Two Hawaii bigs were better than one Corey Hawkins.
Forwards Christian Standhardinger and Isaac Fotu combined for 47 points and 22 rebounds and the Rainbow Warriors overcame another monster game by the UC Davis guard 29 points in an 86-77 victory over the Aggies on Saturday night.
UH (19-8, 8-5 Big West) responded well from Thursday’s difficult overtime loss to conference leader UC Irvine, in which the ‘Bows shot a season-low 29.7 percent. They went nearly double that on the injury-depleted Aggies, shooting 57.1 percent to match the highest win total in coach Gib Arnold’s four-year tenure before a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of about 6,000.
86 Hawaii 77 UC Davis
KEY: Hawaii shoots 57 percent after not shooting well at home the previous four games
NEXT: UH at Long Beach State, 5:30 p.m. Thursday
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One more win and the ‘Bows will have their first 20-win season since 2003-04. There are three regular-season games remaining to do so prior to the Big West tournament in Anaheim, Calif.
"Obviously I feel good about it, but I feel good about this team," Arnold said. "This team’s worked hard. It’s good for them to have a nice record and a good winning percentage I just think they’ve earned it."
UH remained safely in fourth place heading into two difficult road games. Up next is Long Beach State on Thursday in a single-game week, followed by UC Santa Barbara.
Davis (8-19, 3-9) just didn’t have the firepower to hang around, although the Aggies got within single digits late.
Hawkins, he of the 40-point outburst here as a sophomore, did not punish UH quite as badly this time around. But he fought to the end to keep his team in it, including playing through a couple of injury scares in the second half. The son of former NBA All-Star Hersey Hawkins shot 8-for-14 from the field (4-for-5 on 3s) and 9-for-13 at the line.
"I wish that kid was a senior," Arnold said. "I can’t believe, I had to ask if he’s only a junior. He’s scored now 69 points on us (here). What can I say, he’s a phenomenal player. He’s the best 2-guard in the conference and the best scorer in the conference."
As the Sheriff crowd did on his 40-point night, it gave Hawkins some applause as he checked out with 20 seconds left. This time his team was unable to catch the ‘Bows, unlike the 93-82 win here last season.
"It’s just really annoying when somebody shoots that many free throws," Standhardinger said tongue-in-cheek. "I just want to say that."
UH had an answer this time. Standhardinger earned his way to the line 12 times, making nine, and shot 10-for-15 from the field for 29 points of his own, two off his career high. He needs 16 more points to become the program’s 16th 1,000-point scorer.
Fotu shot 8-for-12, scored 18 and also earned a double-double.
Combined with a 90-73 win in Davis last month, UH earned a home-and-home sweep of UCD, something the Aggies did to UH last year. This season, Davis which has two key big men out for the season with injuries has had no answer for UH’s frontcourt.
It helped that there was no 7-foot-6 roadblock in the paint this time, as there was with Irvine’s Mamadou Ndiaye. Davis topped out at 6-8.
"They’re really good. They’re physical, but they’re skilled," Davis coach Jim Les said. "A couple times we forced Fotu out on the floor and he made some jump shots. And I told the guys, those are on me when he does that. And Standhardinger, he’s so aggressive getting to the basket and getting to the free-throw line. Those guys are a handful, especially with us being undermanned on the inside."
UH earned a 13-point halftime lead and was able to protect it down the stretch, even when the Aggies applied some pressure late. Guards Brandon Spearman, Keith Shamburger and Garrett Nevels made six straight at the line to help maintain the advantage.
Nevels scored 13 points for UH and Spearman added 10. Shamburger did not hit a field goal but had eight assists against two turnovers.
UH remained unbeaten at home for Saturday league games. It’s lost three times on the preceding Thursdays.
"It’s just after we lose, we want to win," Shamburger said. "It’s just bouncing back. We don’t like losing."
UH went early and often to Fotu on the elbow.
Fotu and Standhardinger each started 4-for-6 for 10 points apiece near the midpoint of the first half.
Shamburger lobbed one up for Standhardinger in transition and the big man banked it home for a 54-36 lead with 15:53 left, UH’s biggest margin of the night.
"With Christian it’s always an alley-layup," Shamburger said.
