HONOLULU — The Hawaii men’s basketball team’s Christmas game against Northern Iowa in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic will not be played, UH announced on Friday afternoon, because it decided to back out due to a lack of available players.
In a news release, UH said it was due to having “a limited number of players available for the game as a result of injuries and COVID-related issues.”
It was not immediately clear if the Rainbow Warriors will forfeit the 10:30 a.m. game to UNI or if it will go in the books as a straight cancellation with no effect on the team's win-loss record. Ticket refund information was not immediately available.
"We’re extremely disappointed to not participate in tomorrow’s game, but it’s absolutely the right thing to do," UH coach Eran Ganot said in a statement. "Our program didn’t have a single positive COVID case over the last 21 months and now we’re being affected like so many programs across the country. It’s an unfortunate situation, but the priority remains to protect our student-athletes as well as those that we compete against."
It was UH’s second prominent game cancellation in two days, both announced within 24 hours of their projected starts. Hawaii backed out of the Friday’s EasyPost Hawaii Bowl against Memphis on Thursday afternoon, citing an outbreak of COVID cases within the program as well as player losses following the regular season. Both the Hawaii Bowl and DHC are run by ESPN Events.
The rest of the Diamond Head Classic Christmas matchups were still in place as of Friday evening. Wyoming was to play South Florida for fifth place at 8:30 a.m.; Liberty and BYU meet for third place at 1:30 p.m.; and Stanford and Vanderbilt are slated to meet for the championship at 3:30 p.m.
Nine Rainbow Warriors saw action in Thursday’s 76-69 loss to South Florida in the DHC consolation semifinals. UH (4-6) has never finished last place in its nationally televised holiday event that is in its 12th year, but that’s what was at stake against UNI (4-7).
It was announched that UH center Mate Colina was out for the tournament before it started due to COVID health and safety protocols. Center Bernardo da Silva is still recovering from a hand injury from before the tournament and forward Kamaka Hepa suffered an apparent leg or foot injury while playing in the first two days of the DHC against Vanderbilt and USF.
It was unclear if more players are in health and safety protocols besides Colina. UH told Spectrum News that there are “additional” players in COVID protocols besides Colina, though it did not give a specific number.
The Rainbow Warriors lost wing Samuta Avea and guard Juan Munoz to season-ending injuries before the season opener. UH signed freshman guard Justus Jackson this week to help with depth and he saw three minutes of action off the bench in the loss to USF.
UH’s Jan. 1 home game against UC Riverside was announced as canceled earlier this week due to COVID protocols within the Highlanders’ program.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated from its original version with additional information from UH.