Matingou magic helps Hawai’i hold on late against Seattle

HONOLULU – What a way to end college basketball’s opening day.

After seeing a 16-point lead evaporate and falling behind for the first time all game late, the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team sent fans home happy on Monday night as Jaden Matingou sank a game-winning fallaway jumper with 1.2 seconds left to help the Rainbow Warriors squeak out a 74-73 victory over Seattle University.

 Matingou, a transfer from D-II powerhouse Point Loma, paced UH in his first official Division I contest with a game-high 20 points on 5-of-6 shooting and a 9-of-12 performance from the free throw line. The 6-foot-3 senior guard was limited to 23 minutes due to foul woes in his Rainbow Warrior debut, but navigated the game’s biggest moments like a pro to help lift Hawai’i to a season-opening win.

“Being around Jaden, watching him from afar and then being able to coach him … He is a big-shot taker, a big-shot maker and he’ll live with whatever,” head coach Eran Ganot said about Matingou. “It’s been fun to watch him grow because he’s got a lot ahead of him. I said after the game he’s amongst the quickest players that have ever worn the [Hawai’i] uniform.”

Hawai’i (1-0) didn’t look as though they would need any late game heroics with their play throughout the first half, taking an eight-point lead into the locker room after shooting nearly 60% from the field and forcing Seattle into 10 turnovers across the opening 20 minutes.

Matingou and forward Zack Davidson combined for the first 10 points for the Rainbow Warriors to get the hosts off to a hot start. The defense followed suit, helping push the lead out to as many as 16 as junior guard Chance Trujillo caught fire from long range.

Mason Williams kept Seattle attached with 13 of his 15 first-half points coming over the final seven minutes to spark an otherwise lifeless Redhawks offense and help bring the visitors back within single digits by the break, 47-39.

Hawai’i’s offense slowed down a bit in the second half as Matingou bounced between the court and bench with foul trouble and Seattle upped the defensive physicality to limit touches for Trujillo. The Redhawks also limited the Rainbow Warriors from running out for easy baskets following halftime, allowing UH to score just a single point off 10 turnovers forced in the second stanza.

Seattle used their own defense to rally back, limiting the Rainbow Warriors to 2-of-11 shooting from long range after halftime while forcing seven turnovers to help deliver their first lead of the night with 3:30 left in regulation.

Free throws from Trujillo and Matingou helped Hawai’i remain within a possession despite the UH offense making just two field goals in the final nine minutes of play.

After Trujillo split a pair of foul shots that brought the Rainbow Warriors within one with 39 seconds remaining, Seattle forward Will Heimbrodt drew a foul with 13 seconds left that gave the Redhawks a chance to make it a three-point game.

Shaken by a raucous crowd of 2,778 fans on hand inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, the 6-foot-7 senior forward bricked both free throws and left the margin at one. Hawai’i grabbed the second miss and pushed into the frontcourt, quickly calling timeout to set up a chance for some late heroics.

“We’re not [in position to win in regulation] if they don’t miss two free throws. This place was absolutely rocking when [Heimbrodt] was shooting those free throws,” said Matingou of the impact the Monday night crowd had down the stretch.

Down one with 10 seconds to work with after the timeout, Matingou took the inbound and used a screen from Bol Dengdit at the top of the key. Heimbrodt, the reigning WCC Defensive Player of the Year, switched onto the UH senior guard and cut off his drive into the paint before Matingou spun, elevated and cashed in a go-ahead fadeaway jumper with 1.2 seconds to play.

“I knew it was going in,” Trujillo said of Matingou’s shot. “In the timeout, I knew he was going to hit a game-winner. Our coach came into the timeout and was like we are a clutch team and [Matingou] just looked over at me fired up … I knew we were going to win the game.”

Trujillo followed right behind Matingou in the scoring column for Hawai’i, chipping in 19 points while knocking down 4-of-7 attempts from long range. The Utah Tech transfer played a game-high 38 minutes for the Rainbow Warriors, trudging along through physical defense to play the role of scorer and decoy down the stretch.

“I have so much respect for him,” Eran Ganot said after the game about Trujillo. “Gutsy performance … Playing [38 minutes] while he’s guarding elite guard play, while they’re defending him really well through actions and then we used him as a decoy to set a screen for a couple layups.”

UH also got solid contributions from the frontcourt, seeing Zack Davidson tally 11 points and three rebounds while finishing as a team-best +9 in his 29 minutes of work while Marcus Adams Jr. added 12 points and seven boards off the bench, drilling a couple of key threes in his Rainbow Warrior debut.

Hawai’i will return to action on Friday, November 6 to tip off the 60th annual OUTRIGGER Rainbow Classic, taking on Bethesda at 7:00 p.m. HT inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. UT-Arlington and Portland make up the rest of the Rainbow Classic field and will face off with UH on Sunday, November 8 and Monday, November 9, respectively.