The Hawaii men’s basketball team’s latest late-game struggles cost the Rainbow Warriors a chance at a two-game road sweep.
UH came apart in the last five minutes of a 76-66 loss at Cal State Northridge as the Matadors scored 14 of the game’s last 19 points at Premier Credit Union Arena, formerly known as the Matadome in Northridge, Calif.
The Rainbow Warriors (9-6, 1-2 Big West) hung with the Matadors (12-3, 3-0), one of the conference’s early-season surprises, bucket for bucket for about 36 minutes. But as was the case in last week’s home loss to Cal State Fullerton and twice in nonconference play in December, the ‘Bows could not execute in the clutch in a close game.
UH coach Eran Ganot cited lapses in transition, ball control and protecting the defensive glass as reasons the Matadors separated.
“We needed a breakthrough; that was an opportunity to break through and we didn’t get over the hump,” Ganot told Spectrum News in a postgame phone interview. “I felt like we put ourselves in position on the road against a great team and disappointed we couldn’t finally break through. We’re close but we gotta keep working.”
Coming off an 11-point win at Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday, UH looked to attack CSUN predominantly with the 3-ball; 38 of its 64 field-goal attempts came from beyond the arc. But UH made 11 of them, only a 28.9% clip.
CSUN, the Big West’s top team in field-goal percentage defense, held UH to a season-low 32.8%. The Matadors, who have struggled in recent years under a series of big-name coaches, won their seventh straight game under first-time full Division I head coach Andy Newman, a streak that included a landmark victory at UCLA. It is a record for the program's Division I era.
Meanwhile, CSUN attempted just seven from long range. Instead, the Matadors pushed the pace whenever possible and forced the issue inside, generating 30 free-throw attempts. They sank 25 (83.3%), including a 10-for-10 effort from De’Sean Allen-Eikens, who scored 20.
Gianni Hunt scored 16 and Keonte Jones had 13 points, six rebounds, five steals and four blocks for the Matadors.
CSUN grabbed 14 offensive rebounds despite playing a rotation that mostly involved players 6 feet 8 or smaller.
“The difference in the second half was the rebounding; they were plus-10 or 11 on the boards,” Ganot said. “We had key lapses and they convert on those.”
Forward Justin McKoy brought UH within 62-61 with 4:32 remaining on two free throws.
From there, UH went 1-for-6 from the field with three turnovers.
Point guard JoVon McClanahan sank three 3-pointers in UH’s first six possessions and scored 15 of his team’s first 18 points. He had 17 at halftime and finished with a season-high 23 to go with a career-best five steals.
Noel Coleman scored 13 points to surpass Bobby Nash for 15th on UH’s all-time scoring list with 1,027 points. Forward Justin McKoy added 12 points.
UH got a lift from a new source in guard Ryan Rapp, who made his third straight start. He scored a career-best seven points with six rebounds, three assists and a block.
But starting center Bernardo da Silva struggled mightily with a two-point outing with six turnovers, and his backup, Mor Seck, was saddled with foul trouble while aggressively going for blocks.
UH hosts first-place UC Irvine (11-5, 4-0) and UC Riverside (6-10, 1-3) in a pair of home contests Thurday and Saturday.
“They’re all big. You can see (that) already,” Ganot said. “This could be a jumbled-up conference, so every game is significant because of tiebreakers, all that stuff. But we can’t skip steps on that. We gotta play better and use our energy to focus on recharging, traveling, practicing, and getting ready for these next few games. Seventeen more games, that’s a lot.”
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.