Crucial errors down the stretch dropped the Hawaii men’s basketball team out of first place in the Big West Conference.
Ezra Manjon led all scorers with 20 points and Elijah Pepper added 19 for UC Davis, which overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half to defeat Hawaii 68-65 Saturday night at University Credit Union Center in Davis, Calif., for its second win in the past seven meetings.
UH (11-7, 6-2), which is now 3-3 away from home, dropped both games of the road trip by a combined eight points to fall a game behind Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton.
Kamaka Hepa had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead the ’Bows, who took their largest lead of the game at 50-36 on two free throws by Amoro Lado with 11:30 remaining in the second half.
Hawaii went nearly seven minutes without a field goal and committed 10 of its 13 turnovers after halftime, including three in the final 2:33.
“Our inability to take care of the ball in key stretches is really hurting us,” Hawaii coach Eran Ganot said in a postgame phone interview. “I thought we did a really good job for most of the game and a really poor job for a little point of the game.”
Pepper, who was 4-for-8 from behind the 3-point line for the Aggies (9-8, 3-3), made one of two free throws to give UC Davis its largest lead at 66-62 with 18 seconds to go.
Hawaii’s Noel Coleman came down the floor and attacked the rim, getting fouled on a layup to convert a 3-point play to make it 66-65 with 13 seconds to go.
UC Davis, which shot 58.8 percent (10-for-17) from the free-throw line, kept UH in it, missing two more free throws in the final 13 seconds.
Manjon made one of two attempts to give UH the ball down two, but Coleman had a step-back 3-pointer blocked by Ade Adebayo.
The Aggies made one of two free throws again and Junior Madut, who finished with three points on 1-for-7 shooting in 33 minutes, had a 3-pointer to tie but missed.
“Clearly execution down the stretch,” Ganot said of losing the lead. “Their pressure we had handled well for most of the game, and I know we had 13 turnovers, but I would say almost all of them were in the last 10 minutes. It’s a painful feeling.”
It was the first meeting between the two teams, who were scheduled to open conference play against each other in Hawaii in December. That game was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
Hawaii started out hot, making its first three 3-pointers, but the Big West’s leading 3-point shooting team finished 3-for-16 from behind the arc the rest of the game.
Jerome Desrosiers and Bernardo da Silva added 12 points apiece and Coleman finished with 11 points and did not have an assist in 35 minutes.
Hawaii opened the second half on a 12-2 run after the game was tied 29-29 at the break. Coleman’s 3-pointer with 12:54 to go put UH ahead 47-35, but the ‘Bows didn’t make another field goal until Mate Colina’s lay-up with 6:29 remaining.
UC Davis ended the game with more steals (seven) than turnovers (six). The Aggies’ 68 points are the most UH has given up in a Big West game this season.
