The Hawaii men’s basketball team is playing the percentages entering the stretch drive.
“This is 35% of the season right here,” forward Harry Rouhliadeff said of the Rainbow Warriors’ final seven of the 20-game regular season beginning with tonight’s contest against Long Beach State in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. “There are only seven games but they mean so much.”
The ’Bows are alone in seventh place at 5-8 in the 11-team Big West. Only eight teams qualify for the Big West Tournament, whose winner earns the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The ’Bows are three games behind UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis, both tied for fifth place at 8-5. The ’Bows are trying to hold off eighth-place Cal State Bakersfield (4-9), No. 9 Cal Poly (3-9) and No. 10 Long Beach State (3-10). Cal State Fullerton is dead last at 1-12.
UH coach Eran Ganot described the Big West regular season as a “20-game gauntlet. … A lot is at stake for each team, for each game.”
The ’Bows have lost five of their last six. After each game, the ’Bows watch videos of mistakes, discuss solutions, and then work on corrections during practices.
“It hurts what we’re going through,” Ganot said. “There are greater challenges in life. We’re going to attack it. We’re going to go from there. It tells you a lot about the character of our group. I’ll say this: our group has not fragmented ever. They’re hurting like everybody else. They take pride in representing the state.”
The pressure of must-win games?
“Pressure is a privilege,” Ganot said. “We can sit at home and watch or we can do something about it.”
Turnovers have been a recurring problem. In Big West play, the ’Bows are averaging 14.8 turnovers per game. Opponents have parlayed the UH giveaways into 19.8 points per contest.
Last week against UC Santa Barbara, the ’Bows committed 20 turnovers — four coming off inbound plays and two passes were thrown out of bounds against the Gauchos’ press. Nearly a third of the Gauchos’ 76 points came on UH turnovers. In another loss, UC San Diego guard Chris Howell made six steals.
“The turnovers are still there,” Ganot said. “It makes it really tough to overcome. The turnovers aren’t in a bad place. They’re in a brutal place.”
Personnel changes usually address problems. “In the past sometimes, let’s say you’re struggling rebounding, you play your rebounders,” Ganot said. “You’re struggling to defend, you play your defenders. If you’re struggling to take care of the ball, you play guys who can take care of the ball. Right now, everybody is kind of spreading the wealth there.”
In 13 league games, 10 ’Bows have committed double-digit turnovers. UH’s five primary guards have combined for an average of 7.3 turnovers per Big West game.
The ’Bows will need to rely on distant recall for tonight’s rematch against LBSU. In a one-off game on Dec. 7 in Walter Pyramid, California transfer Devin Askew scored 28 points and the Beach were 10-for-13 on 3s in a 76-68 victory. The ’Bows’ next league game was 26 days later.
Ganot described Askew as an “elite guard.” The Beach try to clear paths for Askew on ball screens. Kam Martin and TJ Wainwright are both connecting on better than 40% of their 3s. Austin Johnson is an effective low-post scorer, and Grand Canyon transfer Derrick Michael Xzavierro is an aggressive rebounder.
“You can see how dangerous they can be,” Ganot said.
LBSU head coach Chris Acker and assistant coach John Montgomery are former assistants under Ganot. Both were on the staff of the 2015-16 UH team that won the Big West and defeated California in the opening round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Acker left UH following 2016-17 season. Montgomery remained through last April, ascending to associate head coach.
Rainbow Warriors Basketball
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
Hawaii (13-11, 5-8 Big West) vs. Long Beach State (7-18, 3-10 BW)
>> When: Tonight at 7:05
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM
