Win streak snapped as CSUN dominates Hawai’i at home

HONOLULU – Toss away the tape. 

The University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team struggled mightily from long range, turned the ball over too much and were straight up outhustled on Thursday night, getting buried at home by Cal State Northridge, 83-60. The Rainbow Warriors shot a dreadful 3-of-20 from behind the arc while 14 turnovers led directly to 23 points for the Matadors, but the battle on the boards was the biggest shock as the usual reliable rebounding of UH was dominated from start to finish. 

CSUN (12-6, 4-3 Big West) won the rebounding battle, 40-25, becoming the first opponent to out-rebound Hawai’i by more than one total board this season as they flew all over the floor to secure 14 offensive rebounds. The visitors entered the day ranked one spot ahead of the Rainbow Warriors nationally in total rebound margin (+8.5 to +8.2) but left no doubt which team took the glass more seriously on Thursday. 

Scotty Washington scored a game-high 24 points for CSUN, 15 in the second half, to help the visitors win inside the Stan Sheriff Center for the first time since 2019. Marcus Adams Jr. added 18 points on an efficient 8-of-13 shooting performance and Keonte Jones recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. 

Hawai’i freshman Aaron Hunkin-Claytor was the lone Rainbow Warrior to finish in double figures, turning in a career-high 10 points (all in the second half) while playing 20+ minutes for the third time in his young college stay. Tom Beattie shouldered the load in the first half for UH, scoring nine points all in the opening 20 minutes. Leading scorer Gytis Nemeikša was held to single digits for just the fourth time this season, adding eight points, four rebounds and three assists in the loss. 

The Rainbow Warriors (11-6, 3-3 Big West) looked ready from the jump, scoring the first six baskets inside the painted area as they took an early 12-6 lead five minutes into action. The Matadors countered with an 8-0 run, accented by back-to-back buckets from Keonte Jones to snatch the lead for the first time with 11 minutes left in the opening half. 

Facing a four-minute scoring drought, Tom Beattie tried to turn on the water with a one-handed flush off a nice feed from Marcus Greene with 10:10 left, but CSUN grabbed the momentum right back by scoring 11 of the next 13 points as Jones drilled the first three-pointer for either side with just under six minutes left before halftime. 

After taking a timeout to regroup, Hawai’i recovered enough to trade baskets over the final minutes of the first half to head into the break trailing by only nine after shooting 13-of-31 from the field and connecting on 18% of their three-point attempts. Cal State Northridge got hot from distance, hitting four threes in the final six minutes of the half while outrebounding the Rainbow Warriors over the opening 20 minutes by nine total boards (7 OREB). 

The break did nothing for the UH momentum, seeing the team come out of the locker room flat as the Matadors rattled off a 7-2 run to open the second half. Hawai’i standout big man Tanner Christensen was glued to the bench after committing his third and fourth fouls back-to-back with over 15 minutes left. 

“He’s got to be more disciplined there,” Hawai’i head coach Eran Ganot said of Christensen’s foul woes against the Matadors. “I’ve tried over the years to not be as stubborn on the [immediately pulling veteran players when they get two or three fouls], but the way the game was going, what am I saving him for? … Now playing him through that, maybe he can learn from that.” 

Down as many as 16, Hawai’i sent in freshman Aaron Hunkin-Claytor for his second stint of work on the night after a non-memorable first half and immediately saw the benefits as the guard rattled off five straight points for UH with a pair of nifty left-handed layups to cut the deficit. Again, CSUN had the answer as the Matadors rumbled to a 12-2 run behind a pair of three-pointers to take a 22-point advantage with just over 11 minutes to play.  

“We had too many freshmen mistakes from non-freshmen,” Ganot said. “To [Aaron Hunkin-Claytor’s] credit, he lets the game come to him. Maybe if it doesn’t go as well in the first stint, he’s going to be ready to go in the second … He recognized what we needed [in the second half], like hey, I’ll start leading and I’ll start being aggressive and we’ll go from there.” 

Looking for answers, Ganot went to his youthful deep bench and gave sophomore guard Osa Obasohan a look with 9:23 left in regulation and the deficit still over 20. The Belgian guard, who had appeared in only three games prior to Thursday night and scored one point, immediately made an impact as he got an and-one to drop before helping the Rainbow Warriors play with a faster tempo.  

“Maybe [the early opportunity for Osa] is something he can build off of, and we were searching,” Ganot said of the decision to give the sophomore a look midway through the second half. “You know, stay ready.” 

Three hits from the free throw line and another layup by Hunkin-Claytor later, Gytis Nemeikša was igniting the UH crowd with a two-handed flush to pull Hawai’i within 12 and force a CSUN timeout with 6:25 still to go. After the stop in the action, the Matadors put the final blow into the Rainbow Warriors’ comeback hopes as Scotty Washington scored 13 of the game’s next 15 points to put the visitors up more than 20 once again. 

Tanner Christensen scored only four points and grabbed a season-worst one rebound while playing just 21 minutes, struggling to stay on the court with foul issues. The 6-foot-10 center was aggressive defensively in his limited time on the floor, blocking a season-high three shots against the Matadors. 

Foul trouble plagued Ryan Rapp after two fast whistles sent the senior to sit for an extended period in the first half, stopping him from ever finding a rhythm offensively. The Australian sharpshooter finished with two points on 1-of-7 shooting, going 0-of-4 from behind the arc in the loss. 

“We’d be remiss if we didn’t give their program, their staff a lot of credit,” Ganot said after the game. “We got hit in the mouth and didn’t respond. We haven’t had that happen to us a lot and it’s tough when it does, but we have got to go through it, get back to work. The belief in our program and our guys is still very high and hopefully that [loss] happened for a reason like we always believe.” 

The 23-point loss is just the eighth loss of 20 or more points in 275 games under Eran Ganot at the University of Hawai’i. The margin of defeat was also Hawai’i’s largest in any conference home game since joining the Big West. 

Hawai’i faces little time to lick its wounds with quick turnaround as Cal State Bakersfield comes to the Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday for a 7 p.m. HT tip-off. The Roadrunners completed a 23-point home comeback last time out, defeating CSUN 94-90 last Saturday for their third win in the last four games.