Warrior Insider

OK, it might be a little late, but the final statistics for the 2011-12 Hawai’i basketball team are now official – at least in terms of the Western Athletic Conference.

Credit Utah State for the delay. The Aggies finally completed their season on Wednesday evening with a loss to Mercer in the championship game of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. The statistics from postseason games count toward the overall statistics, so the WAC numbers did not become final until the Aggies season was completed.

Oddly enough, Utah State beat Hawai’i in the regular-season finale at the Stan Sheriff Center back on March 3. Had the Warriors won that game, they likely would have been invited to the CIT instead of the Aggies.

Utah State went on to receive five home games in the CIT, winning four straight before losing the championship game. Say what you will about the CIT, but the opportunity to play in that tournament allowed the Aggies to transform a disappointing (by their standards) 17-15 record at the end the WAC Tournament into a 21-win season (the 13th consecutive 20-win season for that program).

Makes you wonder what the Warriors could have done – and how much extra income could have been generated – if given that same opportunity (although the chances of Hawai’i hosting five consecutive games would have been very unlikely).

Oh well. Gib Arnold and his staff are already looking ahead to next season, as they have been on the recruiting trail since the Warriors’ season ended. The departure of Joston Thomas for early entry to professional basketball creates a void in the frontcourt, but it also frees a scholarship – and Arnold has said he has a list of potential recruits ready.

For the record, click here for the: Hawaii statistics for the 2011-12 season.

And click here for the: final WAC statistics for 2011-12.

And here’s a look at some of the notable final statistics and accomplishments from the 2011-12 Hawai’i basketball season:

Senior guard Zane Johnson finished with 82 3-pointers, which was the fifth best single-season total in UH history. He set the single-season record of 98 during his junior season, and is the only UH player to make more than 70 3-pointers in two different seasons.

Johnson completed his career with a Hawai’i record 180 3-pointers in just two seasons. Former UH great Predrag Savovic held the previous mark of 178 (in three seasons). Interestingly enough, Savovic took more career 3-point attempts (471) than Johnson (468).

Johnson’s career 3-point percentage of .385 ranks fifth in UH history. His career free throw percentage of .825 ranks fourth in UH history.

Johnson completed his career at UH with 895 points, and his career scoring average of 14.9 points per game ranks 14th on the career list.

Senior point guard Miah Ostrowski finished with an average of 7.0 assists per game, which is the third best in UH history, behind only 7.4 by Reggie Carter in 1975-76, and 7.3 by Anthony Carter in 1997-98.

Ostrowski also became just the fourth Hawaii player to lead the Western Athletic Conference in assists, following Troy Bowe, Anthony Carter, and Mark Campbell.

Junior center Vander Joaquim finished as the team leader in scoring (14.3), rebounding (9.5) and field goal percentage (.560). Only two previous Hawai’i players have led the team in all three of those categories for the season: Tony Wells (1977-78) and Reggie Cross (1988-89).

Joaquim’s field goal percentage of .560 was also the sixth-best single-season mark in UH history, and his 58 blocked shots was seventh best for a single season.

(WarriorInsider.com file photos courtesy Brandon Flores)