The University of Hawaii men’s basketball team is on a mystery tour with no precise coming-home date.
The Rainbow Warriors close the regular season with road games against surging UC Santa Barbara tonight and Cal State Northridge on Saturday. After that, the ’Bows head to the Big West Tournament in Henderson, Nev. The tournament winner earns the league’s accompanying berth in the NCAA Tournament. The length of the trip will depend on the ’Bows’ success.
“The mind-set is to finish strong, obviously, one game at a time,” forward/center Jerome Desrosiers said of the ’Bows’ approach. “We need to take care of our business, and whatever happens, happens, in terms of the other teams.”
Every Big West team qualifies for the league tournament except UC San Diego, which is in a probationary period while transitioning
to Division I. But the final standings have importance beyond seedings. The regular-season champ is assured, at least, a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. UH is in third place at 9-4, a game behind Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State — both 10-3 — but two games ahead of seventh-place UC Davis (5-4).
UH coach Eran Ganot said the ’Bows are turning off the outside “noise” of scoreboard watching to focus “on the task at hand.”
“That’s far from where our mind’s at now,” Ganot said of the standings, but he conceded, “we packed for a long trip.”
Because of injuries and other circumstances, the ’Bows are in their fourth version this season. Last week, guard Noel Coleman underwent a procedure to repair a season-ending injury to an eye socket. The ’Bows’ hope is 6-10 forward/wing Kamaka Hepa will be back in the lineup after leaving Saturday’s game with an ankle injury.
Justus Jackson, a guard who joined the ’Bows during the winter break, is expected to help fill the backcourt rotation. Beon Riley, a 6-6, 220-pound, second-year freshman defended in the low post as a four last week.
“I think both those guys are better today than they were a week ago because of some success (last week) and playing on the floor,” Ganot said. “They’re going to be important for us.”
In the Jan. 29 meeting between UH and UCSB, Jackson and Riley did not play, and Coleman was limited to six points on 2-for-12 shooting. But Hepa buried four 4s to help the ’Bows rally from a 19-point deficit to a 65-62 victory. In that game, guard Ajari Sanni, who helped defend Coleman, suffered an ankle injury in the second half.
“Now he’s back, rounding into form,” UCSB coach Joe Pasternack said of Sanni.
The Gauchos’ overall good health is reflected in their recent success. They have won four in a row, seven of the last eight, to improve to 15-10 overall and 7-5 in the Big West.
“The last couple of games have been the first time we’ve had our whole team healthy,” Pasternack said. “I think that’s been a part of it. Not one conference game had we had our entire team until last week.”
The Gauchos have an athletic front court. Amadou Sow, a 6-9 senior, averages 15.9 points on 55.9% shooting while grabbing 8.2 rebounds per game. Miles Norris is a 6-10, three-level scorer who hit nine 3s against CSUN last month. And 6-foot-4 Ajay Mitchell, a freshman guard from Belgium, has filled the void following the departure of JaQuori McLaughlin and Devearl Ramsey at the end of the 2020-21 season.
In conference games, Mitchell is averaging 16.2 points on 45.5% 3-point shooting with a 2-to-1 ratio of assists to turnovers.
“Most freshmen, it takes them until their sophomore year (to adjust),” Pasternack said. “Ajay, it’s taken him a couple months. … He’s got a lot of poise and toughness for his age. He’s 19-years-old. He can score. He can pass. He can rebound. He’s a big point guard, and we’re really fortunate to have him.”
