Nebraska nets first win in decades over Hawai’i in Diamond Head Classic semifinals

HONOLULU – How about third? 

The University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team fell in a physical battle against Nebraska in the 2024 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic semifinals on Monday evening, 69-55, as Brice Williams matched his career-high with 32 points – 21 coming after halftime – to lead the Huskers to the program’s first-ever DHC title appearance. The Rainbow Warriors, led by Marcus Greene’s 11 points, struggled in the second half with turnovers while the top-25 Nebraska defense suffocated the UH offense to a season low in points. 

Hawai’i (7-4, 0-1 Big West) will play on Christmas Day at 1:30 p.m. HT against Oakland, who fell in overtime to Oregon State in the earlier of the two semifinals, in the third-place game. Nebraska will take on the Beavers of OSU right after in the Diamond Head Classic title game at 3:30 p.m. HT, both looking for a program-first championship win in the holiday tournament. 

It was announced earlier on Monday that this year’s Diamond Head Classic would be the last over the Christmas holiday, seeing a move to “Feast Week” that will come with an addition of a women’s basketball tournament under the DHC branding. The move comes after 15 years of the event during the holidays, seeing another effect of the continuously shifting environment of college athletics as scheduling for the tournament became more difficult with earlier starts to conference play across the country. 

“I think I’m immune to it all now,” Hawai’i head coach Eran Ganot said half-jokingly when asked about the tournament’s move. “I’m not surprised by the volatility of everything, when you talk about [the changes in] every phase of the profession now, so why would scheduling be immune? As teams start to play 20-game conference slates … There’s less three-game events, so there’s a lot going on.” 

Focused from the early going, Hawai’i jumped out to a 12-5 advantage behind a pair of Marcus Greene three-pointers, seeing the guard’s hot shooting since entering the starting lineup continue. The Rainbow Warriors held Nebraska to one shot each possession while forcing a pair of turnovers in the first five and a half minutes of play, neutralizing the size advantage held by the Huskers. 

The UH lead grew to eight with 8:41 left in the first half after Akira Jacobs finished in transition, giving him seven points in six minutes off the bench before he picked up his second foul. After the 6-foot-10 forward went to the bench with just over seven minutes left before half, Nebraska flipped the game on its head with a 15-0 run to take a 29-22 lead as Hawai’i missed 11 straight shots.

Harry Rouhliadeff snapped the scoring drought for UH with 40 seconds left before halftime off a nice find from senior Ryan Rapp in transition. Marcus Greene then drilled his third three-pointer of the half just before the buzzer to pull Hawai’i back within a pair heading into the locker room, 29-27. 

Despite going over seven minutes without points of any kind and hitting only 4-of-16 three-point attempts, the Rainbow Warriors were able to keep close at the break thanks to only three turnovers committed to Nebraska’s seven while the reserves for UH outscored the Huskers’ bench, 11-2. 

It looked like the second half script would follow the first after Hawai’i pushed back ahead with four straight points to begin frame, but another Brice Williams scoring burst put the Huskers back up by a handful by the 15:48 mark. Gary Juwan added a personal nine-point stretch for Nebraska to help the visitors counter each push from Hawai’i and maintain the lead with just over 11 minutes to play, 47-41. 

With both Williams and Gary cooking, Hawai’i showed different looks down the stretch with some full court pressure and zones. It didn’t stop Williams as he continued his scorching hot shooting with another seven points for Nebraska, who hit 6-of-7 shots during a three-minute UH scoring drought to extend the advantage to double figures for the first time all night. 

“We just [have to] try to limit their runs and not let them go on such big runs,” said Ryan Rapp postgame. “We let them get too comfortable. Two of their guys combined for 50 so it’s tough to win when you let those guys go off like that.”  

Kody Williams stopped the dry spell with a tough take into the chest of a Nebraska defender, sparking a 7-2 run for Hawai’i and pulling the Rainbow Warriors back within six with 6:20 left to play. That would be the closest that Hawai’i would get as the Cornhuskers hit on the final five straight free throw attempts and outscored the Rainbow Warriors 13-5 over the final six minutes.  

Akira Jacobs finished with 10 points and three rebounds in the loss for UH while Kody Williams added 10 points in the second half while turning the ball over five times himself throughout the night. Gytis Nemeikša was held to a season-low one point on 0-of-5 shooting in 23 minutes of work, just the second time in 11 games that the Lithuanian forward has been held under 10 points. 

It was the first win for Nebraska over Hawai’i since 1976, seeing UH win the previous five matchups by an average of 10 points. The Huskers hit at a 41% clip from three-point range and forced more Hawai’i turnovers in the second half than the team committed collectively all night. 

Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg has previous experience winning the Diamond Head Classic, leading Iowa State to the tournament crown in 2013 before a three-year stint in the NBA as the Chicago Bulls head coach. 

Hawai’i will close out the non-conference schedule on Wednesday, December 25 at 1:30 p.m. HT against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies in the Diamond Head Classic third-place game. The Rainbow Warriors will then have eight days off before hosting UC Santa Barbara to kick off 2025.