At the midpoint of the second half, Fotu stuck a layup on a pretty spin move through the lane, then took a charge at the other end.
Aaron Valdes elevated for an alley-oop dunk from Quincy Smith with seven minutes and change remaining, making it 70-53.
Davis hung around. It got to within 78-68 on a banker by Clint Bozner with 2:30 to play.
A Darius Graham 3-pointer made it a nine-point game with 1:17 left, but things got no closer.
UCD was not able to keep pace in the first half. UH got a 3-pointer by Dyrbe Enos late in the half, shot 57.7 percent in the period and carried a 44-31 lead into the break.
BIG WEST MEN |
|
Conference |
Overall |
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L |
UC Irvine |
9 |
3 |
.750 |
— |
18 |
10 |
UCSB |
9 |
3 |
.750 |
— |
18 |
7 |
Long Beach St. |
8 |
4 |
.667 |
1 |
12 |
14 |
Hawaii |
8 |
5 |
.615 |
11⁄2 |
19 |
8 |
Cal Poly |
6 |
7 |
.462 |
31⁄2 |
10 |
16 |
CS Northridge |
6 |
7 |
.462 |
31⁄2 |
14 |
15 |
CS Fullerton |
4 |
8 |
.333 |
5 |
9 |
17 |
UC Davis |
3 |
9 |
.250 |
6 |
8 |
19 |
UC Riverside |
3 |
10 |
.231 |
61⁄2 |
8 |
19 |
|
Saturday |
Hawaii 86, UC Davis 77 |
CS Northridge 81, UC Irvine 75 |
UC Santa Barbara 80, CS Fullerton 65 |
Cal Poly 69, UC Riverside 64 |
|
HAWAII 86, UC DAVIS 77 |
AGGIES (8-19, 3-9 BWC) |
|
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
a |
to |
min |
Lemar |
1-7 |
5-6 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
27 |
Hawkins |
8-14 |
9-13 |
5 |
1 |
29 |
2 |
1 |
38 |
Funtarov |
25 |
0-0 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
21 |
Johnson |
1-4 |
2-4 |
5 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
29 |
Dueck |
1-1 |
0-0 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
18 |
Graham |
2-6 |
0-0 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
18 |
Sypkens |
3-9 |
0-0 |
4 |
4 |
8 |
2 |
2 |
27 |
Bozner |
5-6 |
6-8 |
2 |
4 |
16 |
0 |
2 |
22 |
TEAM |
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
Totals |
23-52 |
22-31 |
28 |
23 |
77 |
12 |
11 |
200 |
|
RAINBOW WARRIORS (19-8, 8-5 BWC) |
|
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
a |
to |
min |
Shamburger |
0-2 |
2-2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
2 |
24 |
Nevels |
5-11 |
2-2 |
3 |
0 |
13 |
2 |
1 |
37 |
Spearman |
3-6 |
2-4 |
1 |
3 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
23 |
Standhardinger |
10-15 |
9-12 |
11 |
3 |
29 |
1 |
3 |
35 |
Fotu |
8-12 |
2-4 |
11 |
4 |
18 |
0 |
1 |
35 |
Enos |
1-1 |
0-0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
Smith |
1-3 |
0-0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
13 |
Rozitis |
2-3 |
0-0 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
Valdes |
2-3 |
1-2 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
17 |
Thomas |
0-0 |
0-1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
TEAM |
|
|
2 |
|
Totals |
32-56 |
18-27 |
34 |
19 |
86 |
16 |
11 |
200 |
|
Key — fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.
Halftime — Hawaii 44, UC Davis 31.
3-points goals — UC Davis 9-21 (Hawkins 4-5, Sypkens 2-7, Johnson 1-2, Funtarov 1-3, Graham 1-3, Lemar 0-1). Hawaii 4-11 (Spearman 2-4, Enos 1-1, Nevels 1-5, Shamburger 0-1). Steals — UC Davis 4 (Hawkins 3, Graham). Hawaii 5 (Standhardinger, Spearman, Nevels, Valdes, Smith). Blocked shots — UC Davis 1 (Dueck). Hawaii 2 (Fotu, Nevels). Officials — Jeff Wooten, Martin Cichocki, Deron White. A—Not reported