First half burst helps Hawai’i race past Mississippi Valley State

HONOLULU – Solid start for the defending champs.

The University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team turned in another high-powered scoring effort on Wednesday night, moving past Mississippi Valley State University (1-3) with an 88-56 victory to kick off the 2025 OUTRIGGER Rainbow Classic inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

“Pleased with the win, thankful for our fans, honored and excited to be part of the Rainbow [Classic],” head coach Eran Ganot said to open his postgame presser. “Some good things today, for sure. Some things that were very sloppy, which was disappointing.”

Looking to win consecutive Rainbow Classic titles for the first time in more than two decades, UH dominated the Delta Devils to open the tournament behind senior forward Harry Rouhliadeff’s career-high 22 points. The captain from Australia finished as one of two Rainbow Warriors with a plus-minus of 30 or above, along with fellow returner Aaron Hunkin-Claytor, who was a game-best plus-34.

“There’s a reason he’s a captain,” Ganot said when asked of his senior forward’s performance. “While I say we were sloppy, he was not. He was consistent throughout and I wish we had others follow suit. Aaron probably was the next one [in consistency], and those are two guys who’ve been in our program.”

Hunkin-Claytor looked like he slowly started to find his form as the floor general tallied a career-high 11 assists in the win. The sophomore chipped in two points but went 0-for-4 from the field as he continued to work back into a shooting flow after missing a month due to a preseason hand injury.

“Him and Gytis are still finding their rhythm, that’s a long time to miss,” Ganot continued. “I’m just really happy that they’re out there.”

Hunter Erickson turned in his second consecutive efficient scoring outburst, matching his Division I career high with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting while knocking down four 3-pointers in 28 minutes of action. The 6-foot-3 guard also snatched up six rebounds and dished out a pair of assists in the win.

“It definitely provides a spark for us,” Rouhliadeff said of Erickson’s shooting. “I’m sure you’ve seen when he starts to go on, we start to go on a run.”

Erickson helped the Hawai’i offense awaken after the under-eight-minute media timeout and powered an extended 28-5 run to close out the first half as the Rainbow Warriors again showed microwavable offense potential.

“I love it, he gives me assists so it’s really nice,” a chuckling Hunkin-Claytor added about the graduate guard’s scoring ability. “And when he shoots the ball, it gets everyone to converge to him and gets everyone else open.”

Yacine Toumi was the third and final Rainbow Warrior to finish in double figures, adding 11 points and going 5-for-5 from the floor in 14 minutes of work.

Hawai’i raced out to a 12-3 lead after five minutes of play, seeing Dre Bullock rip off the first five points of the night. The senior guard finished with nine points and six rebounds in 23 minutes of action for the Rainbow Warriors.

“We talk about it a lot,” Hunkin-Claytor said of UH’s third straight strong start. “We want to hit first this year and be the first team to throw the punch, so being consistent in that and being able to play off each other early and get rhythm going, we know that we’re going to be in good shape for the rest of the game.”

Guard Michael James helped the Delta Devils punch back, pulling within three as the clock ticked under eight minutes left in the opening half, but that was the closest the visitors would get for the remainder of the night as Hawai’i stepped on the gas behind sweet long-range shooting.

Erickson and Rouhliadeff took turns hitting from behind the arc after the under-eight media timeout, carrying a 16-2 run over the next four minutes. The Rainbow Warriors extended the scoring outburst with six total 3-pointers over the final eight minutes, taking a 26-point cushion into the halftime break.

The second half saw Hawai’i remain in control despite some sloppy play as Ganot dipped deeper into the bench, giving freshman Hunter Carter and sophomore AJ Economou run for the second consecutive game. Birthday boy Jalen Myers also checked in following halftime and totaled four points and a rebound in eight minutes of action in the blowout win.

“We’ve been finishing halves pretty well and starting second halves well,” Ganot reflected after the victory. “I thought the middle of the first half and most of the second half, we were pretty sloppy.”

The 11th-year head coach continued to emphasize the need for his team to find consistency for 40 minutes, adding that “hope gets you beat, habits put you in position to have success” and that habits take longer to build than to break.

MVSU was led by Michael James, who was held to 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting. The 6-foot-1 guard entered the night among the top 20 scorers in the nation, averaging 24.7 points per night through three games before seeing the Rainbow Warriors defense.

Hawai’i (2-1) returns to action for the second day of the 59th annual Rainbow Classic on Friday, tipping off at 7 p.m. against Manhattan (2-1) after MVSU faces off against Utah Tech (2-3) earlier Friday evening. The Jaspers took down the Trailblazers, 79-75, on Wednesday in the other matchup to begin the tournament.