Hawai’i closes out non-conference play with gritty win over UTEP

HONOLULU – A weekend to provide a trip back in time and a look into the future.

The University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team rekindled an old-time WAC rivalry to close out the non-conference schedule on Saturday night, grinding out a 66-61 win over future Mountain West Conference foe UTEP (3-6) inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center behind captain Harry Rouhliadeff, who matched his career high with 22 points to pace the Rainbow Warriors.

“Obviously, I’m incredibly proud of our team,” head coach Eran Ganot said following the victory over the Miners. “Especially in a game like that. You heard the respect we have for their team, their program, their staff coming in and this was a gritty, tough, physical game that we knew and expected.”

Hawai’i (10-2, 2-0 Big West) overcame a putrid offensive first half in which they shot 9-of-29 as a team, including a nine-minute stretch without a single point, to erase a 14-point deficit and keep the program’s best start to a season in nearly a decade rolling.

Guard Dre Bullock added a punch in the second half, scoring 10 of his 15 points after the break to help power the comeback by the Rainbow Warriors. The 6-foot-6 graduate student added six rebounds and finished the night tied for the highest plus-minus on the team as a +14 in 32 minutes of work.

UH jumped out to a 7-3 lead after three minutes of action but went more than nine minutes before scoring again as UTEP ripped off a 15-0 run to race ahead by double figures with just under nine minutes left in the opening half.

Undeterred, Rouhliadeff came out from the under-8-minute media timeout and confidently fired away from the left wing to swish home a triple and snap the scoreless streak for the Rainbow Warriors. Paired with a subtle switch to a 2-3 zone to close the half, Hawai’i closed the gap to four by the break as the veteran leadership on the team scored the final 18 points of the period.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” Bullock said when asked about the team keeping confidence despite the Jekyll and Hyde performance by the offense. “Everybody finds their momentum. Maybe in the first four minutes, the last four minutes, maybe first half, second half, whatever …  [we] just don’t get down on ourselves.”

Bullock helped the Rainbow Warriors start the second half strong as the team knocked down 4-of-6 from the field when play resumed, jumping ahead 35-34 after Gytis Nemeikša drained his lone three of the night with 15:54 to play.

UTEP guards Caleb Blackwell and KJ Thomas returned fire over the following six minutes, seeing Blackwell’s fallaway jumper from the right elbow put the Miners back in front and Thomas drain two straight triples to make it 47-42 with under 10 minutes left in regulation.

Isaac Johnson finally scored his first points of the game on a cut across the lane with 8:20 remaining, sparking an 8-2 run capped off by an Aaron Hunkin-Claytor triple from the left corner to push UH back ahead, 50-49.

Hawai’i continued to take hold down the stretch as Rouhliadeff provided some breathing room as the clock ticked under three minutes, snatching an offensive rebound out of the air and putting it back up and in to make it 57-52 and force a timeout by UTEP.

The Rainbow Warriors put the game away taking care of the ball and knocking down free throws, committing just three turnovers in the second half while draining all but one free throw attempt in the final 2:57 of action to secure the team’s sixth straight win. UTEP entered the night ranked 19th in the country in turnovers forced per game (16.5), but lost the turnover battle, 9-8.

“Hawai’i doesn’t quit,” Rouhliadeff responded when asked what the team showed through the non-conference schedule. “We play for a full 40 [minutes], no matter the score, we play one way. I feel like that sends a message to the Big West; you don’t really mess with Hawai’i.”

The Rainbow Warriors shot 52% from the floor in the second half, using an increased aggression on offense to get to the charity stripe 18 times after only four free throw attempts in the first 20 minutes.

Aaron Hunkin-Claytor, who went down with an injury briefly in the first half before re-entering for UH, stuffed the box sheet with seven points, six rebounds and four assists while matching Rouhliadeff as a team-best +14 in 31 minutes. Hunter Erickson added eight points, three rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes of action in the win.

Hawai’i will have to wait 18 days to play again, taking the court on New Year’s Day to restart Big West play against UC Riverside on the team’s second road trip of the campaign. The Rainbow Warriors opened the season on November 4 on the road against Oregon but have played their last 11 games inside the friendly confines of the Stan Sheriff Center.