Dan Monson knew.
Not in the actual sense — the veteran Long Beach State coach had no direct knowledge that the NCAA would lift Hawaii’s postseason ban practically on the eve of the Big West tournament.
UH BASKETBALL TIPOFF
Who: Hawaii (14-14, 8-7 Big West) vs. Long Beach State (13-18, 8-7)
When/Where: Today, 3 p.m. at The Pyramid, Long Beach, Calif.
TV/video streaming: ESPN3
Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM
Series: LBSU leads 12-10
HAWAII
Projected starting lineups:
Pos. | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Cl.
PG | 2 | Brocke Stepteau | 5-9 | 160 | So.
SG | 23 | Sheriff Drammeh | 6-3 | 160 | So.
SF | 32 | Noah Allen | 6-7 | 215 | Sr.
PF | 12 | Jack Purchase | 6-8 | 200 | So.
PF | 21 | Gibson Johnson | 6-8 | 220 | Jr.
When Hawaii has the ball
Purchase’s five 3-pointers at UC Davis on Thursday marked the fifth time this season he’s made five or more from long range. Now with 71 3-pointers for the season, Purchase has passed Alika Smith (67 in 1997-98) for eighth on the UH single-season chart. Tes Whitlock (72, 1994-95) and Predrag Savovic (75, 2001-02) would be the next to fall.
LONG BEACH STATE
Projected starting lineups:
Pos. | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Cl.
G | 21 | Justin Bibbins | 5-8 | 150 | Jr.
G | 1 | Evan Payne | 6-1 | 190 | Jr.
G | 3 | Noah Blackwell | 6-2 | 190 | So.
F | 23 | Roschon Prince | 6-6 | 235 | Jr.
F | 4 | Temidayo Yussuf | 6-7 | 250 | So.
When LBSU has the ball
The 49ers have never been overly reliant on sets; theyve usually had singular talents to rely upon. This year, however, has been different. With forward Gabe Levin out for the year with a knee injury, LBSU was forced to become a more well-rounded outfit. Its guards, particularly Bibbins and Payne, have suffered from inconsistency but have the potential to light teams up.
But hang around college basketball long enough and you learn to trust your gut.
“I felt like they were going to (get in),” Monson said in a Friday phone interview not long after the NCAA announced its decision online. “As a coach you always have to plan for things to happen. And so, when I heard they were going to petition, until you hear differently, you plan on playing everybody, you plan on every shot going in against you. That’s just your mentality as a coach.”
UH (14-14, 8-7 Big West) and LBSU (13-18, 8-7) are tied for fourth place going into the regular-season finale. UH is locked into the 4-5 bracket at the Honda Center on Thursday.
There’s a good chance the teams could meet again in the tournament for the third straight year; if UH wins today, it will be the 4 seed and face either LBSU or Cal State Northridge at No. 5 on Thursday at the Honda Center. If LBSU wins today, the 49ers are the 4 and UH the 5.
The Rainbow Warriors were in position to knock off first-place UC Davis on Thursday before succumbing late in a 68-59 loss, dropping UH to 3-4 on the road this season.
They got a jolt of good news just before boarding a plane from Sacramento to Los Angeles on Friday. Coach Eran Ganot gathered the team and shared the NCAA’s long-awaited decision.
Just like that, UH feels like it’s stepping into the Walter Pyramid riding a win.
“It’s the perfect pick-me-up,” forward Gibson Johnson said. “Obviously we were down about the loss to Davis. We thought we let a couple things go that ended up costing us the game. So this is exactly what we needed.”
Added senior wing Noah Allen, “It’s perfect timing coming into the last game of the season.”
Allen is an interesting subject for Monson. Allen came off the bench for 25 points in UH’s 114-107 overtime win on Jan. 14 — the highest-scoring conference game in UH history — including the game-tying layup at the regulation buzzer. It launched an All-Big West-caliber rest of the season for the wing player after a three-week slump.
“Personally, I think he should give us half of whatever award he wins or whatever money he makes next year, or whatever happens,” Monson said. “Because we were the ones that jump-started his career. I mean, he was coming off the bench and struggling and we let him get a good rhythm in our game and he hasn’t looked back.”
UH has found success against LBSU, just not at the Pyramid. It is 0-4 there against The Beach since joining the Big West; last year’s regular-season-ending 74-72 loss prevented UH from sweeping its conference road schedule for the first time in program history.
It is again LBSU’s senior night, but the 49ers have only one — role player Anson Moye, who averages 0.4 points per game. They start four underclassmen, led by junior Evan Payne (15.1 ppg). Payne had 27 in the first meeting.
