The last time Hawaii was blown out by 20-plus points, the Rainbow Warriors responded with five consecutive victories.
From the ashes of an 89-65 debacle at UC Davis on Thursday, UH looks to stoke a new flame when it takes on Pacific today in Stockton, Calif.
What’s on the line? Besides pride, a leg up on second place in the Big West Conference heading into the home stretch of the regular season. UH and UOP are locked in a virtual tie behind league leader Long Beach State.
The ‘Bows had to pick up and dust themselves off Friday after being swept home-and-home for the first time this season. The Aggies rained down 11 3-pointers, giving them 27 in two games against UH, and succeeded in shutting down the ‘Bows’ big men.
"There’s two things you can do after any loss," UH coach Gib Arnold said after Friday’s practice at Pacific’s arena, the Alex G. Spanos Center. "You can sit around and you can mope about it, and you can get all depressed. And that’s the easy thing to do. Or you can learn from your mistakes, stand back up and get back to work. That’s always the toughest thing to do. I guess we chose the second. We got back up, we had a great practice today. We’re just going to try to learn from it and just try to get better."
UH prevailed 60-52 over the Tigers at the Stan Sheriff Center on Jan. 17 behind a 3-pointer by center Vander Joaquim with a minute left.
Completing the sweep at the 6,100-seat Spanos Center — the second-largest Big West arena behind the 10,300-seat Sheriff — will not be an easy task. Pacific is 10-2 in its building, including 6-0 in Big West play.
"We have to get them out of their rhythm, out of their comfort zone," Arnold said. "We were able to accomplish that at home."
In that one, the Tigers’ rhythm was disrupted as they shot 3-for-27 from long range. Fifty-two was the lowest point total by a UH opponent this season.
"One thing about Hawaii and Pacific, it’s a pretty darn good matchup," Pacific associate head coach Ron Verlin said. "I think it’s going to be a battle. We’re a lot different than Davis. Davis drives the ball, penetrates … we’re more similar to Hawaii in that we’re going to have to deal and tussle with those big guys inside."
In Thursday’s loss, UH’s vaunted Big Three of Joaquim, Christian Standhardinger and Isaac Fotu was held to a combined 16 points and 11 rebounds. The only other team to hold the ‘Bows bigs to similar degree of ineffectiveness was Miami — now ranked No. 3 in the country — in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.
Standhardinger, the reigning two-time Big West Player of the Week, tied a season low with six points and committed five turnovers. Joaquim fouled out for the first time this season and Fotu did not attempt a field goal in 13 minutes off the bench.
Arnold chalked it up to an "off game." He said Davis’ aggressive double teams, especially on Joaquim, weren’t anything the team hadn’t already seen this year.
"Tough one. We challenged them. We need them to be at their best to win, especially on the road. Last night as a whole we weren’t at our best, but that’s the goal for Saturday’s game. … Those guys are outstanding young men and basketball players. I think they’re going to be just fine."
This is the second and last scheduled matchup between the teams as Big West foes, barring a meeting in next month’s conference tournament. Pacific departs for the West Coast Conference after this season, a move that coincides with the planned retirement of 25-year head coach Bob Thomason.
Thomason is the Big West’s winningest coach at 428.
The Pacific roster can be likened to its coach — experienced. The Tigers do things by committee, with no player averaging more than senior guard Lorenzo McCloud’s 11.1 per game. Lately, guard Rodrigo De Souza has been a spark plug off the bench.
The Tigers don’t shine in any particular category, but their second unit can pick up right where the starters leave off. That formula was trouble for UH in Stockton last season when Hawaii and Pacific split a nonconference home-and-home series.
"I look for it to be a hell of a ballgame. They don’t want to go home 0-2," Verlin said.
A 16th UH win would match last season’s total. A 10th Big West victory would mark UH’s first winning conference season since the 2005-06 ‘Bows went 10-6 in the Western Athletic Conference.
