Shorthanded Hawai’i falters late, falls against Arizona State

HONOLULU – Let go of the rope and couldn’t recover late.

Despite another 20-point showing from senior Isaac Johnson and sophomore Aaron Hunkin-Claytor’s new career high, the University of Hawai’i fell for the second time in two chances against Power 4 opponents on Thursday night as Arizona State (4-1) came into Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center and dropped the Rainbow Warriors, 83-76.

ASU junior Bryce Ford poured in 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting (3-for-5 3PT) with 13 coming after halftime in the comeback by the Sun Devils. Senior guard Anthony Johnson chipped in 16 points off the bench, shredding the Rainbow Warrior transition defense in the second half.

Isaac Johnson led Hawai’i with 23 points and seven rebounds, going a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe while knocking down a pair of 3-pointers to go along with two blocks on the defensive end. Playing extended minutes as UH deals with the absence of captain Harry Rouhliadeff, Johnson shouldered blame in the postgame after the Rainbow Warriors struggled to secure rebounds late.

“I didn’t do my job,” Johnson said adamantly when asked about ASU’s strong finish to the game on the glass. “I’d like to first publicly apologize to the fans and to my teammates. Down the stretch, that’s unacceptable.”

The Sun Devils pulled down 12 offensive rebounds, six in each half, while matching Hawai’i on the glass as both teams grabbed 33 boards. It was the first time since the opener at Oregon that UH failed to win the rebounding battle and allowed double-digit offensive rebounds.

“I didn’t hit, I didn’t box out, I didn’t clear out good enough,” Johnson continued. “Something coach says is it’s not all on one guy, but I didn’t do my job for the team.”

Hunkin-Claytor also turned in a strong night but was disappointed with plays late as the sophomore guard put up a career-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting (2-for-3 3PT) and grabbed four rebounds but saw a missed free throw slip through his hands in the waning minutes and turned the ball over a career-worst five times.

With backup guard Isaiah Kerr missing his first game of the year with an injury, Hunkin-Claytor played a career-high 37 minutes and was tasked with guarding ASU standout Moe Odum for a large stretch of the contest. Odum, who was coming off a 24-point, 9-assist performance in a win over Georgia State, finished with 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting (1-of-6 3PT) to go with six assists and four turnovers for the Sun Devils.

“It’s been unique, because he really put himself in position to have a good year and then he misses four weeks [with an injury],” head coach Eran Ganot said of Hunkin-Claytor. “I thought he was incredible on both ends [tonight] … He’s guarding an elite playmaker [in Odum], I mean we’re talking 15 a game, seven-and-a-half assists each of the last two years. So, I’m very proud of his efforts and proud of him sticking with it when things don’t happen as easily.”

Hawai’i started strong once again, racing out to an early five-point lead behind a couple of dunks from Johnson and Gytis Nemeikša’s lone 3-pointer of the night as Arizona State HC Bobby Hurley called a quick timeout.

The Rainbow Warriors held onto the lead until the final minute of the first half when Noah Meeusen got a friendly roll on a right-wing three to put the Sun Devils up by one, but a perfect trip to the line for Ike Finlinson vaulted UH back ahead going into the locker room, 35-34.

The Hawai’i advantage grew to seven in the early minutes following halftime as Johnson knocked down his first triple of the game and Hunkin-Claytor completed a nifty and-one, but Arizona State responded with 11 of the next 16 points as Bryce Ford found fire with a pair of threes to knot the game at 47.

Finlinson put the Rainbow Warriors back in front with a triple and Hunkin-Claytor smoothly finished with his left hand before Johnson knocked down a few free throws to give an eight-point cushion to UH with 8:55 to play.

The Sun Devils came storming back with consecutive threes from Anthony Johnson and Bryce Ford and tied the game at 65 with under six minutes remaining as Allen Mukeba hoisted a hook shot over Yacine Toumi.

“Lapses get you easy shots [and] get you going,” Ganot said of UH’s defense in the second half. “We didn’t do our job, trust our team, which is take care of the ball, move it side-to-side, recover.”

Toumi committed a foul after turning the ball over on the next possession, sending Odum to the line and ending the Seton Hall transfer’s night for the Rainbow Warriors. Odum connected on both free throws before Dre Bullock finished a layup on the other end, but Mukeba gave the Sun Devils the lead for good on the next possession with an athletic reverse finish with 4:30 left to play.

Hunkin-Claytor had a chance to tie it 10 seconds later for UH, but missed on both free throws. Odum drilled a three on the other end to put ASU up 72-67 and then helped the Sun Devils drain clock as the Rainbow Warriors allowed five chances after cutting it back to a one-possession game.

Isaac Johnson tried to inspire one final push from UH with a powerful jam that made it 76-74 with 1:37 remaining, but the Sun Devils drained 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to ice it and hand the Rainbow Warriors their second loss of the year.

Gytis Nemeikša was the third player in double figures for UH, scoring 11 points and grabbing three rebounds in the loss. Dre Bullock chipped in nine points and nine rebounds, struggling from the field as he shot 3-for-10 overall and 0-for-4 from long distance.

Hawai’i (4-2) returns to action on Monday, November 24, hosting fellow Mānoa resident Hawaii Pacific University (2-1) at 7 p.m. inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.