Hawaii men’s basketball team needs boost on road

The University of Hawaii basketball team might be suffering from an identity crisis.

What has been the Big West’s top defense most of the season has had uneven performances in the past four games.

“We’ve got to get our confidence back, our juice back, get our mojo back,” said associate head coach John Montgomery, whose Rainbow Warriors complete a two-game road trip today against Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif. “We’ve got to get back to playing hard and together — and we’ll live with that. I don’t think that was us (on Thursday night).

In their first 22 games, the ’Bows did not allow an opponent to shoot better than 49%. On Thursday, UC Davis connected on 63% of its shots, including 58.3% from behind the arc, in a 76-63 victory over UH. The ’Bows fell to 16-7 overall and 7-4 in the Big West.

After Thursday’s game, the ’Bows boarded a bus for the 4-hour, 30-minute drive from Davis to San Luis Obispo. The coaches studied videos during the long ride. On Friday, the ’Bows had a walk-through session, then watched video of Cal Poly.

“We really emphasized we had to get our defense back,” Montgomery said. “We had a spirited, talkable walk-through. and we watched film and talked about (defense). Our guys know that in order for us to win, we have to defend. We have to get that back. It’s been a focus for us.”

In the first meeting, the ’Bows scored the first 16 points en route to a 57-48 victory. That outcome was the first of 10 consecutive losses for the Mustangs. They are 7-16 overall and 1-10 in the Big West.

“The first time we saw them, we didn’t really have a good showing,” Cal Poly coach John Smith said. “Hopefully, playing at home and being in our own beds at night will help that out. We won’t start the game out 16-0 like we did there. Hopefully, it’ll be a better game. We match up well with them. We have the size and the length they do. Now it’s about making the right plays and reads on both sides.”

The Mustangs run a multiple-set, deliberate-paced offense that averages 19.1 seconds per possession. They average 8.2 fast-break points per game.

“We’re just trying to put the ball in certain positions to make our guys successful,” Smith said. “I would like to play faster, but with this team, that doesn’t equate well. We’re trying to make sure we’re efficient with our offensive package and offensive identity.”

The Mustangs are without point guard Camren Pierce, who has missed seven games because of a wrist injury. It is iffy whether Pierce will be ready for the March 7 start of the Big West tournament in Henderson, Nev. Kobe Sanders, who is 6 feet 6, is a post-up point who lacks Pierce’s quickness on drives.

“Everybody has an issue,” Smith said of injuries. “Every team has an issue.”

The Mustangs’ offense revolves around 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward Alimamy Koroma. Several sets feature passes to Koroma in the post. UC Santa Barbara, like many teams, doubled up on Koroma. That allowed Koroma to pitch back to the perimeter, where the ball would be passed around until finding an open shooter.

“Teams are wrapping their double teams on him,” Smith said of Koroma. “He’s still playing the game the right way, trying to make the right reads, and doing the right things to help us be in position to win. He did that (Thursday) night (against UCSB) and put us in position to win with two minutes to go.”

Five of the Mustangs’ league losses have been by seven points or fewer, including two-possession setbacks against BWC leader UCSB. “They’ve played a lot of teams really tough,” Montgomery said. “They’re bound to break through and beat somebody. Hopefully, it’s not us.”