As he had on several occasions throughout his four-year Hawaii career, point guard JoVon McClanahan pulled up for a shot with the seconds ticking down.
But McClanahan would not add to his bag of buzzer beaters, as his 15-footer for the lead from the left elbow caromed off the back iron and UC Davis held on for a 68-65 victory over UH in the Big West tournament semifinals at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev., on Friday night.
Unless UH appears in the pay-to-play College Basketball Invitational for the first time, coach Eran Ganot and his players saw their 2023-24 season come to an end at 20-14. Athletic Director Craig Angelos told Spectrum News earlier Friday that the 16-team CBI was being considered as an option, and reiterated it after the game.
“Will talk to Eran tonight,” Angelos said in a message.
Second-seeded UC Davis (20-12) advanced to face No. 4 Long Beach State (20-14) in Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. Hawaii time championship game. LBSU upset No. 1 UC Irvine, 83-79, in Friday’s first semifinal.
Big West Player of the Year Elijah Pepper scored 25 points on 10-for-23 shooting to lead the Aggies into their first final since 2017. UH dropped to 0-2 in Big West semifinals since winning it all in Ganot’s first year of 2016.
The Rainbow Warriors dug themselves a hole to begin each half and found themselves scrambling to get back into the game both times. They trailed by 17 with 10:47 to play in the game, but used runs of 11-2 and 13-2 to rally within a point on McClanahan’s three-point play with 27.8 seconds left.
UCD committed only six turnovers until the final minutes, then gave it away four times against UH fullcourt pressure in the final 1:24 to allow the ‘Bows back into the game.
After McClanahan’s first and only field goal of the game, UCD had it stolen by Noel Coleman at midcourt. Coleman, the No. 7 scorer in program history, hadn’t scored his first points until a layup with 9:19 left. He reset it at the top of the key and passed it to McClanahan. McClanahan dribbled around a screen to the left elbow and attempted a 15-foot step-back jumper that hit off the back iron. Forward Justin McKoy secured the rebound and missed a putback attempt but was called for a push-off foul in the process.
Pepper made both foul shots. McKoy threw a two-handed pass upcourt and it was deflected by the Aggies. McClanahan tried to collect it and fire up a wild shot but he touched the sideline with the ball with 0.3 seconds left, and Jim Les’ Aggies prevailed.
UH fell behind 11-2 to begin the game and required a 25-7 run to end the first half to get within 31-29 at intermission. McClanahan fired a pass to Bernardo da Silva for a dunk at the halftime buzzer.
Da Silva led UH with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting. Point guard Juan Munoz added 11 on 3-for-5 3-point shooting. McKoy, who led UH in scoring during Big West play, was limited to 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting.
Freshman wing Tom Beattie played 31 minutes off the bench with Pepper his main assignment.
Sophomore forward Harry Rouhliadeff did not appear after hitting his head on the court in Thursday’s 75-68 win over Cal State Northridge in the second round. Freshman Akira Jacobs played 12 minutes in his stead and matched his season high of eight points.
McClanahan went 7-for-7 at the foul line and finished with nine points.
Johnson, who scored 30 points in the Aggies' win in Davis on Feb. 29, was held to 12 points on 3-for-12 shooting. Kane Milling scored 14 with seven rebounds for UCD.
Both teams submitted strong efforts at the foul line. UH converted 21 of 23 attempts (91%) and UCD 11 of 13 (85%).
Without a CBI appearance, it was the last game in the college careers of Coleman, da Silva, McClanahan, McKoy, Munoz and Matthue Cotton, the last of whom did not see action.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.