HONOLULU — Tanner Christensen pump-faked from the top of the key, drove around his defender, took two steps and tried to throw down a Statue of Liberty dunk on No. 10 North Carolina.
Guard Seth Trimble went up high to meet the Hawaii big man at the rim, and the almost-but-not-quite finish on the show-and-go elicited a collective “aww" from inside a bustling Stan Sheriff Center.
The tone was set, however. The Rainbow Warriors were not intimidated in their own building, but neither were the storied Tar Heels, who pulled away for an 87-69 victory over the 'Bows in a nationally televised contest on Friday night.
[Note: See below for more photos of Hawaii-North Carolina basketball.]
UNC’s lithe guard trio of RJ Davis (18 points), Elliot Cadeau (17) and Trimble (13) were too much as they knifed into the lane repeatedly, sowing chaos. UNC (3-1) now heads over to the Valley Isle for the Maui Invitational, where it will face a field that includes three top-five teams in Connecitcut, Auburn and Iowa State.
UH (4-1) took its first loss of the season.
Coach Eran Ganot lamented poor starts to both halves that resulted in the Tar Heels constructing a double-figure lead in both instances.
"Really brutal. Maybe that’s what our team needs to go through," Ganot said. "I really do believe that. As we have these new faces (on the roster), a lot of lapses in possessions, disorganization. They took advantage of us."
Forward Gytis Nemeiksa came off the bench to lead UH with 16 points and 10 rebounds in 17 minutes. Christensen attained a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) as well, but the bulk of that damage came in the first half.
Christensen posted his way into a big-body dunk on the UNC frontcourt in the first minute of the second half to make it a five-point game, but UH could not parlay the play into serious momentum. The Utah Tech transfer encountered double teams from the Tar Heels from that point on that forced the ball out of his hands.
"We had some open looks when he kicked it out. We didn't make them pay enough for it," Ganot said.
Many fans among the season-high “white-out” crowd of 8,377 (8,948 tickets issued) waved "Save Craig" signs and donned similarly branded shirts in support of recently fired Athletic Director Craig Angelos, who took in the action from the front row behind the UH bench.
At one point, when the Sheriff Center big screen showed fans during a timeout, they waved several of the signs enthusiastically. Angelos, who received lei from people over the course of the game, saw it and smiled.
"The outpouring of support was awesome," Angelos told Spectrum News in a message after the game. "It was very humbling."
Longtime national college basketball reporter Andy Katz, who was at the game as a prelude to the Maui Invitational, found the scene remarkable.
UH sported floral print green jerseys that evoked the Rainbow Warriors’ lauded Fabulous Five era. In one aspect, the 'Bows embodied the spirit of Fab Fiver Bob Nash, the UH single-game rebounding record-holder. The 'Bows won the boards 40-27, and grabbed 15 on the offensive end to win second-chance points 14-5. It was a marked change from UNC's last visit in 2016, when the Tar Heels doubled up the 'Bows on the glass, 46-23.
During the intervening eight years, Hubert Davis succeeded the legendary coach Roy Williams, who this time was in attendance in the Tar Heels' seating section behind the visitors bench. Davis preaches rebounding above all else and he was dismayed to see his team outdone in that area for the first time this season; that included a visit to No. 1 Kansas.
He credited UH with being the tougher, more aggressive team in the first half. The margin was just seven at halftime.
"They’re a really good basketball team, they’re on their home floor and they made a run," Davis said. "Guys were able to step up. Thirty-two (Christensen) is a beast down low on the block. He’ll get second-chance opportunities. We had to double team every time he got the ball in the post; we just didn’t feel like we could guard him 1-on-1. Give credit to Hawaii."
But this speedy UNC edition committed just five turnovers to UH's 13, and shot 51.9% from the field to UH's 38.6%. It won points off of turnovers (17-5) and fast-break points (19-1) decisively and remained unbeaten against UH in six all-time meetings with a double-digit margin of victory in all six.
UNC's guards, while small, sped past their UH counterparts in the open court.
"That was our first time playing that good (of a ) team. We couldn’t stop them in transition," Nemeiksa said. "Obviously we need to work on that."
Ganot said it was difficult to simulate the multi-pronged backcourt attack of the Tar Heels leading into the game.
"It was potent," he acknowledged after seeing it in person.
"Experience good or bad, can help you if you use it right," Ganot said. "We’re going to use it."
Jacobs came off the bench and gave UH a spark when it was languishing to a 1-for-10 shooting start to the game. He hit two 3s and scored twice on flashes to the post for a quick 10 points.
Jacobs, who finished with 13 points, credited Christensen's dunk attempt in the opening minutes for inspiration. The usually mild-mannered native of Yokohama, Japan, gave a yell at midcourt when he sank his second 3.
"We started off awful," he said. "We needed that one energy play. Even though it didn’t end up in a bucket, it showed the aggression, like ‘we’re still coming.’ It was something that got us going."
His teammates picked up on it too and attacked the cup.
Only late-clock 3-pointers by Davis and Ian Jackson on UNC’s last two possessions of the half kept the Heels ahead 41-34 at intermission.
UH, a traditional man-to-man defensive team under Ganot, seemed to recognize its individual deficiencies in speed and employed plenty of zone defense. However, the Tar Heels were able to pick it apart by going inside-out.
"They had only played three possessions of zone all year, but we were prepared for it," Hubert Davis said. "Calling our set plays against the zone got us really good looks and shots."
In the second half especially, UNC's guards, led by the All-American guard Davis, probed the lane and set up opportunities for the Heels' bigs. They outscored UH 26-6 in the paint in the second half.
After Christensen's power dunk to open the second half, UNC went on a 17-3 run to blow the game open.
Nemeiksa hit two 3s with under 13 minutes to play, followed by a splash from Jacobs, to prevent UNC from totally running away, but the game never got back into single digits. UH missed on several chances to land a hit to really make it a game down the stretch.
Ryan Rapp, who made his first start of the season, was assessed a flagrant 1 foul defending the post with 5:19 left and UNC turned the extended possession into four points. Guard Marcus Greene came off the bench to score 10 points.
UH hosts Division II crosstown neighbor Hawaii Pacific on Tuesday.
Note: This story was updated with details and quotes.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.