Fifteen minutes after Thursday night’s road victory over UC Riverside, the Hawaii basketball team was on a fast break to Fullerton, Calif.
On the 38-minute bus ride, the Rainbow Warriors celebrated evening their Big West record at 2-2 and prepared for another key league game.
“The guys are pretty awake after every game, and they might as well (celebrate) on the bus,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “Get in at a decent time. Get a good night’s sleep. And the focus the next day is having a good breakfast, having a good practice and going from there without the travel part of it. We like it.”
It will be a quick turnaround when UH and Cal State Fullerton meet this afternoon at Titan Gymnasium.
The Titans, winless in five Big West games, suffered a 63-53 road loss at UC Davis on Thursday night. Unlike the ’Bows, the Titans stayed overnight in Northern California, then made the flight to Fullerton on Friday morning.
“It is what it is,” CSUF coach Dedrique Taylor said. “We have to play Hawaii on a quick turnaround. That’s part of what we do.”
Both teams entered the season under construction. The ’Bows’ top six scorers from a year ago completed their NCAA eligibility. The Titans had to replace their starting backcourt (DJ Brewton, Max Jones), center (Vincent Lee), top defender (Tory San Antonio) and best outside shooter (Grayson Carper).
The first-year ’Bows contributed in Thursday’s second-half surge. After the intermission, the ’Bows connected on 65.5% of their shots, including 62.5% on 3s. Center Tanner Christensen, who transferred from Utah Tech, scored all of his 18 points in the second half. Freshman guard Aaron Hunkin-Claytor made a clutch 3-point shot, as well as contributed five rebounds and four assists (without a turnover) in 17 minutes.
“Our message this week was: ‘You first-year guys are now second-year guys, freshmen are now sophomores,’” Ganot said. “That’s the way you look at it. … This team has been through a lot of experiences early.”
The ’Bows’ ensemble approach has produced an average of 28.8 bench points per game.
“Sometimes bench guys get starter minutes and they finish games,” Ganot said. “Every team, every season, has a different dynamic. This year is a little different than in the past. These guys have embraced it. They support each other, and they’re ready whenever their number’s called.”
The Titans have had spurts of success. “That’s been a curse in terms they’ve been good this game and next game they won’t be as good or as consistent as they were,” Taylor said. “That’s one of the issues we’ve been having. … We’ll be good one game, and another player won’t be the same the next game.”
The Titans have been particularly inconsistent with their perimeter shooting. In five Big West games, they have connected on 18.5% of their 3s. They were 1-for-13 against Long Beach State and 1-for-20 against UC Davis.
In turn, the opponents have compacted their defense, cluttering the lane and daring the Titans to shoot from the perimeter.
“We’ve got new guys we’re counting on,” Taylor said. “We’re learning how to mesh together, learning how to do things that lead to winning. That’s really important. That’s what we’re going through. … We have to learn to continue to play hard, learn to continue to compete, learn to continue to execute when it matters. Those are winning things. We have to do that for 40 minutes and not relent on those things.”
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BIG WEST BASKETBALL
At Titan Gymnasium, Fullerton, Calif.
Hawaii (10-5, 2-2 BW) at Cal State Fullerton (5-12, 0-5 BW)
>> When: 11 a.m. today
>> TV: Spectrum Sportsnet (Ch. 1218)
>> Radio: 1420-AM, 92.7-FM
>> Streaming: ESPN
