UH beats San Jose State for third straight win
Hawaii’s big men provided the biggest plays of the night in the Rainbow Warriors’ third straight victory, a 67-61 win over San Jose State tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Hawaii forward Bill Amis led the Rainbows with 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. He also had four of Hawaii’s season-high seven blocked shots as the Rainbows improved to 12-8 and 3-5 in Western Athletic Conference play.
Forward Joston Thomas recorded his first career double-double of the season with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
The Rainbows held a 53-52 lead with 6:52 left in the game but took control with an 11-3 run while holding the Spartans without a field goal over a 6 minute stretch.
San Jose State guard Justin Graham finished with 20 points to lead the Spartans (9-9, 1-6), who shot 31 percent from the field.
SJSU guard Adrian Oliver, the nation’s third leading scorer at 24.2 points per game, returned to the Spartans’ starting lineup after missing the previous two games due to a concussion. But he struggled early, going 0-for-5 from the field in the first half, and finished with a season-low 10 points.
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UH’s inside play helped offset a 3-for-16 shooting night from 3-point range and the Rainbows outscored the Spartans 30-16 in the paint and had 15 second-chance points.
The Rainbows held the Spartans to 20 percent shooting (6-for-30) in the first half to take a 31-24 lead into halftime.
UH’s Zane Johnson, the Rainbows’ leading scorer, missed his first four shots before hitting a jumper from the right side with less than 4 minutes left in the half. He added a 3-pointer moments later in an 11-1 UH run that gave the Rainbows a 31-21 advantage.
Graham made a 3-pointer to end the run and the Spartans scored the first four points of the second half to cut the UH lead to three.
Hawaii led 53-47 after Trevor Wiseman completed a three-point play, but the Spartans answered with a 3-pointer by Keith Shamburger and a baseline jumper by Graham to cut the lead to 53-52 with 6:50 left.
But the Rainbows clamped down on defense and broke away with their decisive run highlighted by Thomas’ putback dunk and a tip-in by center Vander Joaquim to extend the lead to eight at 61-53.