Hawaii's Chris Botez put up a shot under pressure from Mississippi Valley State's Jeffrey Price last night.
Opening night
goes right
Newcomers play a big part
as the Rainbow Warriors
get off to a good start
A few new faces helped cure the Hawaii basketball team's case of opening-night jitters as the Rainbow Warriors began their season with a 71-58 victory over Mississippi Valley State last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Transfer guard Matt Gibson came off the bench to score 15 of his 22 points in the first half and center Chris Botez posted 15 points and 16 rebounds in his regular-season debut to lead the Rainbows past the Delta Devils.
Forward Julian Sensley, already a familiar figure to the 4,636 in attendance, finished with 13 points and seven rebounds while Matthew Gipson, another newcomer, had 10 points and six boards.
"It was a good test for us," Sensley said. "Overall Chris did a good job on the boards and Matt (Gibson) hit open shots and that's what it's about.
"The second half showed more what we're capable of doing. The first half, I'm sure the new guys had some jitters in them. ... We came out in the second half a lot more ready to play and we were able to have a lot more confidence in our shots."
Hawaii's Kris Groce took a shot against the defense of Mississippi Valley State's Hosea Butler.
"To get your first Division I game as a double-double and get 16 boards it says something," UH head coach Riley Wallace said of Botez. "Julian does his steady job and Matt Gibson came in off the bench and he brings energy."
Hawaii shot 50 percent from the field in the second half after hitting just 28 percent of its attempts in the first and outrebounded MVS (0-2) 48-30.
Their 27 offensive rebounds helped the 'Bows to a 21-7 advantage in second-chance points.
"When they shoot the ball three tries and get three rebounds on one possession, that's not 25 percent. That's 100 percent," MVS coach Lafayette Stribling said.
MVS guard Solomon Forbes led three Delta Devils in double figures with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field.
MVS sat back in a 2-3 zone, daring Hawaii to shoot from outside throughout the game. The strategy worked early as the Rainbows started 4-for-21 from the field, 0-for-5 beyond the 3-point line, before Gibson drained a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock at the 11:06 mark of the first half.
"They had to stay in zone because we were killing them on the boards and if they went to man it might have just gotten worse on the boards," Gibson said. "But it did surprise us, I figured they'd come out after halftime and play man. But they didn't."
With 6:17 left, Hawaii was 6-for-30 from the field, but its defense prevented MVS from taking advantage of UH's shooting problems, going 4-for-13.
"We all started getting up in them, started to push their offense out to where they're starting their plays at halfcourt," Sensley said. "When you're able to do that, that gets into them so they start rushing shots or forcing bad passes."
Gibson's hot hand helped the Rainbows weather the cold spell as he sparked a 16-4 UH run that gave the 'Bows a 31-21 lead. Gibson accounted for nine points in the run, hitting a 3-pointer to start it and another to finish.
UH started the second half with a 12-1 spurt and opened its biggest lead of the game at 43-23 on a putback by Botez.
MVS cut the gap to single-digits at 54-45 on a 3-pointer by Forbes and a putback by Jeffrey Price with 9:03 left in the game.
But Hawaii scored the next six points to regain control and cruise to the win.
The Rainbows next face Coastal Carolina on Friday at the Sheriff Center.
Rainbow Warriors 71, Delta Devils 58
Mississippi Valley St. (0-2)| fg | fga | ft | fta | min | reb | a | tp |
|
| Butler | 3 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 35 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| Speech | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 35 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Forbes | 7 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 35 | 7 | 2 | 22 |
| Price | 5 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 36 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
| Taylor | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| Jeffery | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Latiker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lucus | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| McCoy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alexander | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Team | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 19 | 45 | 11 | 13 | 200 | 30 | 11 | 58 |
Hawaii (1-0)
| fg | fga | ft | fta | min | reb | a | tp |
|
| Tatum | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Nash | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Blackett | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| Sensley | 5 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 7 | 2 | 13 |
| Botez | 7 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 34 | 16 | 1 | 15 |
| Gibson | 8 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 25 | 2 | 2 | 22 |
| Sottos | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Gipson | 4 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 10 |
| Groce | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Zivanovic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Team | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 28 | 75 | 6 | 13 | 200 | 48 | 18 | 71 |
Key--fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime--Hawaii 31, MVSU 23
3-point goals--MVSU 9-19 (Forbes 3-3, Butler 2-2, Lucus 2-2, Speech 2-2, Alexander 1-2, Price 1-2), Hawaii 9-25 (Gibson 4-8, Sensley 3-5, Nash 1-5, Sottos 1-2, Tatum 0-1, Gipson 0-2, Groce 0-2). Personal fouls--MVSU 13, Hawaii 6. Steals--MVSU 6 (Forbes 3, Latiker, Speech, Taylor), Hawaii 8 (Botez 3, Gibson 2, Groce 2, Sensley). Blocked shots--MVSU 7 (Price 3, Alexander 2, Speech 2), Hawaii 2 (Botez, Sensley). Turnovers--MVSU 15, Hawaii 9. Officials--Ryan Wells, Todd Apo, Donovan Lewis. A--4,636.
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