HONOLULU — Hawaii, rested and at full strength on its home floor, faced a travel-weary Cal State Fullerton basketball team that was without its top scorer on Saturday night.
The Titans overcame all of it to deal the Rainbow Warriors a 63-61 overtime loss in UH’s conference opener at the Stan Sheriff Center, upholding trends in the teams’ head-to-head series and the ‘Bows’ recent struggles to close out tight games.
Trailing by a basket with 11.2 seconds left in the extra period, UH used a timeout to set up a high ball screen to generate either a 3-pointer for Juan Munoz or a post opportunity for forward Justin McKoy. But an errant entry pass sent McKoy scrambling into the corner and he had to fire up a twisting, contested prayer that didn’t come close.
A slow start, untimely turnovers and empty free-throw trips were the prime culprits in the result: a fifth straight loss to the undersized yet undeterred Titans spanning three seasons, including OT losses in three of the last four meetings.
“Overtime just comes down to the team that plays hardest on defense,” said guard Noel Coleman, whose last-second shots forced two of the extra periods with the Titans last year, to no ultimate avail. “We were just exchanging buckets at (that) time, so you’re not going to win games like that. We’ve got something to fix about that.”
UH (8-5 overall) has yet to win a game contested within an eight-point margin in 2023-24 and lost for the fourth time in five games.
In the new reality of the Big West, missed opportunities like Saturday could make things considerably tougher on the Rainbow Warriors than used to be the case in March’s endgame.
The Big West elected to place a heavier emphasis on its 20-game regular season starting this year.
One big change? Only the top eight of 11 teams make it to the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev., for the Big West tournament. But of greater importance, its newly adopted staggered bracket – identical to the one used in past seasons in BWC women’s basketball – is heavily weighted in favor of the regular season’s top two teams, which receive a double-bye into the semifinals. A single bye is accorded to Nos. 3 and 4, while Nos. 5 through 8 would have to accomplish the highly difficult task of winning four times in four days, likely against better-rested competition, to earn the BWC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Had that system been in place last year, Hawaii would’ve been in the last category as a No. 5 seed with its 13-7 BWC record.
The margin for error this season appears slim. In non-conference play, CSUN, Long Beach State and UC Irvine notched road victories at the likes of UCLA, Michigan and USC.
“We knew going in that the league has been up. You’ve seen some of the big wins, but even the balance of the league, the scores,” UH coach Eran Ganot said.
“Right now, we’re going through our struggles. If we handle it right, we could be hot at a different time. You just gotta go back to work. It’s a long year. Twenty is a lot of games. But each game is of significant magnitude. That’s why this loss is disappointing.”
The outcome in front of a crowd of 3,688 (5,171 tickets issued) overshadowed a milestone as Coleman joined UH’s 1,000-point career club as its 17th member and first since Christian Standhardinger in 2013-14. Coleman needed six points entering the night, and he got that on a reverse layup with 6:18 remaining in the first half.
“It definitely means a lot to see your name go up there with those great guys. Anything that includes the history of Hawaii, I’m proud of, but it doesn’t take away the bitter feeling of today,” said Coleman, who was previously honored for reaching 1,000 points as a five-year college player including his freshman season at San Diego. “I would’ve liked to celebrate a little more, (and) be happy about it. It’s a big achievement personally but I think there’s something bigger ahead of us as a team.”
The 'Bows head to Cal State Bakersfield (5-8, 0-2) and CSUN (11-3, 2-0) for games on Thursday and Saturday in their first official away contests of the year.
UH, picked to finish third by the BWC’s coaches in the 2023-24 preseason, saw its December difficulties – exposed by Nevada, Georgia Tech and TCU leading into and during the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic – continue right up to the New Year.
On Saturday, UH was 12-for-21 (57.1%) from the foul line and committed 17 turnovers. The team was 1-for-6 from the field in overtime with three giveaways.
While the UH frontcourt was soundly outplayed last time out against TCU in the DHC third-place game, this time, it was the backcourt that struggled to produce. Point guard JoVon McClanahan, Coleman and top bench guard Munoz were limited to a combined 6-for-22 from the floor by CSUF’s versatile lineup of switchable guards.
CSUF (8-6), which dropped a game at Titan Gym to Long Beach State on Thursday before having to make the trip out to Honolulu, held UH to just five 3-pointers made in 23 attempts (21.7%) and avoided a costly 0-2 conference hole.
Reigning BWC Defensive Player of the Year Tory San Antonio contributed to Coleman’s 3-for-9 night that included no field goals after the 1K milestone-breaker. San Antonio blocked UH’s first two shots of the game, by Coleman and Bernardo da Silva.
“I think he put his signature on that game,” Titans coach Dedrique Taylor said of the 6-foot-3 guard San Antonio. “You’re talking about the defensive player of the year. He’s our backbone. He does everything for our group.”
The Titans were without guard Max Jones (17.1 points per game), who hurt a leg late in the LBSU game.
“Tip your hat to Hawaii, they battled. But I thought tonight our group was resilient, we were tough,” Taylor said. “Even though we were a man down, I think we showed ourselves what we’re capable of moving forward.”
The ‘Bows had their chances. After UH rallied from a nine-point first-half hole, most of the second half was played within the span of a single score. When CSUF’s Dominic Brewton (game-high 17 points) missed in the final seconds of regulation, McClanahan momentarily appeared to add to his resume of buzzer-beaters with a heave from beyond halfcourt. But the potential winner was shown to be in his hand at the horn and it was waved off.
As was the case in games in Fullerton and in the BWC quarterfinals last year, the Titans were better in the five minutes of OT, though UH struck first this time on two free throws by McKoy. UH led for the last time, 60-59, on a Tom Beattie layup on a dump-off from da Silva with 2:27 left.
Brewton posted up McClanahan and stuck a turnaround jumper from the left block for a 61-60 Titans lead with 1:15 to go.
Da Silva, UH’s focal point against CSUF’s undersized post players, grabbed 10 rebounds and scored all of his 15 points in the second half, but at that point in the game missed on a solo post-up against John Mikey Square. At the other end, Square went right at da Silva and tossed in a paint bucket, pounding his chest as he gave the Titans a three-point advantage.
San Antonio fouled McClanahan on a 3 with 17 seconds left, but the UH co-captain, who was 1-for-3 at the line to that point, went 1-for-3 again.
UH took a foul on Brewton with 15.4 seconds left. He missed both and UH called timeout from midcourt for its final look.
Ganot gave Ryan Rapp his first career start on the wing in place of Matthue Cotton, and he responded with UH’s first basket of the night among his four points. But the Washington State transfer and Cotton both sat down the stretch in favor of the freshman Beattie, whose steal and driving dunk before the halftime buzzer gave UH a lift going into the second half.
Former UH basketball director of operations Jamie Smith was given his 2016 Big West championship ring at halftime by UH Athletic Director Craig Angelos. Smith, who has coached in his native Great Britain for the last several years, was instrumental in generating fan interest, particularly among students, during the Gib Arnold/Benjy Taylor era (as well as Ganot's first season) with his themed game nights.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.