After being rocked on Saturday, the University of Hawaii men’s basketball team hopes to go on a roll for its final four games of the regular season.
“Yes, we’re coming off of our one game with the biggest discrepancy,” head coach Eran Ganot said of a 25-point road loss to UC Irvine. “We confront the brutal facts, address it collaboratively, and then move on. … We got rocked. How did we get in that position? How can we get better? It’s a good place to go. You use your time to work on things instead of pouting and all that nonsense.”
The Rainbow Warriors will get a chance to reset when they play host to Cal Poly tonight and Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday’s senior night. The ’Bows won the first meeting against Cal Poly on Jan. 22. The Mustangs are 5-19 overall and 1-11 in the Big West, having lost six in a row.
“Some teams are different the second time around,” Ganot said. “That team gave us trouble without (Brantley) Stevenson, who’s now back for them. He’s a really good player. He’s a dynamic guard. He gets after it on both ends. We had a battle with them the first time around. Now they have more depth.”
Cal Poly coach John Smith said in Tuesday’s 62-61 loss to CSUB, every Mustang on the active roster was available to play. In addition to 6-foot-4 Stevenson, who averages 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds, Alimamy Koroma is one of the Big West’s top post players. Koroma averages 13.7 points on 51.6% shooting and 5.6 rebounds. He has blocked 22 shots.
“We’re still young, we’re still green,” Smith said, referencing the 11 freshmen and sophomores on the active roster. “My rotation is my rotation, but guys aren’t playing as many minutes as they had to in the previous six or seven games.”
The Mustangs had hoped to develop young players while mixing in transfers. But Eastern Washington transfer Jacob Davison and 6-foot-9 Ajani Kennedy, who previously played at UC Riverside and Tennessee-Martin, did not meet the academic requirements to play this semester. Davison’s 11.9 scoring average still is second best among Mustangs.
“We tried to go the transfer route this year and obviously it didn’t work,” Smith said. “At the end of the (fall) quarter, we had two who didn’t make it. We just have to do a better job of vetting if we go that route, and make sure guys can make it from an academic standpoint. And, if not, we’ll build it through the youth movement, and add JUCO transfers from time to time. And, hopefully, that’s the remedy for us.”
The Mustangs are averaging 61.2 points on 28.7% shooting on 3s. Three of their last four losses were by no more than five points.
“I’m not into moral victories,” Smith said. “I’m a fierce competitor, always have been, and the guys feel my passion from time to time. Passion can be mistaken for anger to the uncompetitive person. Fortunately, I’ve got some competitive guys who understand where my passion’s coming from. I’ve been holding them accountable and holding myself accountable to try to be the best team we can be every single time we step on the court.”
Smith added: “We just want to get over the hump right now. That’s the growing pain of a young team. We’ll learn and build on one mistake, then shoot ourselves in a different foot. Until we stop shooting ourselves in the foot, we’ll continue to have these hiccups.”
Tonight’s game will pay tribute at halftime to the 1971-72 UH team that went 24-3, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament’s 25-school field. Led by the so-called “Fabulous Five” — Bob Nash, Al Davis, John Penebacker, Dwight Holiday and Jerome Freeman — those Rainbows were the first to play in the NCAA Tournament.
“There have been great teams in UH history,” Ganot said. “But certainly (that team is) the bar in terms of setting the tone.”
BIG WEST MENS BASKETBALL
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
Cal Poly (5-19, 1-11 BWC) VS. HAWAII (13-9, 7-4 BWC)
>> When: 7 tonight
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: 1420-AM
