Hawaii holds off UC Davis in Big West slugfest

HONOLULU – There’s always a little extra juice for conference games.

Coming off a year where the program missed the Big West Tournament all together, the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team opened up the 2025-26 league slate on the right foot with a hard-fought 75-69 win over UC Davis (5-3, 0-1 Big West) inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on Thursday night.

Dre Bullock paced the Rainbow Warriors in the victory, filling up the box sheet with a team-best 15 points to go along with six rebounds, three assists and four steals in 34 minutes of work despite taking a few rough falls after getting fouled. The 6-foot-6 guard went 4-for-7 from the field and knocked down 2-of-4 from 3-point range for just his second game this season with multiple makes from distance.

“Pumped for our guys,” Hawai’i head coach Eran Ganot said after the win to begin Big West play. “Grateful for the win against a really good team to set the tone, but this is 1-in-20 [conference games]. I would have said [either way] that whatever happens today, we play Saturday.”

The Rainbow Warriors got off to a hot start behind Bullock and Hunter Erickson, who each drained a pair of threes to help UH open up a 15-5 lead through five minutes of action. Erickson finished the night just behind Bullock with 14 points in the win for Hawai’i despite some foul woes.

UH helped the Aggies get back into the game after the first media timeout of the night, committing four turnovers to help power a 12-2 run by the visitors that cut the lead down to two for the hosts.

“Pleased with the start, not the nastiest next 12 minutes offensively ever,” Ganot said of the stretch.

After falling behind by a point with 5:54 left in the opening half, the Rainbow Warriors ripped off 10 straight to gain some breathing room ahead of the break. A few silly fouls by UH helped the Aggies close within five by the half, setting up for another tightly contested 20 minutes on the other side of halftime.

Hawai’i opened the second half with another scoring spurt, rolling out seven of the first nine points after the stop in the action to open up a double-digit advantage less than two minutes after play had resumed.

The Aggies pulled back within four a few minutes later, but back-to-back buckets from Yacine Toumi and an Isaiah Kerr triple from in front of the Hawai’i bench that just beat the shot clock pushed the lead up into double figures for UH with 13:00 left in regulation.

After trading baskets to keep UC Davis at a distance, free throw woes down the stretch saw Hawai’i’s lead shrink to five with three and a half minutes to play before Bullock provided the final boost on a transition lob from Erickson to break the momentum of the Aggies.

“He certainly can get a crowd going,” Ganot said after the game of Bullock. “He recovered from a tough fall early in the game … I appreciate the heck out of Dre and what he brings us.”

Aaron Hunkin-Claytor stepped up after UC Davis played Hack-a-Hunkin-Claytor in the final minutes, knocking down his final five free throw attempts to help ice the 75-69 win to open Big West play for the Rainbow Warriors.

Hawai’i shot 18-for-31 at the free throw line as a team on Thursday.

“I mean, that’s respectable,” the UH starting point guard said of the Aggies putting him at the line down the stretch. “I haven’t hit free throws in previous games so I could see why they would do something like that … I’ve been getting in the gym extra just to put extra shots and free throws in, so I just had to trust myself at the line.”

Hunkin-Claytor finished 7-for-9 overall from the free throw line while chipping in nine points and two rebounds in 32 minutes. Yacine Toumi added a season-best 13 points in 20 big minutes off the bench, providing quality run for the Rainbow Warriors as Isaac Johnson and Harry Rouhliadeff dealt with foul troubles.

Connor Sevilla paced the Aggies in the loss, scoring a game-best 17 points while knocking down 7-of-12 shots from the floor. Nils Cooper, who entered the night leading UC Davis scoring nearly 18 points per game, finished with 14 before fouling out late.

Hawai’i returns to action on Saturday, hosting a high-scoring Cal State Fullerton squad inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. The Titans (3-6, 0-1 Big West) lead the conference in scoring at 88.4 points per game this season and posted 91 points in a home loss to Cal Poly on Thursday.