comscore UH deals Cal opening-round upset, will face Terrapins next | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Sports Breaking | Top News

UH deals Cal opening-round upset, will face Terrapins next

Honolulu Star-Advertiser logo
Unlimited access to premium stories for as low as $12.95 /mo.
Get It Now
  • KAT WADE SPECIAL TO THE HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER

    Mark Hogan, left, and his friend Teddy Gamata react as UH trails early in the first half of the first round of NCAA Tournament 2016 March Madness for breakfast and basketball at the bar in Square Barrels downtown when the UH Rainbow Warriors beat the Cal Bears 77/64 in Spokane, Washington on Friday March 18, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

  • KAT WADE SPECIAL TO THE HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER

    As Teddy Gamata, left, and his friend Mark Hogan watch the second half of the first round of NCAA Tournament 2016 March Madness at Square Barrels downtown when the UH Rainbow Warriors beat the Cal Bears 77/64 in Spokane, Washington on Friday March 18, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

  • KAT WADE SPECIAL TO THE HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER

    Craig Fitzgerald, left, Jason Flick, (Nobory Dobashi and Ayumi Kuykendall in booth) Aaron Tomasu holding his 15-month-old son, Rhys Tomasu and Masa Arakaki watch as their team holds onto the lead during the second half of the first round of NCAA Tournament 2016 March Madness at the bar in Square Barrels downtown when the UH Rainbow Warriors beat the Cal Bears 77/64 in Spokane, Washington on Friday March 18, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

  • KAT WADE SPECIAL TO THE HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER

    2009 Cal graduate Francesca Weems, from the Big Island throws her arms up in disbelief as Cal looses momentum and the gap widens once again in the second half of the first round of NCAA Tournament 2016 March Madness for breakfast and basketball at Square Barrels downtown when the UH Rainbow Warriors beat the Cal Bears 77/64 in Spokane, Washington on Friday March 18, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii. All of the Cal Bear fans stuck to the backroom of the restaurant; Francesca Weems, left, David Tanabe, Michael Brockert, Jerry Muller, Tom Hawkes John Renke and Mike Lee.

  • KAT WADE SPECIAL TO THE HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER

    Teddy Gamata, left, and his friend Mark Hogan react as the Bows widen their lead to 40/32 in the first half of the first round of NCAA Tournament 2016 March Madness at the bar in Square Barrels downtown when the UH Rainbow Warriors beat the Cal Bears 77/64 in Spokane, Washington on Friday March 18, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

  • KAT WADE SPECIAL TO THE HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER

    As Teddy Gamata, says a little prayer as the Bows barely hold their lead in the first half of the first round of NCAA Tournament 2016 March Madness at the bar in Square Barrels downtown when the UH Rainbow Warriors beat the Cal Bears 77/64 in Spokane, Washington on Friday March 18, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

  • KAT WADE SPECIAL TO THE HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER

    Teddy Gamata, left, and his friend Mark Hogan. who put up the signal for a three pointer, watch early in the first half of the first round of NCAA Tournament 2016 March Madness for breakfast and basketball at the bar in Square Barrels downtown when the UH Rainbow Warriors beat the Cal Bears 77/64 in Spokane, Washington on Friday March 18, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

  • KAT WADE SPECIAL TO THE HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER

    Teddy Gamata, left, and his friend Mark Hogan, along with Holly Whitman and Keoni Sallas watch as UH begins to take the lead early in the first half of the first round of NCAA Tournament 2016 March Madness for breakfast and basketball at the bar in Square Barrels downtown when the UH Rainbow Warriors beat the Cal Bears 77/64 in Spokane, Washington on Friday March 18, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Bow fans watched from the front of the restaurant while all of the Cal fans were in the back room.

  • KAT WADE SPECIAL TO THE HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER

    Nobory Dobashi and Ayumi Kuykendall watch the first half of the first round of NCAA Tournament 2016 March Madness at the bar in Square Barrels downtown when the UH Rainbow Warriors beat the Cal Bears 77/64 in Spokane, Washington on Friday March 18, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

  • ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Hawaii guard Quincy Smith shot against California center Kingsley Okoroh during the first half of a first-round game in the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash. today.

  • ERIK SMITH / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

    Hawaii’s Aaron Valdes steals the ball from Cal Golden Bear’s Jaylen Brown today in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, WA.

  • ERIK SMITH / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

    The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors huddle together against Cal today.

  • ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Hawaii center Stefan Jovanovic (15) gestures as guard Quincy Smith (11) looks on during the second half of a game against California in the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash., today.

  • ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Hawaii players in the bench watch their game in the last minutes of the second half of a game against California in the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash., today.

  • ASSOCIATED PRESS

    California guard Jordan Mathews, left, and Hawaii guard Quincy Smith went after a loose ball during the second half of a first-round game in the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash. today. Hawaii won 77-66.

  • ASSOCIATED PRESS

    The Hawaii bench and California forward Jaylen Brown reacted to a referee’s call during the first half of the first-round game in the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash. today.

  • ERIK SMITH / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

    The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors overcame early foul trouble in the first half to build a lead against Cal today.

  • ERIK SMITH / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

    The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors bench in the first half against Cal today.

SPOKANE, WASH. » Hawaii’s wait for an NCAA Tournament victory is over.

The 13-seeded Rainbow Warriors upset No. 4 California, 77-66, at sold-out, 14,000-seat Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena today, and advanced to the round of 32 for the first time in program history.

Hawaii will play No. 5 Maryland on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. on TBS.

“What a moment,” first-year UH coach Eran Ganot said. “Just in a year of moments these guys just find a way to provide us with more.”

UH (28-5) set a new single-season mark for wins and faces the Terrapins on Sunday at the same site. Maryland (26-8) defeated No. 12 South Dakota State 79-74.

Quincy Smith scored a career-high 19 points, Roderick Bobbitt had 17 and Stefan Jankovic 16 in UH’s victory, its first in five tries in the NCAAs.

“I started off a little bit slow and then I got a couple easy shots and layups and kind of got me going,” said Smith, who shot 6-for-8 from the field and 7-for-8 from the line. “And then the big guys were setting really good screens for me and I was just getting into the paint, getting really easy shots.”

Transmission troubles interrupt radio broadcast of UH basketball game
808ne.ws/1MsAGZA

Cal (23-11), the Pac-12’s third-place team, was without starting point guard Tyrone Wallace (broken hand). Then wing Jabari Bird was a scratch from the starting lineup because of back spasms.

Both teams were saddled with severe foul trouble, but UH withstood it better in leading by as many as seven points in the first half, and six at halftime.

UH saw its lead trimmed to one midway through the second half, but the Rainbow Warriors went on a decisive spurt to extend it back to double figures and closed it out without much drama in the final minutes.

UH shot 51.9 percent to Cal’s 41.1 percent, and made 80 percent of its free throws. The efficiency allowed the Rainbows to overcome a minus-nine rebounding gap.

The unusual first period saw reserve guard Sheriff Drammeh take two charges on McDonald’s All-American Jaylen Brown.

Bobbitt hit a step-back jumper in the final seconds of the first half, and Cal’s Kameron Rooks answered with hook shot at the buzzer. But after the officials reviewed the shot, Rooks’ basket was ruled too late and UH carried a 36-30 lead into intermission.

Jankovic picked up his scoring with a basket to start the second half, but then picked up his third and fourth fouls within 20 seconds of game clock and had to take a seat with 16:41 left.

UH’s Big West Player of the Year sat for the next 13 minutes.

“Obviously, as a competitor, I hate sitting on the bench,” Jankovic said. “But aside from that I was never worried, I was confident in the guys.”

Aaron Valdes threw down a huge alley-oop dunk off an inbounds pass from Bobbitt for UH’s first double-digit lead with 15:48 to go.

The momentum wouldn’t last. Cal got six straight points from point guard Sam Singer to launch a 9-0 run and make it 47-46 UH.

Valdes ended the run with a turnaround jumper from the baseline and UH boosted its lead back to seven.

Bobbitt hit a banked jump shot and Smith scored off a steal for a 61-53 lead, then Cal’s Brown fouled out on a loose ball with 6:22 to play.

Mike Thomas hit a top-arc 3, answered immediately by one by Jordan Mathews (game-high 23 points).

Jankovic checked back in with 3:46 to play, UH up six. He immediately drew a foul and hit two at the line for an eight-point lead.

Smith followed with two free throws, while Bobbitt made a tough bank shot to go up 72-60.

Bobbitt, Thomas and Smith went 5-for-6 at the line to close it out.

Comments (166)

By participating in online discussions you acknowledge that you have agreed to the Terms of Service. An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks. If your comments are inappropriate, you may be banned from posting. Report comments if you believe they do not follow our guidelines.

Having trouble with comments? Learn more here.

