The University of Hawaii men’s basketball team made a little history Saturday night in Palm Desert, Calif., beating San Diego 77-66 in the final of the Acrisure Invitational for the program’s first title at a mainland preseason tournament.
The Rainbow Warriors (5-0) got a game-high 26 points from Noel Coleman, nearly double his per-game average entering the game. JoVon McClanahan and Justin McKoy added 17 apiece at the Acrisure Arena. Deuce Turner led the Toreros (5-2) with 18 points.
The Acrisure Invitational is Hawaii’s third straight preseason tournament won overall after taking the Patty Mills North Shore Classic and the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic last season. UH is off to its first 5-0 start since 2010, and its first 5-0 start under head coach Eran Ganot.
The coach was happiest with his team’s defense Saturday night.
“We’re getting better, though we’re not where we need to be yet,” Ganot said in a postgame phone conversation. “Things got away from us the last 10 minutes, (but) after the first five minutes we were making them shoot tough shots.”
Hawaii reached the Acrisure final by beating UT Rio Grande Valley 76-57 on Friday, while San Diego beat Arkansas State 71-57 that same day.
After some early back-and-forth Saturday, Hawaii took the lead for good with 11:09 to go in the first half at 12-10 on a McKoy 3-pointer. Two Harry Rouhliadeff buckets pushed Hawaii’s lead to 16-10. The Toreros pulled within a point twice before a 6-0 UH run (one layup by Juan Munoz and two more by Coleman) staked the ’Bows to another seven-point bulge. San Diego never got closer than five again.
The Rainbows led 34-25 at halftime, led by McKoy’s 12 points and Coleman’s 10.
The teams traded scores after intermission and the Toreros pulled as close as seven (37-30) before an 21-9 run gave UH a 58-39 lead. The Rainbows’ biggest lead of the game came a few minutes later at 67-46 with an even five minutes to play and they cruised down the stretch to an 11-point victory that was not as close as the final score.
Hawaii outshot San Diego from the field 48.2% to 38.3%, including a 41.2%-26.7% advantage from 3. Hawaii also had 13 assists to San Diego’s 6. The teams were even in rebounds (37) and blocks (3), as well as free throws made (16), though the Rainbows attempted 24 to the Toreros’ 18. UH had one more turnover (13-12) and one more steal (8-7).
The ’Bows stay on the road for one more game, facing Utah on Thursday in Salt Lake City at the Delta Center, home of the NBA’s Jazz. The Utes are 3-2, with a game against Saint Mary’s (Calif.) on Monday.
Ganot said Utah presents “a heck of a challenge. They’re off to a great start, have size and versatility. We played a late game at home Tuesday (8:30 p.m. start due to UH hosting the Allstate Maui Invitational), then back-to-back nights on the road, so we need to recharge.”
After facing Utah, Hawaii then returns home to face Central Arkansas on Dec. 3. The Bears are 1-6 with games against New Orleans today and at Loyola Marymount on Wednesday before their visit to Manoa.
