Hawaii's Matthew Gipson went up for a shot in front of Hawaii-Hilo's Osadonor Esene during yesterday's exhibition game.
’Bows roll over
Vulcans
The Rainbow Warriors break open
the game in the second half
The Hawaii basketball team didn't show its brothers from the Big Island much hospitality yesterday, rolling to a 75-49 exhibition win over Hawaii-Hilo at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The game won't count in either team's records, but proved a productive test for the Rainbow Warriors, who recovered from a ragged first half to run away from the Vulcans in the second.
A crowd of 2,950 watched UH-Hilo stay close early in the intrastate battle. But the Vulcans couldn't keep up after halftime as UH-Manoa broke the game open with an 18-4 run to open the second half.
"The first half we were trying to find it and in the second half we found it," UH-Manoa guard Matt Gibson said. "We got in a groove, we played better, we started scoring and got a little run going."
UH-Manoa's size was too much for the smaller Vulcans, who were outrebounded 46-26.
Rainbow forward Jeff Blackett led the way with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Center Chris Botez contributed 12 points and nine boards.
"We're trying to pound it inside more and not rely on jump shots all the time, get these guys working and get on the boards," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "We didn't box out really well, but we were so big over them we got a lot of rebounds."
With five new scholarship players on the roster, the Rainbows struggled with turnovers in the first half, giving the ball away nine times. That number shrank to two after halftime.
"The first half we were a little bit slow, but in the second half we really came out and did what we needed to do, executed better, didn't turn the ball over," Blackett said. "That's a way to start building for the rest of the preseason, to look at that second half and see what we did right and did wrong."
Gibson started with Jake Sottos in the back court and finished with nine points and two assists. Wallace also highlighted his play on the defensive end, where he had two steals.
"Little Matt I thought played well and really puts on the defensive intensity that we need," Wallace said. "I liked his intensity and his play."
After a quiet first half, sophomore Bobby Nash came off the bench to score 11 points in the second half and hit both of his 3-point attempts.
Osadonor Esene led UH-Hilo with 15 points and Terrance Troupe had 11.
"They were too big," UH-Hilo coach Jeff Law said. "They killed us on the boards in the first half, but our energy was good and made us survive some rough spots. But in the second half they just moved it up a notch and we couldn't.
"I think we're a better team than what we showed tonight and they didn't let us show it."
All 11 scholarship players on the UH-Manoa roster played at least 10 minutes and all but one got into the scoring column.
The Rainbows, strictly a man-to-man team in recent years, even broke out a rarely used zone defense in the second half.
"We're going to use the zone this year," Wallace said. "I thought it showed OK. We played big in it and they move well. ... We want to use it as a weapon, because you can rebound out of that and get a fast break going."
UH-Hilo stayed close early and trailed 17-16 after Alex Cabagnot drove for a layup. But the Rainbows responded with a 14-5 run, with all of the points provided by newcomers.
Gibson started the run with a driving layup and later hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Forward Matthew Gipson contributed a 3-pointer and Botez tipped in two misses, the second giving the 'Bows a 31-21 lead at the 2:34 mark.
UH-Hilo closed to 33-28 at halftime only to see the Rainbows take control with their second-half outburst.
Sophomore guard Kris Groce hit two 3-pointers in the run, while Blackett scored six from close range, including a fast-break dunk off a steal by Gibson.
With their first test under the lights behind them, the Rainbows now have a little more than a week to prepare for their regular-season opener against Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 23.
"There's a lot of little things we have to work on," Gibson said. "Tonight we did a lot of good things and we played real hard and that's what I think coach wanted to see. Now we have to work on all the little things to get ready for this first game and get ready for the season."
Hawaii 75, UH-Hilo 49
Vulcans fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Dobson 1 3 0 0 22 4 1 2 Cabagnot 2 4 0 0 23 0 1 4 Graham, B. 2 5 0 1 21 2 2 6 Troupe 5 11 1 2 25 2 0 11 Esene 3 9 7 8 28 4 0 15 McMaryion 0 3 0 0 15 1 0 0 Marsh 1 2 0 0 16 0 0 2 Jorgenson 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 Keiter-Charles 0 2 0 0 15 3 1 0 Hawthorne 1 6 2 2 19 2 1 5 Young 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Graham, A. 1 2 2 2 14 3 0 4 Team 4 Totals 16 47 12 15 200 26 6 49 Rainbows fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Gibson 4 8 0 0 17 0 2 9 Sottos 0 4 0 0 21 4 1 0 Blackett 6 11 4 4 28 10 1 16 Sensley 3 8 0 0 28 4 2 6 Botez 5 9 2 2 22 9 3 12 Gipson 2 6 0 2 21 7 2 5 Kelly 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 Groce 2 4 0 0 13 2 3 6 Zivanovic 2 3 0 0 10 0 0 4 Caine 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Peciukas 0 1 3 4 11 0 2 3 Tatum 1 4 0 0 12 2 2 3 Nash 4 6 1 2 15 2 0 11 Team 5 Totals 29 66 10 14 200 46 18 75 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 33, UH-Hilo 28
3-point goals -- Hilo 5-20 (B. Graham 2-5, Esene 2-6, Hawthorne 1-3, McMaryion 0-1, Keiter-Charles 0-1, Dobson 0-2, Cabagnot 0-2), Hawaii 7-18 (Groce 2-2, Nash 2-2, Tatum 1-1, Gipson 1-2, Gibson 1-4, Caine 0-1, Sensley 0-2, Sottos 0-4). Personal fouls -- UH-Hilo 14, Hawaii 12.
Steals -- Hilo 8 (Marsh 3, Cabagnot, Esene, Keiter-Charles, Hawthorne, A. Graham), Hawaii 7 (Gibson 2, Sensley 2, Gipson, Zivanovic, Tatum). Blocked shots -- Hilo 4 (Dobson 2, Troupe, A. Graham), Hawaii 1 (Botez). Turnovers -- Hilo 14 (Troupe 3, McMaryion 3, Hawthorne 3, Dobson, Cabagnot, B. Graham, Esene, Keiter-Charles), Hawaii 11 (Tatum 3, Sottos 2, Blackett 2, Nash 2, Botez, Gipson). Officials -- Wells, Barr, Lewis. A -- N/A.