Leave a Reply

  • Hawaii 72, California 62 with 2:04 remaining in game

    Hawaii 74, California 64 with 1:05 remaining in game

    Hawaii 77, California 64 with 0:46 remaining in game

    Final !!! Hawaii 77, California 66

    • Well, as a UH graduate student, I am happy for the guys. But, please remember that Cal lost the very best player and they were not themselves. Ganot really lucked out.

      I now need to assess the next game….

        • Who cares? Hawaii had injuries and other issues in the year and the kept on WINNING!

          This team is special and let’s just enjoy it and cheer on the Wahine tomorrow!

      • Seriously, you’re a graduate student and your writing is barely at a high school level. Unnecessary commas, and it’s their best player, not the best player. There is no luck involved in competition. Cal recruits player that UH can only dream about having on their team. They got beat pure and simple. If you can’t support them, that’s your problem. You will probably be happy to know that I won’t respond to you any more as you have no credibility whatsoever and there is not one person here that actually cares about what you write.

        • I scribble my notes on an i-phone and yes, mistakes are made. But you know I am right. No need to be mean about it.

        • Jimmyhouse – you are a real bad person. Half of what you say is wrong. Cool it down.

        • allie does bring out the worst in people. I know that we have a right to free speech but allie uses it to incite anger in people.

        • sailfish1 I didn’t think it was that bad a response by jimmy house. allie has been an instigater and probably a plant fro S/A. Think about it!

      • By the way, your bracket has been shattered already. MICHIGAN STATE, the team you picked to win it all, LOST IN THE FIRST ROUND!!! Against a #15 seed!!! Ha!!! Gotta love this March Madness!!!

        • Allie, when it comes to sports, I don’t think anyone takes you seriously, so just move on … somewhere, anywhere.

      • I’m not being mean, just truthful. I already have a Master’s Degree and a MBA. I would be embarrassed too write in the same manner as you do and brag about being a graduate student. Oops, look, I said you weren’t worth commenting about and there I go. Darn it.

      • I’m a diehard Cal fan, but Hawaii won fair and square. Injuries are part of the game, and good teams play through it. GO ‘Bows! You can do it!

      • Four PAC 12 teams have lost (so far) in the 1st round. The other 3 besides Cal are USC, Oregon St, and Colorado. So what’s their reason/excuse for losing?

        • TRUE REASON FOR FOUR PAC-12 TEAMS LOSING IN THE FIRST ROUND: THE PAC-12 CONFERENCE SHOULD HAVE HAD FOUR LESS SELECTIONS; THAT WAY, OTHER MORE DESERVING TEAMS IN ANOTHER CONFERENCE WOULD HAVE A CHANCE TO MAKE SOME BUCKS.

      • Have you noticed how this blog lit up after the Bows won? Even you are writing about it and you’re the very one who thinks UH should dump sports. There’s very few things that can have this kind of impact on a community. I just don’t understand why some people can’t see the value. When you look at the net amount UH spends (around $3-4M/year), it’s peanuts compared to the money it wastes in other parts of the system.

        • I just think we should celebrate academic victories. That is what counts for Hawaii. Not entertainment.

      • So allie is that the best you can do? PAC 12 sucks more than the Big West. They got how many teams in? First 6 games they lost 5, hello. Good thing we took Janks out for 16 minutes if not we would’ve really run up the score, right fellas?

    • agree..It was a good win. I am a friend of Laura so yes, I want her to win tomorrow. Laura is Hawaii’s best coach. I consider her a dear friend and mentor.

        • Laura is much more than a coach. She is a teacher and mentor of students. Even those of us not on her team. Shoji is not that.

        • If you knew Shoji personally you’d know he’s been all of that and much more to the students of UH. Please don’t be so close-minded about someone with whom you are not familiar.

        • It’s not a slam on Beeman at all who is also a great coach and upstanding personality. There is no comparison of someone who has devoted over 40 years to the school and it’s students. Beeman will deservingly move on to a bigger program soon. Shoji has remained loyal to UH for many years and has been at the top of the college volleyball world with his teams at the highest level 4 times. No contest.

  • Excellent! Typical Hawaii game rhythm, ‘cept they had a nice lead at the half. Too bad about Cal’s missing players (about 25 pts of scoring per game) – but Hey, so it goes. The announcers were just too biased toward Cal – Wah! Wah! Wah! Go SD State. Go Bows!!!!

  • I was impressed with the teams overall defense no matter who was out there for UH.
    I literally had tears in my eyes when the game drew to a close. Next!!

  • Amazing !!!! Hawaii is the real deal. Congratulations to the Warriors and Coaching staff. When you BELIEVE good things happens. No matter who the Warriors face, its going to be a very good game. Looking at the future I hope the NCAA rescind the suspension of next year’s post season that way UH can keep their players at home. GOOD LUCK WARRIORS….

