Auburn stuns Hawaii, 65-62
Rob Chubb scored on a slam dunk with 3.9 seconds remaining Thursday night and Chris Denson sank two free throws after stealing the ensuing inbounds pass to lift Auburn to a thrilling 65-62 victory over Hawai’i in the opening round of the Diamond Head Classic.
The Tigers improved to 8-1 and will face Long Beach State in Friday’s 6 p.m. semifinal. UH fell to 5-5 and will face No. 14-ranked Xavier in a consolation bracket game at 8:30 p.m.
Warriors center Vander Joaquim sank a jump hook from six feet out with 8.6 seconds left to put Hawai’i ahead, 62-61, but Varez Ward pushed the ball upcourt and dished to Chubb on the left side of the lane, where he flushed it down.
Denson then intercepted the ensuing inbounds pass and was fouled with 2 seconds remaining, and he hit both free throws to make it 65-62. Trevor Wiseman caught a three-quarter court inbounds pass but could not get his 3-point attempt off before the horn.
Auburn led, 59-51, after Kenny Gabriel’s bank shot with 2:34 remaining, but Hawai’i clawed back and closed to 61-60 on Wiseman’s three-point play with 28.2 seconds left.
The Warriors regained possession after Frankie Sullivan missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 23 ticks on the clock, setting up Joaquim’s go-ahead basket.
Zane Johnson led UH with 18 points, Joston Thomas added 12 points and Joaquim finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Sullivan scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Chubb added 14 points and Gabriel finished with 13 points and nine boards.
More details, including video highlights and interviews, will be posted later.
(Photo courtesy Brandon Flores)
Uhhh… Charge? As obvious as it gets.
The refs missed that charge at the end
free throws and bad defense on the 3
Keep the faith #21 even the announcers every time Hawaii has played” big” said they need you! Interesting every other shooter can fire off tons of shots before draining you put one shot off each half and out of the game you go! The whole country knows you are a baller we hope that island in the middle of the ocean will give you opportunity other than “twice down the court, time out, #21 out!” Who is paying attention to the rotation?
Impressed by how they hung tough and clawed back at the end. There were a number of times during the game where they could have folded but they kept battling.
They could have easily won the game if they could shoot free throws.
Still, they had it in hand, but played lousy defense at the end and then compounded it with the turnover. A very depressing way to finish what could’ve been a great comeback win.
What could have been. This was a tough way to lose. Gotta shoot better on the free throw line…..especially at home.