Trevor Wiseman tipped yet another defensive rebound to himself in the crowded paint. With the ball secured, he turned and sprinted upcourt, his teammates on his wings.
With that, Wiseman and Hawaii were off and running for the 2011-12 men’s basketball season. The sophomore forward was a key — if surprising — factor in UH’s 86-67 blowout of Cal State Northridge at the Stan Sheriff Center early Tuesday morning.
He submitted career highs of 19 points and 16 rebounds, and perhaps most important, he punished the pressing Matadors by giving the Rainbow Warriors an unexpected extra ballhandler in the open court.
All that was missing were cries of “Ole!” as the 6-foot-7 Wiseman bull-rushed his way past Matadors defenders to finish at the rim or hit an open teammate for a shot.
“Wiseman did a really good job of just grabbing the rebound and putting pressure on us,” Northridge coach Bobby Braswell said. “My disappointment was we had guys who just opened up the floodgates and we didn’t have guys step in front of him.”
Combined with six 3-pointers and 24 points from senior guard Zane Johnson, the ‘Bows had the requisite offensive punch to sate the punch-drunk crowd of about 3,000 on hand for the third game in the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.
The game, televised nationally on ESPN, started at 11 p.m. on Monday and finished at about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday.
Freshman point guard Shaquille Stokes overcame a slow start in his first official college game to record 13 of his 14 points in the second half. He had five assists against four turnovers, as did sophomore point guard Bobby Miles, who joined Stokes in the starting backcourt. Junior center Vander Joaquim put up 12 points and eight rebounds despite foul trouble.
The X factor against the Matadors was unquestionably Wiseman, who got the start at power forward. He averaged 4.2 points and 4.0 rebounds as a true freshman last year, but has a newfound confidence in his offensive game after working on his outside shot in the summer. He showed it, too, once going to a jab-step 18-foot jumper that was money.
“In high school, I didn’t really shoot the ball,” said Wiseman, who shot 6-for-8. “It was just layups, bringing it (on) fast breaks down the court like you saw. But I added shooting into my game now, so it’s going to be really hard to guard me.”
Along with his first career double-double, Wiseman added two assists and two steals. Hawaii coach Gib Arnold doesn’t expect him to do that every night, but needs extra production to come from somewhere besides All-Western Athletic Conference preseason selections Johnson and Joaquim.
On Saturday against No. 22 Gonzaga in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ‘Bows might need it from several sources. But for the season-opening game against UH’s future travel partner in the Big West Conference, it was plenty.
“Loved it. You know, we need that third, fourth scorer,” Arnold said. “I think Zane and Vander are going to be very consistent this year and get us points. That third or fourth one’s gotta be a guy like Trevor. He stepped up tonight in getting us points and Shaq’s going to get us points. Some days, Joston (Thomas) and Hauns (Brereton).”
Wiseman’s ability to push the ball upcourt, along with Stokes and Miles, was essential in disrupting the varied Northridge defenses (most often a 1-3-1 zone) and led to a 12-2 UH advantage on fast-break points.
The 1-3-1 worked to an extent in the first half as UH led only 37-34 at halftime. But second-half defensive breakdowns — some self-inflicted and some coaxed by the ‘Bows — led to an 11-2 UH run to open the period.
The young Matadors were staggered. UH built its lead to 70-45 with 8:30 to play, then fended off a halfhearted run to win comfortably.
Northridge, perhaps playing on tired legs from travel and the unusual game time, had no answer from long range once the game started slipping away. The Matadors shot 3-for-23 (13 percent) from deep.
Overall, UH hit 47.4 percent compared to 31 percent for the visitors.
The ‘Bows depart for British Columbia on Thursday night.