    Now it’s the Wahines turn to BELIEVE. Conquer the PAC 12 ladies….. GOOD LUCK…

  • I had two horses in this race, having degrees from both UC Berkeley and UH Manoa. It was a win for me either way. It is nice however, to see UH get some positive national attention.

  • Way to go Warriors!!! And great coaching by Coach Ganot & staff! Going to that zone was key in the 2nd half, especially with the foul trouble situation and Cal’s lack of 3-point threats besides Matthews.

  • Derrick DePledge, of parts unknown, once replied to an e-mail that I sent him, that they watch television to get their news. Brian and Ferd, I’m sure u were watching this game on TBS, with all your detailed analytical reporting, however it’s okay. We all know the Star-Bulletin can’t afford to fly u two up to Spokane. However if the ‘bows go to the Sweet Sixteen, then I think a plane ticket or two would be worthy of your on the spot reporting skills.

  • great win for UH. but i didn’t think we played that well. our defense was terrible. too many layups and easy baskets. Bobbitt was getting beat too many times and just out of position too much. led to too much penetration by their guards. too many dumb fouls if they were even fouls. seems like Janks was just standing there when he picked up his fouls. if we want to advance we need to play a lot better and we can play a lot better. go BOWS!!!

  • “The 13-seeded Rainbow Warriors upset No. 4 California, 77-66, at sold-out, 14,000-seat Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena today, and advanced to the round of 32 for the first time in program history.”

    First, there is 13th, and a lucky number it was. Joe Lunardi in his bracketology predicted UH would be in this region as a 14th seed.

    As far as advancing to the round of 32, back during UH’s first ever invitation in 1971, there weren’t even 32 teams in the tournament, Ferd u may want to check that, so really UH had either equaled their previous round of 32 or they had surpassed it. Terrible loss though to Weber State, which showed that OUR Fabulous Five was really only a homer team in the HIC.

  • “California guard Jordan Mathews, left, and Hawaii guard Quincy Smith went after a loose ball during the second half of a first-round game in the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash. today. Hawaii won 77-66.”

    Look at the determination in Quincy’s eyes. All of that comes from the excellent coaching of Eran Ganot. Similarly, had Cam Newton went after his fumble in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl L, Carolina may have had a chance to win the game. Every little bit of effort helps, every second of every game. Once u give up, u give up. I look forward to Hawaii defeating Maryland, if that’s the team we will play, because Maryland is coming over three time Zones to Spokane, while Hawaii only went over one time zone, and Hawaii has been in the Pacific Zone for two weeks anyway. Don’t forget your school studies when u guys get back to the UH Manoa campus now.

  • Since I attended Maryland, this next match will be a win-win, or a lose-lose for me. Either way I’ll have a beer for both the winner and the loser. And to next year, and to the year after….

  • IGNORE the Allie comments folks and have sanity in the other comments from people who know about basketball. The discussion and comments get ridiculous! GO BOWS!

    • Ganot called on reserves to play big. No one listened to him as they contributed 8 points total in this game. Team won in spite of the coach.

      • Points are not the only measure of making an impact. Drammeh took two charges, Jovanavic pulled down some big boards and played a lot of minutes when Jankovic went out. Ganot is a very good coach, the only UH coach to ever win a NCAA game. Your ignorance of the sport is astounding.

  • this is why sports at the university of hawaii is important. the teams galvanize hawaii’s residents in a way no other activity or event can.

    university of hawaii sports wins lift the spirits of the entire state and gives the people something to celebrate together.

  • Maryland is beatable. Hawaii will need to take of the ball minimize the turnover take good shots and watch their fouls. Easier said than done but Go Bow.

    • I hope UH wins, but the player to watch out for UMD is Guard Rasheed Sulaimon. He wears #0 and was dismissed off the Duke National Championship team last year, then transferred to UMD. We need to shut him down to have a chance.

  • What a coach says to a team is very important. Coach Ganot somehow has an innate ability to coach. We have confidence that Coach will tell the team the right things to motivate them and to keep their minds on the game and the ultimate goal, which is winning. Very few coaches have that talent and AD Matlin picked the right coach. The basketball team has not been routed on the road, which has been an achille’s heel of past teams.

    Similarly if all goes well, Rolo will do the best job possible for Football. Realistically speaking, the only teams capable of winning a National Championship are both the indoor women’s and men’s volleyball teams and the beach volleyball team. Others are there just for the ride, however if we can get national recognition by finishing in the top 25 rankings, that would be great.

