HONOLULU — For the second straight season, the University of Hawaii men’s basketball team closes out its Big West regular season schedule with road games at UC Davis and Long Beach State. First up for the Rainbow Warriors are the Aggies on Thursday at 5 p.m. HT.
UH (14-13, 8-6 Big West) enters the final weekend in a tie for third place and just two games out of first place. Hawaii has been mathematically eliminated to repeat as Big West regular-season champs with league leaders UC Irvine and UC Davis squaring off Saturday with the regular-season title on the line. UH, however, can finish as high as a tie for second place, this despite being selected eighth in the preseason media poll.
The ‘Bows have won six of their last eight contests and are coming off a dramatic 64-58 overtime win over Cal State Fullerton in their home finale on Saturday. UH improved to 2-0 this season in overtime this year with the win.
Noah Allen scored a game-high 21 points in the victory for his 11th 20-point game of the year. Allen continues to lead the Big West in scoring during conference games at 18.7 ppg and has put himself in the conversation for conference player of the year honors.
UH has won three of its last four road games, including an 82-61 win at Cal Poly on Feb. 18. The ‘Bows have won three of the last four meetings with UC Davis (18-11, 10-4 Big West), including last year’s victory in Davis where UH clinched a share of the Big West regular-season title. The Aggies defeated UH, 76-70, in Honolulu earlier this year.
Rainbow Wahine at home for regular season finale against Long Beach State
The University of Hawaii women’s basketball team will be at home for the regular season finale against Long Beach State on Thursday.
Senior Briana Harris will be honored in a Senior Night ceremony following the game. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. HT in the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Wahine are coming off back-to-back road wins last week to improve to 10-17 overall and 6-9 in the Big West Conference. The ‘Bows got 20-point individual performances in both of those wins, as Leah Salanoa went 6-for-11 from 3-point range and scored 20 points at UC Irvine and Harris added 20 on 7-of-13 shooting from the field at Cal State Fullerton. Sarah Toeaina leads Hawaii with 13.4 points per game, while Harris adds 9.8.
The LBSU 49ers (20-9, 11-3 Big West) will host CSUN on Thursday before visiting Hawaii. LBSU features a balanced offensive attack, with the No. 3 scoring offense in the conference (67.2 points per game) despite no player averaging more than Raven Benton’s 10.5 points per game. Madison Montgomery adds 10.2, Anna Kim averages 10.0, Jewelyn Sawyer adds 9.2, Gigi Hascheff averages 7.1 and Jessica Gertz contributes 7.0 to round out six 49ers averaging between 7.0 and 10.5 points per game.
Long Beach State evened the all-time series against Hawaii at 17-17 with a 68-57 win in Long Beach in both teams’ conference-opener on Jan. 5. That game snapped Hawaii’s seven-game winning streak in the series. The ‘Bows are 10-9 all-time at home against LBSU.
After Saturday’s game, Hawaii will head to Long Beach, Calif., for the first round of the Big West Tournament, which begins March 7. The ‘Bows will be part of the No. 6 vs. No. 7 opening-round game where they could face either Cal Poly or UC Santa Barbara. The quarterfinals are on March 8 in Long Beach before the tournament shifts to Anaheim’s Honda Center for the semifinals (March 10) and championship game (March 11).
