Tonight in the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif., the Hawaii and UC Irvine basketball teams are seeking to rebound after heartbreaks.
On Thursday, the Rainbow Warriors missed two layups as time expired on a 68-66 road loss to UC Davis. Also that night, the Anteaters fell to UC Riverside in overtime for their first Big West loss of the regular season.
“When you come off a tough loss, a lot of people want it easier,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “But most competitors want a challenge, and we’re getting one. I think we’re blessed to be able to play this game and to play again in two days and play a heck of a team on their home court.”
Although the ’Bows missed an opportunity to force overtime when Marcus Greene and Tanner Christensen could not convert in the final seconds, Ganot said there were other factors that contributed to Thursday’s loss. In particular, the ’Bows committed seven second-half turnovers that were converted into 13 points. Opponents have averaged 22.2 points on UH turnovers the past five games.
“We’ve got to be more consistent,” Ganot said of the ’Bows’ average turnover margin of minus-4.2 per game. “The possession difference in terms of turnovers has been a problem for us all year.”
The Anteaters are built on an aggressive defense that is allowing 65.1 points per game, 33rd lowest among 352 NCAA Division I teams. They are 12th nationally in field-goal percentage defense (38.4%). In eight Big West games, they have forced opponents into an average of 14.0 turnovers.
“We’ve had the ability to be an outstanding defensive team on a lot of nights,” UCI coach Russell Turner said. “We were able to frustrate our opponents with the level of defense we could play at. Hopefully, we can get back to that. We didn’t do that very well (Thursday) night. Give Riverside credit. We didn’t play with a lot of force and the same level of competitive level of urgency that Riverside did.”
The Anteaters won their first seven Big West games before falling against UCR. In the first game between the teams, the Anteaters won by 24 points. In league games, the Anteaters’ average margin of victory is 16.6 points.
Part of the success is a roster that features only two players who began their careers at other Division I programs.
“When COVID hit, we were transitioning off a veteran team,” Turner said. “We had a bunch of young guys. We had a really young team. What that’s meant for a few years now is we’ve had guys in our program who developed and grew into the roles that have become available to them as other guys have left. That’s what’s defined our program.”
Last season, 7-foot-1 Bent Leuchten averaged 9.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in 16.4 minutes per game. In eight Big West games this season, Leuchten averages 17.5 points and 9.6 rebounds in 26.3 minutes.
“One, he’s playing more,” Turner said of Leuchten. “He’s gotten himself in way better physical condition. He’s also benefited from not having that many depth pieces in that position. I play him more because he’s earned more playing time. He’s been a good player his whole career here. He’s battled injuries. And this year, he’s played more consistently. He’s a factor in the league, one of the top players, for sure.”
The Anteaters also received a boost from 6-2 point guard Myles Che, who patterns his game after Jeremy Lin’s. Che wears No. 77 in tribute to the No. 7 Lin wore most of his NBA career.
Che, who grew up in Los Angeles, spent his gap year at The Skills Factory, a program based in Atlanta. After initially committing to South Florida, he attended Chattanooga as a freshman, averaging 7.5 points in 28 games, including 16 starts. After entering the portal, he transferred to UCI last summer.
“With Pierre Crockrell moving on, we needed somebody to come in as a veteran presence and match with the other four returning guys we had, which is a tough thing to do for any player,” Turner said. “Myles has done a great job with that. We’re fortunate we got him. He probably feels fortunate this is a good fit for him, too.”
Che is averaging 15.5 points in league games and, overall, has connected on 88.2% of his free throws.
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BIG WEST MEN’S BASKETBALL
At Bren Events Center, Irvine, Calif.
HAWAII (12-7, 4-4 BW) AT UC IRVINE (17-3, 7-1 BW)
>> Today at 5 p.m.
>> TV: None
>> Radio: 1420-AM, 92.7-FM
>> Streaming: ESPN+
