RAINBOW CLASSIC
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Matt Gibson of Hawaii drove to the basket while guarded by Nick Bahe of Creighton last night in the Rainbow Classic final.
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UH wins Classic
Senior Matt Lojeski adds his name to the long list of Rainbows who have won it
After Friday night's semifinal win, Matt Lojeski mentioned his desire to experience a Rainbow Classic championship in his senior season.
Next Up vs. Tennessee-Martin on Thursday
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Last night, the Hawaii guard delivered a career performance to satisfy that craving.
Lojeski thrilled the crowd of 4,978 by nailing a season-high five 3-pointers on his way to a 33-point night as the Rainbow Warriors captured the program's 11th Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic championship with a 76-60 win over Creighton (6-4) last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Lojeski made 12 of 15 shots from the field and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player as the Rainbows (8-4) captured their fifth tournament title in six years with their fourth straight victory.
"It was huge for us. Being a senior I wanted to win one of these games," Lojeski said. "We finally kind of put a 40-minute game together. It's just a really good feeling to win. It's my first, and I guess last, championship."
Hawaii forward Ahmet Gueye tossed in 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds and joined Lojeski on the All-Tournament team. Both played all 40 minutes.
"These two seniors, our captains, really stepped up and they took us to the championship," said junior guard Matt Gibson, flanked by Lojeski and Gueye in the interview room.
With backup point guard Dominic Waters out with a bruised thigh suffered in Friday's win over Nebraska, Gibson ran the UH offense and finished with six points, five assists and eight rebounds as he won his second Classic championship.
The Rainbows controlled the boards for the second straight game, outrebounding the Bluejays 37-28. They also committed a season-low 11 turnovers.
Creighton guard Nate Funk scored 12 of his team-high 25 points in the first half as the preseason Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year was locked in a scoring duel with Lojeski for much of the game.
Lojeski entered the game with just nine 3-point goals and was shooting 28 percent from beyond the arc. He made two of three in the first half, then went wild in the second, hitting for 21 points with three more treys as the Rainbows overcame a seven-point deficit early in the second half.
"Lojeski was in a zone," UH coach Riley Wallace said.
"That's got to be one of the really big-time performances of all-time for a Hawaii guy, to shoot like that and come out with 33 points in a big ballgame against a very good team."
Said Lojeski: "I was struggling with my jump shot and I knew it would come around some time. I just knew when we were falling behind I needed to become aggressive."
Hawaii entered the game 7-0 when leading at halftime and took a 31-30 edge into the locker room following a spirited first half.
The backcourt duel between Lojeski and Funk highlighted the opening 20 minutes, as both left the floor with 12 points.
Creighton's Dane Watts and Nick Bahe hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the right wing to spark a 10-0 Bluejays rally giving Creighton a 24-18 lead.
The lead was five when Josh Dotzler came up with a steal and tossed in a hook to put Creighton up 28-23 at the 4:04 mark.
That would be the Bluejays' last field goal of the half as the Rainbows went on an 8-0 spurt to reclaim the lead.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Rainbow Classic MVP Matt Lojeski of Hawaii looked for room to shoot under the basket last night before scoring two of his game-high 33 points on Anthony Tolliver of Creighton.
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After Lojeski hit a 17-foot jumper, Gibson knotted the score and ignited the Stan Sheriff Center crowd with a 3-pointer from the right wing. Gibson then added a free throw and Riley Luettgerodt capped the run with a baseline jumper.
Creighton burst out of the break to score the first eight points of the second half before Lojeski caught fire.
Nearly every shot that left the senior shooting guard's fingertips fell through the net in scoring 13 points in a 14-1 UH run that turned a seven-point deficit into a 45-39 lead. He rained three 3-pointers in the run.
"The thing I liked best the whole night about our team was every time they got a lead of five or six points we came down and got a big bucket," Wallace said.
Even with Funk attacking the basket, Hawaii was able to maintain a lead with Gueye scoring on post moves while also showing off a mid-range jumper. The Rainbows' lead moved into double-digits when a blocked shot by P.J. Owsley triggered a fast break, with Gueye scoring off a feed from Gibson while being fouled to put UH ahead 66-55 with 3:17 left.
"We just didn't finish the game," Creighton coach Dana Altman said. "No. 21 (Lojeski) just went off on us, they hit a lot of jump shots, they were the fresher team."
