Balanced scoring, persistent rebounding and accurate free-throw shooting lifted the Hawaii basketball team to Thursday’s 76-68 road victory over Cal State Fullerton in Titan Gym in Orange County, Calif.
“I’m really proud of our guys’ effort and their focus coming in,” said UH coach Eran Ganot, whose ’Bows improved to 12-10 overall and 4-6 in the Big West. By avenging a Dec. 30 loss to the Titans, the ’Bows moved into a sixth-place cluster with CSUF and Cal State Northridge.
The ’Bows also had to rely on reserves in the second half. Center Bernardo da Silva, who was in foul trouble after the intermission, picked up his fifth with 2:49 to go. Guard Juan Munoz, who scored 10 points in the first half, suffered an undisclosed ailment that kept him on the bench in the second half. “We’re going to be smart about him,” Ganot said of the cautious approach with Munoz.
“I was proud of how we navigated Bernardo’s foul trouble,” Ganot added, “and losing one of our key backcourt guys against a team that’s pressing.”
Harry Rouhliadeff did not attempt any shots in nearly 16 minutes of spelling da Silva, but he set screens and anchored the post defense. Mor Seck, who was the backup center, suffered a season-ending ACL injury last week.
“Harry gave us a lift that doesn’t always show up in the box score,” Ganot said. “We need all hands on deck to keep going.”
In recent weeks, the ’Bows have struggled to find a steady contributor at the three position. But freshman Tom Beattie, who started his second consecutive game, and Ryan Rapp provided a boost from the wing with their defense and rebounding. Beattie and Rapp combined for five of the ’Bows’ 12 offensive rebounds. The ’Bows finished with a 15-0 advantage in second-chance points. In all, the ’Bows out-rebounded the Titans 38-21.
“I thought they were both great,” Ganot said of Beattie and Rapp. “I thought they were a big difference. Combined, they were solid defensively.”
Beattie, Rapp and Noel Coleman held CSUF guard Max Jones, who entered as the Titans’ leading scorer, to five points on 1-for-5 shooting in 19 minutes, 36 seconds.
The ’Bows stormed to a 31-11 lead with 4:43 remaining in the first half. “It was great to watch,” Ganot said. “The ball was zipping.”
The Titans turned to a smaller lineup to cut their deficit to single digits in the second half. After Dominic Brewton buried a 3 to reduce the margin to 66-59, Rapp was fouled. CSUF’s Tory San Antonio apparently vocalized his disagreement, and was assessed a technical. Coleman, who finished with 21 points, hit two free throws for the technical, and Rapp made his two for the foul.
“We knew it would be a game of runs and how impactful they would be,” Ganot said. “I thought we withstood them for the most part. … They were in a flurry and they made us pay for it (when the ’Bows committed four turnovers in five possessions). But every time they made a big run, we had some good poise. That was a big part of the game playing with passion and composure.”
The ’Bows made 22 of 29 free throws, including 18 of 24 in the second half.
The ’Bows will make the 20-minute drive this morning ahead of Saturday’s game at UC Irvine.
BIG WEST MEN
Conference Overall
W L Pct. GB W L
UC Irvine 9 1 .900 — 16 6
UC San Diego 9 1 .900 — 15 7
UC Davis 8 2 .800 1 13 8
UCSB 5 5 .500 4 12 8
Long Beach St. 5 5 .500 4 13 9
CS Northridge 4 6 .400 5 13 9
Hawaii 4 6 .400 5 12 10
CS Fullerton 4 6 .400 5 11 11
CSU Bakersfield 4 6 .400 5 9 12
UC Riverside 3 7 . 300 6 8 14
Cal Poly 0 10 .000 9 4 18
Thursday
Hawaii 76, Cal State Fullerton 68
CSU Bakersfield 82, Long Beach State 76
UC San Diego 83, CS Northridge 62
UC Irvine 73, Cal Poly 59
UC Davis 79, UC Santa Barbara 69
Saturday
Hawaii at UC Irvine, 5 p.m.
UC Davis at Cal Poly
UC San Diego at Long Beach State
UC Riverside at CS Northridge
UC Santa Barbara at Cal State Bakersfield
HAWAII 76, CS FULLERTON 68
RAINBOW WARRIORS (12-10, 4-6)
MIN FG-A FT-A R A PF PTS
McKoy 31 3-8 1-1 5 0 3 7
da Silva 24 3-7 3-4 6 0 5 9
Beattie 24 1-4 2-2 6 0 0 4
Coleman 33 6-9 7-10 2 1 2 21
Munoz 19 4-8 0-2 1 3 2 10
McClanahan 25 3-6 5-6 2 4 4 11
Rouhliahdeff 16 0-0 0-0 4 0 2 0
Jacobs 8 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 3
Rapp 19 3-6 4-4 5 0 1 11
TEAM 6
TOTALS 200 24-49 22-29 38 8 20 76
TITANS (11-11, 4-6)
MIN FG-A FT-A R A PF PTS
Lee 13 1-3 0-0 0 1 2 2
Square 25 1-1 5-6 6 1 3 7
Jones 20 1-5 3-4 1 0 0 5
Brewton 37 7-13 4-5 1 2 4 19
San Antonio 37 3-7 6-6 4 4 4 13
Kabamba 11 0-2 2-2 2 1 1 2
Visentin 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Carper 22 3-6 2-3 2 0 3 11
De Luna 11 2-2 0-2 0 0 1 4
Oday 23 1-4 2-4 2 0 2 5
TEAM 3
TOTALS 200 19-44 24-32 21 9 22 68
Halftime — Hawaii 36, CSU Fullerton 24
3-point goals — Hawaii 6-18 (Coleman
2-4, Munoz 2-6, Jacobs 1-1, Rapp 1-2, Beattie 0-1, McClanahan 0-1, McKoy 0-3).
CSUF 6-19 (Carper 3-6, San Antonio 1-3,
Brewton 1-4, Oday 1-4, Jones 0-1, Kabamba 0-1). Steals — Hawaii 5 (Munoz,
Coleman, Rapp, McKoy, McClanahan).
CSUF 10 (Brewton 3, San Antonio 2, Lee
2, Carper, Oday, Square). Blocked shots
— Hawaii 1 (Rouhliadeff). CSUF 2 (Carper,
Square). Turnovers — Hawaii 16 (Rouhliadeff 3, Rapp 3, Munoz 2, Coleman 2, McClanahan 2, McKoy, Beattie, da Silva,
TEAM). CSUF 13 (Square 4, Jones 3,
Brewton 2, San Antonio 2, Kabamba,
TEAM). Technical fouls — CSUF (Kabamba, TEAM). Officials — Deron White,
Juan Corral, Tommy Johnson. A — 1,339.