  • It was exciting and gratifying to see the Warriors represent UH, the people of Hawaii and the Big West Conference so well. Certainly the injuries to Wallace and Bird were a factor, but Cal still started two projected NBA lottery picks. There are no UH players expected to be drafted the last time I checked. So credit to the Warrior players and coaches for executing on the big stage and taking advantage of the opportunity.

  • “Hawaii will play No. 5 Maryland on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. on TBS.” it does not say Hawaii time, however I am presuming so. This will make it 4:10 p.m. in Spokane, and 7:10 p.m. in Maryland.

  • Remember Bob Nash, Al Davis (not of Oakland fame), John Penebacker, Dwight Holiday and Jerome Freeman? That seemingly invincible bunch called The Fabulous Five (20 years earlier than Michigan’s Fab Five), got smashed in the first round at Pocatello, Idaho, courtesy of Weber State. Weber State? That Hawaii team was too much of a homer team at the Honolulu International Center, now known as The Neil Blaisdell Center. The success of the Rainbow Warrior Basketball teams over the decades since, was primarily based on those Fabulous Five. We would rout opponent after opponent at the HIC, however there was a catch. It was at home. John Penebacker, at only 6 foot 2 inches, was an unusual forward in the sense that even Dwight Holiday at 6′-4″ at shooting guard, was taller than the jumping jack Penebacker. Yes it’s the same Penebacker u hear about locally. Jerome Freeman, now that was a character. However Bob Nash was the most successful of the bunch as he got drafted number one by The Detroit Pistons. Over the years, many a name graced the front page of the Sports Section, with respect to Rainbow Basketball. Yes it was called just Rainbows, until June Jones came along and added Warriors. Had June perished in that remarkable crash into the H-1 pillar near Pearl Harbor, we would never have known Colt Brennan and even Norm Chow. However my biggest hero as far as Rainbow Basketball was Tom Henderson, who played in the infamous 1972 Olympic final at Munich, in which the USA was kept from having won the Gold Medal, and at the same time, having to go through the Israeli Hostage Crisis at the Olympic Village. Tom went on to become the point guard for The Washington Bullets, who won their one and only NBA championship in 1978. Then of course we had Rick Pitino (Yes, THE Rick Pitino), Gavin Smith, Anthony Carter and now this year’s team, which has the most wins in school history and we are not done yet. If we win Sunday versus The Maryland Terrapins of The Big Ten, we will have reached the remarkable record of 29-5, which is Shoji-like, and if by very very lucky chance we defeat Kansas, the overall number one seed and make it to the Elite Eight, just as The Rainbow Wahine Volleyball team had done in December 2015, then we will have reached the pinnacle of University of Hawaii Rainbow Warrior Basketball history.. Then to think oh my gosh, another win and on to the Final Four?? Dave’s Volleyball teams have Final Four stamped on their memories much like John Wooden or Geno Auriemma. Here’s to you Eran Ganot: The Best of Luck in your game Sunday versus Maryland. I could write some more here however if I did, I would take the limelight away from Brian McInnis. 😉

  • Wouldn’t have been nice if allie would have just kept, his or her mouth shut? It has been rumored that allie is an older man that is just paid hack for the SA. If allie was who “she” says wouldn’t see be doing more in live after, what seems like 10 years ,than working at some sleazy bar in Waikiki?
    GO Bows!!!! Congrats on your great victory:)

  • We need to secure Coach Ganot. Sponsors and the State need to step up and reward him to keep him here as he is a very special fit for Hawaii. He came into a situation where we all thought that our AD was nuts or had big balls in not signing Benjy Taylor after a successful season. Coach Ganot reminds me of Governor George Ariyoshi, quiet but effective. He has the values, humility, and the most of all the capability to coach and have players and fans believe in his ability. His results are reuniting our sports community and worth every cent that will keep him here. I know he is not greedy and loves Hawaii so lets show him the love as I believe he could be the next Dave Shoji and we could be the new Gonzaga. Ask him what it will take.

  • After watching Maryland play last night, I would feel inclined to say that our Warriors stand a very good chance of advancing to the sweet sixteen. Especially with 24 hrs. break between games.

  • This team has really taken this upon their shoulders. Free throw shooting, once a liability, is a strength of this team. Smith, Drammeh, Thomas have all increased their FT % dramatically. Kudos to the team and good luck tomorrow.

Click here to see our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. Submit your coronavirus news tip.

Be the first to know
Get web push notifications from Star-Advertiser when the next breaking story happens — it's FREE! You just need a supported web browser.
Subscribe for this feature

Scroll Up