The University of Hawaii basketball team’s generosity was a fault in Friday’s 72-69 loss to South Alabama.
The Rainbow Warriors committed 20 turnovers — to the Jaguars’ 10 — in falling in the title game of the Las Vegas Classic at Orleans Arena.
“You turn the ball over that many times, it’s hard to come up victorious against a good team like that,” UH coach Eran Ganot said.
But the ’Bows still had a final shot. Down 70-67, UH’s Junior Madut broke free on a fast break and, opting against a pull-up 3, drove for a layup with 16 seconds left. USA’s Jay Jay Chandler drew a foul from Amaro Lado with 10 seconds to play. Chandler made both free throws to increase the Jaguars’ lead to 72-69.
JoVon McClanahan then drove down the court, gave the ball to Madut, then took the return pass. But McClanahan’s jumper from behind the arc was not true, and Chandler grabbed the rebound as the final horn sounded.
“We didn’t get the result we wanted,” Ganot said. “But the guys have done awesome. I’m really proud of the fight they’re showing. We’ve had quite a bit of adversity. But the guys fully expect to come in there and figure out a way to get it done. We didn’t. We fell short.”
The Jaguars took advantage of the ’Bows’ foul situation. Kamaka Hepa, who can play the wing and the post, picked up two early fouls and then a third with 5:17 left in the first half. In the second half, the Jaguars repeatedly drove on Hepa, who had to defend cautiously.
Alex Anderson scored four points off post moves against Hepa. Madut and McClanahan finished with four fouls.
‘With the numbers down coming in, and recently with foul trouble, it really doesn’t help the cause,” Ganot said. “We had to manage that with Kamaka and JoVon and (Madut). That’s part of the game.”
This season, the ’Bows have hit deep shots, induced fouls and attacked the offensive glass. “But when you turn it over, you negate all that,” Ganot said.
Ganot said the Jaguars’ active defense was able to harass every position. The Jaguars denied entries and eased into switch-off coverages. “That’s one of their strengths,” Ganot said of the ball pressure. “That was the best pressure we’ve seen in 40 minutes. I thought early in the game we were OK, Then they got a flurry of (turnovers and transition plays). That’s a credit to them, and something we need to handle better.”
When the ’Bows scored seven points in a row to tie it at 52, USA guard Charles Manning Jr. answered with a 3. When UH cut the deficit to 60-58, USA’s Javon Franklin hit a soft jumper in the lane and Diante Smith buried a 3. Manning used driving layups to gain the confidence to make tightly defended shots. Manning, who transferred from LSU, finished with 25 points.
The ’Bows also missed eight of 20 free throws.
“We got to the line a good amount,” Ganot said. “That’s a big part of being a good team … getting to the line and drawing fouls. We didn’t shoot it as well as we’d like. And sometimes in close games, a point here and there is the difference.”
Ganot had no update on the health of post player Bernardo da Silva (hand) and guard Noah Coleman (hip). The former missed Thursday’s game and the latter left it after playing less than six minutes.
“We’ll see how the next couple days go,” Ganot said of da Silva and Coleman. “We’re going to be smart about it. There’s a short-term (approach) so we’re not affected for the long term.”
The ’Bows will have a day off today, then practice on Sunday and Monday ahead of Tuesday’s road game against Santa Clara.
