During a team meeting in October, the members of the Hawaii basketball program set a goal of winning the Big West\u2019s regular season title.<\/p>\n
Five months later, on what is billed as \u201cWhite-Out Night,\u201d that goal remains on the whiteboard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe players chose it, they wrote it, and it\u2019s still in play,\u201d offensive coordinator Brad Davidson said. \u201cThey know what\u2019s at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Entering the final day of the Big West\u2019s regular season, the Rainbow Warriors and UC Irvine are tied atop the standings at 14-5. If the \u2019Bows defeat Long Beach State, they will claim at least a share of their first regular-season title since 2016, Eran Ganot\u2019s first year as UH head coach. The \u2019Bows already are assured two byes into the semifinal round of next week\u2019s Big West Tournament in Henderson, Nev.<\/p>\n
Tonight\u2019s game at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center will celebrate six UH seniors, including forward Harry Rouhliadeff, a fourth-year \u2019Bow. It also will serve as a reunion for LBSU head coach Chris Acker and assistant John Montgomery. Both are former UH assistant coaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s similar to (Thursday) night,\u201d said UH defensive coordinator Rob Jones, referencing how LBSU, like UC Riverside, did not secure a berth in the eight-team Big West Tournament. The Beach have \u201cnothing to lose. They\u2019re playing for pride. They have two guys who coached here. That means something to them. But we\u2019re also playing for something bigger than that. I think our guys recognize that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Rouhliadeff added: \u201cWe haven\u2019t had this opportunity to win a regular season in, what, 10 years now. It\u2019s something we\u2019re really ready for and really pumped for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freshman guard Gavin Sykes, who leads the Beach in scoring (18.8-point average), is iffy. Sykes did not play in Thursday\u2019s loss to UC Davis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to prep for (Sykes) if he\u2019s there,\u201d Jones said. \u201c(Shaquil) Bender is good. (Rob) Diaz had 30 (points) the other night. \u2026 They\u2019ve played a lot of close games. Their record does not reflect how good they\u2019ve been over the past year. They\u2019ve got talented players.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Thursday\u2019s game, UCR pressured the wings, leaving a gap into the lane. The \u2019Bows shifted into overdrive, hitting 16 layups and soaring for three dunks. In a play often rehearsed but never run in a game, Quandre \u201cDre\u201d Bullock cut across the baseline, took an inbounds pass from Hunter Erickson, and dunked. Yacine Toumi\u2019s block set up Bullock\u2019s breakaway jam. The Highlanders missed 15 of 24 layups.<\/p>\n
UH\u2019s aggressiveness also draws fouls. The \u2019Bows are 20th nationally in free-throw attempts at 25.2 per game.<\/p>\n
The \u2019Bows have been able to adjust to their own foul situations this season. In what is becoming a familiar sequence, when 7-foot center Isaac \u201cBig Fish\u201d Johnson picks up his first foul, 6-8 Gytis Nemeiksa is summoned.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we can play a different way or a little quicker,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
When Johnson and Rouhliadeff are both in foul trouble, as they were on Thursday, there is another option.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Yacine comes in, we don\u2019t lose any speed. \u201cAll four of our (post) guys can go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones noted there is depth on an active roster that has dwindled to 10 players because of injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeams are looking at us and \u2026 \u2018those are guys off the bench?\u2019\u201d Jones said of Nemeiksa, Isaiah Kerr and Toumi. \u201cIt\u2019s a tough things for teams to scout. This team is deep. I think we\u2019ve proven that with our injuries to not only hold on to this thing but compete for the title. That\u2019s a tribute to our depth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
RAINBOW WARRIORS BASKETBALL<\/p>\n
At Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center<\/p>\n
LONG BEACH STATE (9-21, 5-13 BIG WEST) AT HAWAII (22-7, 14-5)<\/p>\n
>> When: Tonight at 7:05 p.m.<\/p>\n
>> TV: Spectrum Sports<\/p>\n
>> Radio: 1500-AM\/92.7-FM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During a team meeting in October, the members of the Hawaii basketball program set a goal of winning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[14596,131,133,132],"class_list":["post-208860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-editors","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}