In a parting shot straight to the heart-breaker, the University of Hawaii basketball team fell short in a 53-51 loss to UC Irvine on Friday night in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Warriors were granted a cross-their-fingers wish when Isaiah Lee, who was true on 92% of his free throws, missed the front attempt in a one-and-one situation with 5.3 seconds to play.
“In that game situation, free-throw percentage is important, but anyone can miss at the end of the game,” UH forward Casdon Jardine said. “Nerves happen. There’s pressure on the line. I wasn’t surprised at all when he missed.”
Jardine suctioned the rebound, and then fed fellow co-captain Justin Webster. Webster appeared to get a clean look, but his 3-point attempt was off the mark as the horn sounded.
The Anteaters, who improved to 9-4 overall and 5-0 in the Big West, won their seventh in a row over the ’Bows.
“I know they’re hurting, and we are with them,” UH coach Eran Ganot said.
The ’Bows extinguished the Anteaters’ deep threats — one of 14 from behind the arc — and limited their best player, 6-foot-9 Collin Welp, to seven points on 3-for-10 shooting. But the ’Bows had difficulty controlling their drives into the paint, finishing fast breaks (they flubbed two two-on-one sprints), and slowing 6-foot-11, 270-pound Brad Greene.
“He really kicked our tail in transition,” Ganot said of Greene, who pulled down 14 rebounds.
Jardine said: “He plays very physical. He played very dominant tonight. He was a big presence for them on offense and, I’d say, even more on defense. He blocked six or seven or eight shots. It seemed like a ton. So that’s something we’ve got to expect of a guy of his size and skill-set.”
Greene actually had five rejections, with the most noteworthy coming with 25 seconds to go and UH trailing, 51-49. UH’s 6-8 James Jean-Marie drove from the left side of the baseline, but his path was abbreviated by Welp.
Jean-Marie’s layup attempt was blocked from behind by Greene.
Greene also scored a game-high 18 points on baby hooks, putbacks, power layups and recycling lobs on screen-and-rolls. On defense, Greene disrupted UH’s ball-screen drives.
The ’Bows endured several scoring lapses, missing 10 of 11 shots in a first-half stretch, and watching a five-point lead in the second half vaporize when the Anteaters scored eight unanswered points.
The ’Bows played catchup even before the tip-off. UH officials announced at the end of pre-game warm-ups that guard Junior Madut and Jean-Marie, their leading scorer, would not start because of disciplinary reasons. They entered following the first media timeout. It also was revealed that backup point guard Kameron Ng had opted out, thinning an already lean rotation.
“It’s a simple deal here,” Ganot said of the disciplinary action. “We don’t have much of that. I love our group. It’s little things that can become big things. We addressed them in the moment and moved forward.”
JoVon McClanahan, who started in place of Madut, provided a boost at the point. But Noel Coleman, who missed two games last week because of a dental problem, was limited to two points in 14 minutes, 15 seconds.
“Getting him out there was a step,” Ganot said of Coleman. “Did he play as well as he would have liked? Probably not. But it was a step. He has to get that whole deal back because he didn’t practice for a while.”
