Rainbows win ugly via good-looking 'D'
POSTED: Wednesday, December 24, 2008
It was ugly, but this time the Hawaii men's basketball team was ready.
| HAWAII 56
UC Riverside 46
NEXT UP
vs. Colorado State on Saturday
|
UC Riverside wanted to wear down the Rainbow Warriors with a drag-it-out, physical style of play, but the 'Bows turned the tables for a 56-46 win before a crowd of 3,690 last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Highlanders succeeded in overpowering the 'Bows in California last year for a 79-62 win as part of ESPN's annual BracketBusters event.
Not so in this year's return game.
Instead, Hawaii (6-3) buckled down against the deliberate halfcourt offense of UCR (7-3) and held the Highlanders to the lowest opponent total in coach Bob Nash's tenure. It was UH's fewest points allowed since Fresno State's 42 in 2006-07, when Riley Wallace was coaching.
Idaho's 53 points last year was the previous low for a Nash opponent, and Hawaii's six-game home winning streak is also a best for the coach.
The disjointed game featured 48 total personal fouls and eight assists against 19 turnovers for UH. But the 'Bows often went to a zone defense that hindered the Highlanders into 28 percent shooting, compared to a serviceable 37.8 percent for the 'Bows.
“;It may not look like it, but tonight our guys played a very good basketball team,”; Nash said. “;They came in and played their style of basketball. Forced their will on us, but we fought it off and got a hard-fought game.”;
Roderick Flemings battled his way to the free-throw line and went 10-for-13 en route to a game-high 16 points for UH. Petras Balocka added 12 points and nine rebounds, and Adhar Mayen chipped in 10 points.
“;Probably the best I've shot from the free-throw line this year,”; Flemings said. “;You just gotta get ready, get down, get a defensive position ... and fight through screens, be tough.”;
Hawaii led by as many as 12 on a Mayen three-point play with 11 minutes, 4 seconds left.
The Highlanders stormed back with a 7-2 run to pull within 43-37 with 5:58 left, but that was as close as it got.
“;We had our chances to make a shot, to put some pressure on them, but we just couldn't make a play when we needed to get a run going,”; said UCR coach Jim Wooldridge.
Wooldridge was impressed with the patience shown by his opponent; UH was much more willing to pound the ball inside as opposed to deep jumpers last year.
“;They're a proactive team, I'd rather watch that than watch people just jacking it up from the perimeter,”; he said.
Mayen, who threw down a dunk on a fast break to put UH up 11 with under a minute left, was pleased with the transformation his teammates showed from last year's meeting.
“;Last year they just punked us, basically,”; said Mayen, who had been limited with a swollen finger at practice this week. “;This time we played real aggressive, were stronger with the ball.”;
Hawaii looked to push the tempo against the deliberate Highlanders, throwing several full-court passes early. The Rainbows built an eight-point lead on three-point plays by Brandon Adams and Lasha Parghalava.
That was about as smooth as it got offensively as the Rainbows shot 30 percent in the first half to the Highlanders' 26.1 percent; both teams seemed to have each other's offenses figured. But the difference was the 'Bows got to the foul line.
UH backup point guard Hiram Thompson scored his first points since the 2005-06 season with two free throws with 8:33 to play.
Riverside, which still has the best overall record in the Big West Conference, fell to 6-38 in nonconference road games since becoming a Division I team in 2001-02.
Nobody has scored more than 63 points against UCR since their season-opening loss to New Mexico State, with teams averaging only 50.8 points over that span.
Riverside's second-leading scorer per game, Brandon Dowdy, missed his third straight game with an injured shoulder.
Hawaii 56, UC Riverside 46
Highlanders (7-3)
| fg-a | ft-a | rb | pf | pts | a | to | min | ||
| Austin | 3-14 | 7-8 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 34 | |
| Soto | 0-2 | 0-1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 19 | |
| Borum | 1-8 | 2-4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 28 | |
| Scott | 5-12 | 2-4 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 33 | |
| Diggs | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 | |
| Barlow | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | |
| Hampton | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| Cunningham | 1-4 | 4-4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 30 | |
| LoBue | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| Veteto | 1-1 | 2-4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 15 | |
| Team | 2 | ||||||||
| Totals | 14-50 | 17-25 | 30 | 27 | 46 | 8 | 14 | 200 |
Rainbow Warriors (6-3)
| fg-a | ft-a | rb | pf | pts | a | to | min | ||
| Mayen | 3-6 | 3-3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 33 | |
| Amis | 1-4 | 0-0 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 27 | |
| Balocka | 4-10 | 4-7 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 28 | |
| Nitoto | 0-1 | 4-4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 30 | |
| Flemings | 3-8 | 10-13 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 36 | |
| Thompson | 0-1 | 2-2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | |
| Parghalava | 2-4 | 3-3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 18 | |
| Lutu | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+ | |
| Campbell | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| Adams | 1-2 | 1-1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| Totals | 4 | ||||||||
| Totals | 14-37 | 27-33 | 35 | 21 | 56 | 8 | 19 | 200o |
Key - fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fould; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.
Halftime - Hawaii 25, UC Riverside 20. Regulation - Hawaii 56, UC Riverside 46.
3-point goals - UC Riverside 1-12 (Diggs 1-4, Scott 0-1, Austin 0-2, Cunningham 0-2, Borum 0-3), Hawaii 1-6 (Mayen 1-2, Flemings 0-1, Parghalava 0-1, Balocka 0-2).
Steals - UC Riverside 8 (Borum 2, Scott 2, Cunningham 2, Austin, Barlow), Hawaii 1 (Thompson). Blocked shots - UC Riverside 1 (LoBue), Hawaii 2 (Thompson).
Officials - Jim Stupid, Tony Padilla, Donn Berdahl. Attendance - 3,690.