Creighton would get no closer than eight the rest of the way and the Rainbows reclaimed the title after falling short last year.
Joining Lojeski, Gueye and Funk on the All-Tournament team were Nebraska's Aleks Maric, Houston's Dion Dowell and Creighton's Dane Watts.
THIRD PLACE
Nebraska 70, Houston 57
Trailing 39-34 at halftime, the Cornhuskers (8-3) outscored the Cougars 20-3 over the first 12:30 of the second half to claim third place, their highest finish in four Rainbow Classic appearances.
Nebraska center Aleks Maric shot 9-for-13 from the field to lead the Cornhuskers with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Guard Sek Henry finished with 20 points.
Dion Dowell made four 3-pointers and led Houston (5-5) with 24 points. The junior forward averaged 20.3 points and 11.3 rebounds in the tournament.
FIFTH PLACE
Charlotte 79, Wyoming 78
De'Angelo Alexander made nine of 26 shots from the field for a game-high 23 points and the 49ers (5-6) withstood a Wyoming (9-4) rally to win the consolation championship.
Charlotte led by 19 in the first half before Wyoming chipped away throughout the second half and closed to three at 76-73 with 23 seconds left. Alexander then made two free throws to give the 49ers some breathing room. A 3-pointer at the buzzer by Wyoming's Brad Jones accounted for the final margin.
Brandon Ewing led the Cowboys with 19 points.
SEVENTH PLACE
Valparaiso 64, San Francisco 59
Valparaiso guard Brandon McPherson made all four of his 3-point shots on his way to a game-high 24 points as the Crusaders (4-8) snapped an eight-game losing streak.
San Francisco guard Armondo Surratt also made four 3-pointers and led the Dons (4-10) with 23 points.
Hawaii 76, Creighton 60
Bluejays (6-4, 2-1 Rainbow classic)
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|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Watts |
4 |
10 |
2 |
2 |
31 |
7 |
1 |
12
|
Tolliver |
4 |
10 |
3 |
6 |
33 |
7 |
0 |
11
|
Miles |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
25 |
2 |
1 |
2
|
Funk |
8 |
19 |
8 |
9 |
31 |
5 |
3 |
25
|
Dotzler |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
29 |
0 |
2 |
2
|
Porter |
1 |
7 |
3 |
4 |
18 |
2 |
0 |
5
|
Hibma |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Morrison |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Gakou |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Bahe |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
1 |
0 |
3
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
Totals |
20 |
59 |
16 |
21 |
200 |
28 |
7 |
60 |
Rainbow Warriors (8-4, 3-0 RC)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Gueye |
7 |
12 |
5 |
9 |
40 |
8 |
1 |
19
|
Owsley |
1 |
7 |
4 |
4 |
26 |
7 |
0 |
6
|
Gibson |
2 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
38 |
8 |
5 |
6
|
Lojeski |
12 |
15 |
4 |
4 |
40 |
6 |
4 |
33
|
Nash |
3 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
26 |
2 |
4 |
6
|
Lowenthal |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Luettgerodt |
2 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
2 |
1 |
4
|
Verwers |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
1 |
0 |
2
|
Follmer |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
|
Totals |
28 |
53 |
14 |
19 |
200 |
37 |
15 |
76 |
Key -- fg: field goals made; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws made; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes played; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime -- Hawaii 31, Creighton 30
3-point goals -- Creighton 4-18 (Watts 2-5, Bahe 1-2, Funk 1-5, Porter 0-1, Dotzler 0-1, Miles 0-4), Hawaii 6-10 (Lojeski 5-6, Gibson 1-1, Luettgerodt 0-1, Nash 0-2). Personal fouls -- Creighton 19, Hawaii 17. Fouled out -- Gibson.
Steals -- Creighton 4 (Dotzler 2, Funk, Morrison), Hawaii 4 (Lojeski 2, Gibson, Verwers). Blocked shots -- Creighton 2 (Tolliver 2), Hawaii 8 (Owsley 4, Gueye 2, Lojeski, Verwers). Turnovers -- Creighton 7 (Dotzler 2, Funk 2, Bahe 2, Tolliver), Hawaii 11 (Gibson 3, TEAM 3, Owsley 2, Gueye, Lojeski, Luettgerodt).
Officials -- Scott Thornley, Bill Gracey, Winston Stith. A--4,978.