’Bows bag Beavers

The Rainbows give the Fab Five a show in doubling up on Oregon State

With four starters and the coach of Hawaii's famed Fabulous Five teams of the early 1970s in attendance, the current Rainbow Warriors posted their most lopsided victory since that team ruled local basketball -- an 85-41 thrashing of Oregon State last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawaii    Oregon State 85 41 Next Up vs. Hofstra on Thursday

Riding a 7-minute perfect storm to open the game, the Rainbows (2-1) made their first nine shots from the field, while Oregon State (2-3) went 0-for-8 and Hawaii led 25-0 less than 8 minutes into the game.

The 44-point final spread was the fourth largest in UH history and the biggest since a 106-49 win over Redlands in 1972.

The result even caught Rainbow Warrior coach Riley Wallace by surprise.

"There's no way to predict that," Wallace said. "It wasn't a good week of practice for us.

"Our transition worked well, we got down the floor got some good shots. We executed our offense, our cuts were much more sharp and crisp than they were all week."

Red Rocha, coach of the Fabulous Five and an Oregon State alum, had a seat in the stands behind the Rainbows bench. His former UH players, Al Davis, John Penebacker and Dwight Holiday, also attended the game, and another, associate coach Bob Nash, was on the UH bench.

"Maybe the vibes from the Fab Five were in the arena," Nash said.

Hawaii guard Matt Lojeski set a career high with 24 points, and posted seven rebounds and six assists to lead the rout.

Matt Gibson contributed 14 points, four assists and five steals, and Bobby Nash broke out of an early-season slump with 13 points, hitting all three of his attempts from 3-point range.

"We've been sluggish at the start and it was good to get off on the right track and get off to a good lead so we could get everybody in the game," Lojeski said.

The Rainbows committed 22 turnovers, but swiped 16 steals on defense to fuel the running game and scored 30 points off 25 Oregon State turnovers.

"We have been stressing defense all week long, help-side and rotations," Gibson said. "That's what we've been stressing all week, the team-defense concept, and we put that in effect tonight."

The Rainbows ended up making 60 percent of their attempts from the field and will try to take their hot shooting to the cold of Alaska this week.

They are scheduled to depart for Anchorage this morning and open play in the Great Alaska Shootout on Thursday against Hofstra.

"This is what we needed," Gibson said. "A solid home victory, get everybody in the game and get on the plane. Get some rest tonight and get to Alaska."

The Rainbows blitzed Oregon State in the opening 5 minutes, running out to a 16-0 lead by the first media timeout.

Oregon State controlled the opening tip, but a steal by Nash led to a short banker by Stephen Verwers, who completed the three-point play to start the run.

Nash, who entered the game 2-for-18 from the field this season, drained two 3-pointers in the run.

"(Senior captain) Ahmet Gueye told me during the game, 'Just let it come to you,' and that's what I did," Nash said. "I made the right cuts and my teammates found me."

UH's shutout remained intact until the 12:32 mark, when Marcel Jones dropped in a jumper from the right side to make the score 25-2, drawing a cheer from the Sheriff Center crowd of 4,333 (6,115 tickets issued).

"I have never been in that position down 25-0 in my life, at any level," OSU coach Jay John said. "And I doubt any of our guys have."

John kept usual starting forwards Sasa Cuic and Kyle Jeffers on the bench to begin the game due to disciplinary issues. They entered the contest at the 17:46 mark with Hawaii already leading 8-0.

Though the Rainbows' torrid pace eventually cooled, they still shot 67 percent (14-for-21) from the field in the first half to take a 42-24 lead into the locker room.

They opened the second half on a 12-3 run and Wallace emptied the bench in the final minutes.

"Against Coppin State (last Monday) we got up on them, but we didn't put them away and we didn't let our subs get any playing time," Lojeski said. "That's big for us because they work just as hard as we do."

Jones, Oregon State's leading scorer entering the game, had 10 points in the first half but was shut out in the second. Freshman guard Josh Tarver led the Beavers with 11 points.

Note: UH sophomore Jack Miller sat out the game with an injury and Wallace said he will redshirt this season.

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