LIHU‘E — For the first time since 2007, Hawai‘i has put together back-to-back road victories after Thursday night’s 73-66 victory over Boise State. The ‘Bows (13-9, 4-6 WAC), who were beaten by Boise State 79-55 in Honolulu less than a
LIHU‘E — For the first time since 2007, Hawai‘i has put together back-to-back road victories after Thursday night’s 73-66 victory over Boise State.
The ‘Bows (13-9, 4-6 WAC), who were beaten by Boise State 79-55 in Honolulu less than a month ago, got huge performances from their frontcourt trio of Bill Amis, Joston Thomas and Vander Joaquim to pull off the win.
Amis scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds, while blocking four shots.
Thomas was 6-of-8 from the floor for 16 points, while grabbing nine rebounds.
Center Joaquim contributed a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, also swatting three shots in 40 minutes on the court.
As a team, UH outrebounded Boise State (12-10, 5-5 WAC) by a 36-24 margin, making up for the numerous extra possessions it gave away by committing 20 turnovers to just eight for the Broncos.
Playing without second-leading scorer Zane Johnson, the ‘Bows relied less on outside shooting and more on tough interior play, getting 49 of their 73 points from the frontcourt.
Jeremiah Ostrowski had 12 points and eight assists to control the tempo, while Bo Barnes knocked down three 3-pointers for his nine points on the night.
Dominick Brumfield scored a bucket in his one minute of action.
UH jumped out to an early 23-13 lead by knocking down eight of 11 shots from the field. Boise State came back to even the score before Hawai‘i took a 29-28 lead into halftime.
The ‘Bows shot 68 percent (15-of-22) in the second half to pull away.
They notched their biggest lead when Amis converted a three-point play with 5:31 to play for a 64-49 advantage.
Daequon Montreal led the Broncos with 17 points, while Thomas Bropleh had 14 and six rebounds. Paul Noonan and La’Shard Anderson each scored 10.
The last time UH won consecutive road games was on Feb. 17 and Feb. 24, 2007, beating Long Beach State (93-78) and San Jose State (67-55) in its final two road contests of the season. The ‘Bows went 18-13 that season.
The win is the fourth in five WAC games for the ‘Bows, moving them up after an 0-5 conference start.
Hawai‘i will look to make it three straight away from home on Saturday against Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. The game is set to tip off at 7:05 p.m. PT (5:05 p.m. HT).
