Some days, it is difficult to tell Ryan Rapp without a medical chart.
During his three-season Hawaii basketball career, he has endured a broken hand and a 5-inch cyst that resulted in numbness in his right foot. Last week, he suffered from flu-like symptoms.
But on Saturday night, Rapp put the hurt on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, scoring 11 of his 19 points in the second half in the ’Bows’ 71-62 victory in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Rapp hit all five of his 3-point shots and grabbed six rebounds.
A crowd of 3,001 saw the ’Bows improve to 6-3 in the opener of a six-game homestand. TAMUCC fell to 6-5, including 0-4 in road games.
“I was sick all week on the road at Long Beach,” Rapp said. “I’m not sick anymore. I had the flu. I think it was going around campus recently. I’m all good now. I did look exhausted out there, but I feel much better.”
Rapp assisted on center Tanner Christensen’s two dunks during the ’Bows’ 11-1 run to break away from a 28-all tie at the intermission.
“When he’s shooting the way he is, teams are going to collapse on him, and then obviously it leaves other guys open,” said Christensen, who parlayed Rapp’s three assists into dunks. “Him shooting so great tonight got everybody else open.”
Christensen has 18 of the ’Bows’ 19 dunks this season.
After the Islanders closed to 47-46, UH guard Marcus Greene scored on a driving layup and then buried a 3 from the left side. The transfer from Houston Christian, who also scored 11 second-half points, finished with 15.
Later, with UH ahead 55-48, TAMUCC guard Jordan Roberts collided with forward Harry Rouhliadeff. Roberts was called for the charge, enraging Islanders coach Jim Shaw. Shaw was assessed a technical, and Greene converted two free throws. Rapp finished the 12-2 surge with a 3 from the top of the key.
Rapp was 4-for-4 in the second half, including perfect on his three 3-point attempts. He finished 7-for-8 from the field.
“I kept shooting, like I do in practice,” Rapp said. “It’s very rare to go 5-for-5 (on 3s). The coaches told me I should have taken a heat check.”
Rapp also was helpful in containing the Islanders’ prolific interior attack. Though he usually plays the wing or off guard on offense, Rapp often slid into the post on switches. The Islanders entered averaging 44.2 paint points per game. They had 32 against the ’Bows.
The Islanders’ best post, Garry Clark, hit five of six shots and finished with 11 points. But he struggled to find open looks against Christensen, Jerome Palm, Gytis Nemeiksa, Rouhliadeff and Rapp. Clark picked up his fourth foul with 14:41 to play and then exited after being assessed a fifth with 2:17 to go.
“In the first half, we were struggling down low,” Christensen said. “I felt we brought it a little more in the second half. It worked out better for us.”
A first half that started with little going right for the ’Bows ended in a 28-all tie when Rouhliadeff hit two free throws with 8.3 seconds remaining.
The ’Bows entered having committed 37 turnovers in their previous two games, both on the road. The ’Bows faced an opponent that averaged 18.9 points off turnovers per game. Against the Islanders’ clingy man-to-man schemes, the ’Bows turned the ball over eight times in the first 10 minutes and 10 times in the first half.
The ’Bows also struggled at the line, missing five of their first seven free throws. Christensen missed both foul shots in the first half.
But the ’Bows, who shook up the opening lineup — Greene and Nemeiksa made their second consecutive starts — received a boost off their bench. Rapp hit two 3s in an eight-point first half.
“It was a come-out party,” guard Kody Williams said of Rapp. “I’m glad he had a good game after fighting some sickness. It was good to see him come back and play the way he did.”
HAWAII 71,
TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI 62
ISLANDERS (6-5)
MIN FG-A FT-A R A PF PTS
Roberts 21 2-8 0-1 0 1 0 5
Dease 23 2-7 1-2 1 0 0 7
Walker 17 2-4 0-0 3 1 3 5
Giwa 17 2-4 1-3 2 2 3 5
Clark 24 5-6 1-3 3 1 5 11
Torbor 12 1-1 0-0 0 1 2 2
Wright-Forde 25 4-10 1-1 0 0 2 9
Dennis 28 0-2 4-4 5 3 2 4
Williams 16 1-4 1-2 2 0 1 3
Jackson 16 3-6 5-5 6 0 2 11
TEAM 3
TOTALS 200 22-52 14-21 25 9 20 62
RAINBOW WARRIORS (6-3)
MIN FG-A FT-A R A PF PTS
Williams 26 1-4 0-0 1 0 1 3
Beattie 9 0-4 0-0 0 1 0 0
Greene 35 4-10 6-6 3 2 3 15
Nemeiksa 21 5-8 4-5 3 1 3 14
Christensen 25 4-5 0-5 6 1 3 8
Rouhliadeff 19 1-2 4-4 3 0 1 6
Palm 11 1-2 1-2 3 0 1 3
Rapp 30 7-8 0-1 6 3 3 19
Hunkin-Claytr. 9 0-0 0-0 2 1 1 0
Jacobs 13 1-4 0-0 4 1 2 3
TEAM 5
TOTALS 200 24-47 15-23 36 10 18 71
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 — Hawaii 28, Texas A&M-CC 28
3-point goals — Texas A&M-CC 4-10
(Dease 2-2, Walker 1-2, Roberts 1-3, Dennis 0-1. Williams 0-1, Wright-Forde 0-1).
Hawaii 8-20 (Rapp 5-5, Williams 1-3,
Greene 1-4, Jacobs 1-4, Beattie 0-1,
Rouhliadeff 0-1, Nemeiksa 0-2). Steals —
Texas A&M-CC 7 (Dennis 4, Giwa 2, Williams). Hawaii 6 (Williams 2, Christensen,
Hunkin-Claytor, Jacobs, Rapp). Blocked
shots — Texas A&M-CC 4 (Dennis, Giwa,
Roberts, Williams). Hawaii 3 (Christensen
2, Greene). Turnovers — Texas A&M-CC
12 (Torbor 4, Giwa 3, Clark 2, Dennis,
Jackson, Wright-Forde). Hawaii 16
(Greene 4, Rapp 3, Williams 3, Beattie 2,
Jacobs 2, Christensen, Hunkin-Claytor).
Technical fouls — Texas A&M-CC 1
(coach). Officials — Shawn Lehigh, Matthew Rukasin, DoranGotschall. A — 3,001.
