HENDERSON, Nev. >> In the whisper-quiet of the interview room, three members of the University of Hawaii basketball team fought back emotion to explain a season they were not prepared to end.

Junior Madut, a guard who will pursue professional opportunities after earning his degree in May, struggled for words in the aftermath of the Rainbow Warriors’ 58-46 loss to Cal State Fullerton in the semifinals of the Big West Championships.

Mate Colina, a 7-foot center who already has signed to play Australian rules football, was not ready to begin the rest of his life.

“It’s hard when you finish, and you see all the boys in the locker room … you’re seeing them for the last time,” Colina said. “I’m still wearing my jersey. I don’t want to take it off yet.”

While CSUF advances into tonight’s title game against Long Beach State, the ’Bows’ adversity-peppered season appears to conclude at 17-11. Athletic director David Matlin said a final decision has not been made, but it appears “unlikely” the ’Bows will play in a buy-in tournament.

“Tough game,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “It hits you when it ends because you continue to believe, and we had to fight through a lot. … You’re not thinking about the season ending. Every year it happens — when it happens, there’s a sudden end to it. Perspective hits in. It’s really hard in the moment.”

The ’Bows overcame injuries, COVID pauses and more injuries to make “a jump” this season. They advanced out of the league tournament’s first round for the first time since 2016. But it all ended on a night when the ’Bows struggled to find their aim — 27.8% shooting, including 29.2% on 3s — could not get traction on their transition game, and did not match titanic performances from forward E.J. Anosike and guard Damari Milstead.

Milstead, who transferred from San Francisco, scored a game-high 18 points and was part of the defensive ensemble that would not allow Madut to break free. Madut finished with seven points on 3-for-11 shooting.

Anosike, a 6-foot-7 transfer from Tennessee, conjured up 16 points and 13 rebounds.

“He’s the alpha,” Milstead said of Anosike. “We look for him in the beginning of the game. We look for him at the end of the game. His effort was phenomenal today. You look at the rebounding. He’s not the biggest guy but he’s got the biggest heart on the court. He had two, three guys on his back and rebounded the ball.”

Anosike even buried a rare 3. “Shooters shoot,” Anosike deadpanned.

In the lone meeting between the teams this season, UH cruised to a 72-55 victory. After the game, CSUF coach Dedrique Taylor called an air-it-out meeting.

“Honestly, the game on the island we took personal,” Anosike said. “There were lessons to be learned. … We learned from our mistakes. We had to come out and be aggressive and defend them and play our style of basketball. That’s our brand of basketball: toughness, hard-working and eat.”

Milstead said UH’s offense is based on spacing and ball movement. “We wanted to really disrupt them at the elbows and make it hard for them to get into their sets,” Milstead said.

Taylor also said the Titans’ game goals were to keep the ’Bows off the boards. “As much as you want to talk about all their actions and what they do, they send size to the glass,” Taylor said. “And we had to contend with that. … We still ended up losing the rebounding battle, but that was a huge emphasis for us.”

The ’Bows’ first two possessions ended in turnovers. The Titans scored the first six points and never trailed.

The ’Bows closed to 42-38 with 4:36 to play, but the Titans hit four free throws to maintain control.

“When you hold teams to 27% from the floor and 29% from 3, I don’t know how you lose those games,” Taylor said. “Tonight, it was a defensive effort. We were connected like no other.”