An unblemished start to the Big West season slipped away like so many turnovers on the road.
Now the Hawaii men’s basketball team will try to take back possession of its potential in the friendly confines of home. Fourth-place UH takes on second-place Pacific at the Stan Sheriff Center, where it is unbeaten in three Big West games.
Hawaii is 8-4 at the Sheriff overall, compared to 0-3 in mainland games.
Senior center Vander Joaquim is nine points away from becoming UH’s 15th 1,000-point scorer, but his primary focus is ending his team’s maladies — mostly turnover-related — highlighted in four-point losses at UC Irvine and Long Beach State.
“We’re feeling very well. You know, we had some tough losses, but overall we got a lot better as a team, we felt like,” Joaquim said. “There’s sometimes when you lose a game and you feel like you lost and didn’t get better or anything. I felt like we lost and got better. I felt like guys look at the mistakes we made on the road, and they will be fixed. I look into people’s eyes and get that feeling.”
In its ongoing bid to reduce a Big West-worst turnover margin of minus-4.6, freshman Ozren Pavlovic has shifted to backup point guard duties behind league assist leader Jace Tavita (5.3).
RAINBOWS BASKETBALL
At Stan Sheriff Center
>> Who: Pacific (9-7, 3-1 Big West) at Hawaii (9-7, 3-2)
>> When: 7 p.m. today
>> TV: OCSports (Ch. 16)
>> Radio: KKEA (1420-AM)
>> Hawaii (football only)
>> Series: Tied 4-4
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The 6-foot-8 Pavlovic can keep smaller guards off him with his length. The Croatian earned trust from Arnold on last week’s road trip.
“That’s the difference between a good team and a great team,” Pavlovic said of the giveaways. “We’re trying to become a great team, we’re trying to go to the tournament. Our biggest weaknesses is the turnovers. As Coach (Gib Arnold) says, if we can make our weakness our strength, we’re going to be a great team.”
Pacific rarely turns it over at 11.3 per game — compared to UH’s 16.1 — and shoots it efficiently as a team (48.2 percent), especially so on 3-pointers (39 percent). The Tigers, who returned all five starters from last year’s 11-19 squad, arrived on Oahu on Wednesday morning riding a three-game winning steak.
“I think they’re playing the best ball in the conference right now,” Arnold said. “They just finished off two 20-point wins at home and shot the lights out. They’re a system team, got their system figured out and they’re all returning. … They’re the hottest team in the league.”
The Tigers delegate minutes democratically. Ten players average 10 minutes or more, and up to 12 might be asked to impact any given game.
Pacific has seven seniors and seven juniors to call upon, making it the oldest team in the Big West. Senior guard Lorenzo McCloud leads the way with 11.6 points per game. He’s the team’s lone double-figure scorer.
Tigers coach Bob Thomason (423-316) is the winningest coach in Big West history. He announced he will retire after this, his 25th season.
“We haven’t played a whole game yet on the road,” Thomason said. “I really like (our guys). We play defense, we share the ball. We just kind of play guys and keep on playing them and see who can work it out. It’s just a team deal. Some will get 20 one night, get three the next night.”
UH reserve wing Brandon Jawato is UH’s leading scorer in Big West games (13.8 ppg) while shooting 19-for-30 (63.3 percent) on 3-pointers. No other ’Bow has more than four treys over that span. Junior forward Christian Standhardinger (team-high 14.9 ppg overall) had season lows of 12 minutes and six points at Long Beach State, but is expected to assert himself again.
Freshman Isaac Fotu still leads the Big West in field-goal percentage (.644) despite a quiet road performance. Junior guard Brandon Spearman (10.3 ppg) sprained his ankle in practice on Monday, but was back in action on Wednesday. He is expected to play.
