Now that’s how you break a losing streak!
On the heels of the first five-game skid in the Eran Ganot era, the Hawaii men’s basketball squad picked up a pair of enormous victories to pull themselves back to the .500 mark in Big West play. It’s only two games, but it says a lot about this young team’s confidence and maturity to rebound from a tough stretch in heart-stopping fashion.
Even more impressive is the manner in which they picked up the wins. Heading out on the road is never the ideal recipe for a turnaround, but that’s exactly how Hawaii got the job done in a pair of remarkably close match-ups with both UC Irvine and UC Riverside.
The ‘Bows first stemmed the tide with a 62-61 win at Irvine, holding off the home team’s second-half comeback attempt. They then picked up the road sweep with a 74-69 overtime win at Riverside.
With four games still to play before the conference tournament gets underway, Hawaii (15-10, 6-6 Big West) is sixth in league play and back in the mix for a top-four seed. Regardless of seeding, Hawaii has shown it can get the best of anyone in the conference. UH now has wins over UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis and UC Irvine — the top three teams in the standings. So just getting back to playing good basketball is the main goal over the next two weeks.
As talked about last week, Sherrif Drammeh continues to be the barometer for success. After seeing his scoring average dip to just 7 points per game during the losing streak, he had 13 off the bench against Irvine and a career-high 23 in the win over Riverside. He shot exceptionally well in both, going 6 for 9 from three-point range and a perfect 8 for 8 from the free-throw line. The ‘Bows are now 10-3 when he reaches double figures in scoring, as opposed to 4-7 when he’s held below 10 points. The hyperactive Drammeh has never been reliant on his scoring to make an impact. But on a team that lacks guys who can typically create instant offense, him finding ways to put the ball in the basket is enormous to their balance.
Hawaii closes out its home schedule this week, first on Thursday against Long Beach State (13-15, 7-5) and then Saturday against UC Irvine (14-15, 9-4) — two teams Hawaii sits below in the conference standings.
The Beach picked up an 89-81 win over the ‘Bows in the conference opener back on Jan. 4. Hawaii couldn’t contain anything in the paint that night, allowing LBSU to shoot 30 for 39 on two-point attempts. That’s not a winning formula against any team, but Hawaii’s defense has certainly improved since.
Things can change very quickly in college hoops as just one week has completely altered the tenor and emotion of this team. Hawaii had a chance to really let the season slip through its fingers. Both road wins last week could have easily gone the other way and they would be looking at an ugly 4-8 conference mark. Instead they’ve regained some swagger and continue to prove that there really isn’t much separation between themselves and the league’s other top teams.
How much they can build upon their regained success is now the only question that remains.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
