Warrior Insider

In the cold of Boise, Idaho, the Hawaii basketball team scored a heart-warming upset on Thursday.

Without its leading scorer and with several other key players missing long stretches of the game, the Warriors defeated Boise State, 73-66, in a Western Athletic Conference game at the Taco Bell Arena.

After enduring a streak of 15 consecutive road losses, the Warriors have now won their last two road games. Hawaii is now 13-9 overall and 4-6 in the WAC.

Boise State – which beat the Warriors by 24 points just a month ago in Honolulu – dropped to 12-10 overall and 5-5 in the WAC.

“How about that game?” Hawaii head coach Gib Arnold said. “Guys played great, absolutely great, with tons of heart … they refused to lose.”

Senior forward Bill Amis led Hawaii with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field and 3 of 3 on free throws. He also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked four shots.

Sophomore forward Joston Thomas added 16 points and nine rebounds; sophomore center Vander Joaquim contributed 11 points and 12 rebounds to help lead the Warriors to a 36-24 advantage on the boards.

And junior point guard Miah Ostrowski continued his own amazing personal run, finishing with 12 points and eight assists in 37 minutes off the bench. In the two games since the death of his father, Kui, Ostrowski had 27 points and 14 assists.

“Everybody stepped up and we had to do some things a little differently,” Arnold said. “We had nothing to lose and the guys did a great job with the game plan, and did a phenomenal job of finishing off a good team.”

Making the revenge win more amazing, the Warriors did it without two significant players.

Most prominent, leading scorer Zane Johnson was not cleared to play due to concussion-like symptoms. Johnson, who leads the team with 14.6 points per game and leads the WAC with 61 3-pointers, took an elbow to the head in the first half of Hawaii’s last game against Utah State.

Also, freshman reserve forward Trevor Wiseman was not with the team for academic reasons. Arnold said he decided to leave Wiseman in Honolulu to attend his classes this week. Wiseman is expected to join the team in Moscow, Idaho, for the next game at Idaho on Saturday.

What’s more, starting point guard Hiram Thompson sustained a gash near his nose early in the game after colliding with a Boise State player and was limited to 16 minutes.

And freshman Bo Barnes – who started in place of Johnson – fouled out with 7:40 remaining in the game. He finished with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.

“I think this team right now, we’re starting to peak,” Arnold said. “I think we’re playing as good a basketball as any team in the conference right now.

“To win this game without your best scorer and your best defensive player is big.”

Hawaii shot 58.7 percent from the field, and limited Boise State to 41 percent shooting.

The Warriors led by 10 points early in the first half, and took a 29-28 lead at intermission.

The game stayed close early in the second half, but Hawaii took the momentum when Amis drained a 3-pointer – only his third of the season – that gave the Warriors a 38-33 lead. Hawaii stayed in front the rest of the way, and built the lead to as many as 15 before holding off a late charge from the Broncos.

Hawaii won despite committing 20 turnovers, and Boise State lost despite committing just eight turnovers.

The Warriors will stay in the state of Idaho for another road game on Saturday. They will get another chance at revenge when they play at Idaho. The Vandals beat Hawaii, 59-44, a month ago in the Stan Sheriff Center.