I victory of the season.

“The way we needed to handle it better was on the defensive end,” Ganot said. “They were scoring quickly and there were also touch fouls and we can’t allow that to happen. … But we needed that experience and I hope we’re thinking we’ll be better for it.”

Chidom, the Highlanders’ leading scorer at 13.5 points per game entering the week, was held to two points in the first half before breaking loose in the second half to finish with a team-high 20 points. Zyon Pullin added 18 points and 10 rebounds.

“It’s been coming together and we need to continue to come together,” Ganot said. “We’re still going through some experiences for the first time together, but now we have to see how we handle success but we know we’re in for a battle (today).”