Eran Ganot refused to blame his team’s slow start Sunday on the idea of Weber State being a trap game, considering North Carolina is on the horizon.
And if you are a University of Hawaii basketball historian, like the Rainbows coach is, you know that the Wildcats will always be a revenge game for ’Bows. Weber State is the school that thrashed UH in its first NCAA Tournament appearance, more than 50 years ago in the Fabulous Five days.
“The ’72 tournament? We were talking about the plaques in the hallway,” Ganot said. “It’s your past.”
Regardless of long-ago history and the near future, Weber State was the better team in the first half Sunday, but Hawaii was resilient after the break and rode momentum in overtime for a 73-68 victory over the Wildcats. Post Tanner Christensen carried the ’Bows early, and several other players took leading roles in the comeback.
A gathering of 2,637 at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center saw the UH survive and then thrive. They are 4-0, and will be hosting a much larger crowd when the Tar Heels come to play Friday.
“People are talking about North Carolina,” Ganot said. “We’re talking about practice. You’ll hear us say ‘Us first, then them.’ … We are always process-oriented. … Weber State is a program and team that we have a lot of respect for.”
The Wildcats led 38-31 at halftime, with Blaise Threatt scoring 11 of his game-high 27 points before the break.
Christensen dominated low and kept Hawaii in the game, with 20 of his 25 points coming before intermission. He made all eight of his first-half shots from the floor.
“It was really just my teammates getting me open,” Christensen said.
Others picked up the slack in the second half as the ’Bows chipped away at what became a 10-point deficit when Miguel Tomley, who finished with 12 points, scored to make it 43-33 with 15:09 left.
UH’s Harry Rouhliadeff scored 11 of his 12 points and gathered four of his five rebounds after the first half.
“Harry really stepped up tonight,” Christensen said. “Weber State’s a physical team, and Harry went above and beyond.”
Tom Beattie and Gytis Nemeiksa each scored 10 points, and all of them seemed to come at crucial times for the ’Bows.
Kody Williams hit a 3-pointer to put UH in front 49-48 lead with 6:35 left; it was UH’s first lead since early in the first half.
Then it was anyone’s game down the stretch … and it still was when the horn sounded, three seconds after Christensen scored his final points to tie it at 57-all.
Christensen fouled out with 3:36 left in overtime, and the score knotted at 60. But the ’Bows showed they can play without their top scorer and rebounder, pouring in the next eight points. Nemeiksa led the decisive run with a basket and two free throws.
There were a few anxious moments after that as the Wildcats refused to surrender. And it was a one-score game with 6 seconds left when Threatt, son of 14-year NBA player Sedale Threatt, hit a layup to make it 71-68.
But Williams hit two free throws to close it out.
The visitors were whistled for 30 fouls compared to 18 for the hosts, and Hawaii made 26-of-40 free throws compared to 12-of-20 for Weber State. The teams shot nearly equally percentage-wise from the floor, including beyond the arc.
Weber State coach Eric Duft drew a costly technical foul during overtime.
“Obviously I can’t comment on that,” said Duft, whose team fell to 1-3. “Frustrating for our players. Honestly, I thought we outplayed them tonight. … We didn’t go away.”
HAWAII 73, WEBER STATE 68, OT
Wildcats (1-3)
MIN FG-A FT-A R A PF PTS
Koehler 38 2-7 1-2 9 1 3 5
Burris 20 3-6 0-2 3 1 4 7
Tew 25 2-4 2-3 5 0 5 6
Threatt 4011-18 5-5 9 3 4 27
Tomley 35 4-11 3-4 0 1 4 35
Vartiainen 36 2-8 0-0 1 0 4 6
Vucinic 16 0-0 1-4 2 1 5 5
Moore 4 0-1 0-0 1 0 0 0
Henning 7 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
TEAM 5
TOTALS 200 26-60 12-20 35 7 30 68
RAINBOW WARRIORS (4-0)
MIN FG-A FT-A R A PF PTS
Rouhliadeff 28 3-4 5-8 5 1 2 12
Christensen 31 10-11 5-9 4 2 5 25
Williams 38 1-9 6-8 2 1 4 9
Beattie 37 1-7 8-10 6 4 3 10
Greene 26 2-7 0-1 2 2 1 5
Nemeiksa 25 4-8 2-4 8 2 2 10
Palm 5 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0
Rapp 28 1-5 0-3 5 2 0 2
Hunkin-Clayton 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
TEAM 4
TOTALS 200 22-51 26-40 37 14 18 73
Key — min: minutes played; fg-a: field goals
made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; r: rebounds; a: assists; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points.
Halftime — Weber State 38, Hawaii 31
3-point goals — Weber State 4 (Koehler 0-4, Burris 1-1, Threatt 0-1, Tomley
1-5, Vartiainen 2-7). Hawaii 3 (Rouhliadeff 1-2, Williams 1-5, Beattie 0-1,
Greene 1-3, Nemeiksa 0-1, Rapp 0-3).
Steals — Weber State 11 (Koehler 1,
Threatt 5, Tomley 2, Vartiainen 2, Moore
1.) Hawaii — 5 (Christensen 2, Beattie 1,
Nemeiksa 1, Hunkin-Clayton 1). Blocked
shots — Weber State 7 (Koehler 1, Burris 2, Tew 3, Vucinic 1). Hawaii — 5
(Rouhliadeff 1, Christensen 1, Beattie 1,
Nemeiksa 2).
Turnovers — Weber State 10 (Burris 1,
Tew 2, Threatt 2, Vartiainen 1, Vucinic 3,
Henning 1). Hawaii 13 (Rouhliadeff 1,
Christensen 1, Williams 3, Beattie 5,
Greene 1, Nemeiksa 2). Technical fouls
— Weber State coach. Officials — Mike
Scypers, Tommy Johnson, Matt Rafferty A
— 2,637.
