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Johnson, Warriors shoot over UC Davis

Even without two starters, the Hawaii basketball team finished strong in an 83-69 road victory over UC Davis on Saturday afternoon at The Pavilion in Davis, Calif.

The Warriors out-scored the Aggies, 45-32, in the second half, including a 13-5 surge to close the game.

Hawaii, which has won six of its last eight games, improved to 15-10 with the non-conference victory; UC Davis, which is the last-place team in the nine-team Big West Conference, dropped to 9-17.

The game was part of the ESPNU BracketBusters event, although it was not one of the games selected for national television broadcast.

“We came out with some passion that second half and played really good team defense, and that was the difference in the game,” Hawaii head coach Gib Arnold said.

Junior Zane Johnson also made a big difference, scoring a career-high 32 points, including a near-record nine 3-pointers. Johnson shot 11 of 17 from the field, including 9 of 15 from 3-point range. It was one 3-pointer short of the UH record set by Trevor Ruffin in 1993.

“They zoned us for most of the night, and that will happen when you have a shooter like Zane – he’s going to find the gaps and get in a rhythm,” Arnold said. “And once he gets in a rhythm, we were looking for him … once Zane gets in a rhythm, we’d be a fool not to try and get him the ball.”

Johnson’s 32 points also marked the first 30-point game by a Warrior since Roderick Flemings had 39 against Cal Poly in last year’s BracketBusters game.

There were several other contributors, including:

Bill Amis, who finished with 20 points and five rebounds. He shot 8 of 11 from the field and 4 of 4 on free throws.

Vander Joaquim had 14 points and seven rebounds, despite facing double-team defenses for most of the game.

Miah Ostrowski finished with nine points, seven assists and three steals in the first start of his collegiate career.

Trevor Wiseman played his usual energizer role off the bench, contributing eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Ostrowski started at point guard in place of senior Hiram Thompson, who sat out with an elbow injury.

Hawaii was also without starting forward Joston Thomas, who did not travel with the team for personal reasons.

The Warriors shot 60.9 percent from the field, including 55 percent (11 for 20) from 3-point range. Hawaii also out-rebounded the Aggies, 32-17, and tied a season-high with 17 assists.

“One of our goals is to be playing our best ball at the end of the season, and I think right now we’ve progressed to where we’re playing our best basketball right now,” Arnold said. “But we’ve still got some improving to do.”

Hawaii raced to a 15-3 lead to open the game, but UC Davis rallied to take a 37-36 lead late in the first half. The Warriors managed to take a 38-37 lead at halftime after Johnson’s driving shot just before the horn.

UC Davis scored the first basket of the second half to take a 39-38 lead, but it was all Warriors after that. Hawaii went on a 16-2 run to take a 54-41 lead with 15:40 remaining.

The Aggies cut it to six at 70-64, but the Warriors responded with a 10-0 run to secure the victory.

Joe Harden led UC Davis with 19 points, five rebounds and five assists.

The Warriors, who had a 15-game road losing streak earlier this season, have now won three of their last four road games.

Hawaii will return to its Western Athletic Conference schedule with two home games coming up next. The Warriors will host Louisiana Tech on Feb. 24, then New Mexico State on Feb. 26.

The Warriors are in sixth place in the WAC at 5-7, and are looking to improve on their seeding for the WAC Tournament.

4 Comments

  1. A win is a win is a win. Would be great if Johnson can stay hot down the stretch. Go Warriors!

  2. Great performance by Zane. Got mentioned on ESPN under “More performances that wowed us”: http://espn.go.com/ncb/notebook/_/page/notebookweeklywatch1113/week-13

  3. They run absolutely zero sets for Wiseman, and he still finishes with 8 and 8.

    When dude gains the confidence to start taking and making the 12 foot baseline and elbow jumpers that teams are giving him (because he is obviously skilled enough to make them), it will be hard to keep him off the court.

    He already routinely goes by the 3s and 4s that have to guard him on the baseline. When they have to close out on him, with his handle, speed, and abiltiy to operate in tight spaces, he will create a lot of havoc for other defenses, and a lot of dunks for his teammates.

    The future is very bright for Wiseman.

  4. Wiseman is Rodman-esque in terms of scouting. Teams do not guard him at all past 15 ft, which presents a challenge for UH staff when they runs the high p/r sets because Wisemanʻs man is essentially camped in the paint.
    that said, Gibʻs willing to work around that in order to keep Wiseman on the floor. Thomas should be watching and thinking “those are my minutes. I should be contributing more – my team needs me.”
    “Should” being the operative word.
    Wiseman also offers another bring-up-the-ball and pass-over-the-press option in tight spots.
    Essentially, if he could shoot and jump, he wouldnʻt be playing here. Nonetheless, so far, heʻs earning his scholy – tax payer money well spent.

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