Warrior Insider

The distance between Chicago and the University of Illinois campus in Champaign, Ill., is approximately 125 miles. The distance between Chicago and Honolulu is approximately 4,250 miles.

Brandon Spearman was raised in Chicago and now plays for the Hawai’i basketball team. As fate would have it, the Warriors will host Illinois at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu on Friday night.

Hawai’i is 3-0 after winning three games by double-digits in the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Rainbow Classic. Illinois from the Big Ten Conference is 2-0.

“Illinois was pretty much the home college team for Chicago,” said Spearman, a 6-foot-2 junior guard. “I grew up watching them. I grew up watching (former Illinois stars) Deron Williams and Dee Brown, other cats.”

Spearman said he knows or knows of “probably the whole roster” of current Illini players because he played with or against them in AAU, summer league or high school games.

Interestingly enough, Spearman will play a key role. The Illini’s strength is in the backcourt, with the guard trio of Brandon Paul, D.J. Richardson, and Tracy Abrams combining for 39.5 points per game. Spearman is expected to be in the starting lineup for the Warriors and will be matched up against one of the Illini guards.

The dynamic has made for some interesting conversations with family and friends back in Chicago. “They really can’t wait to watch all of us play,” Spearman said.

Another Warrior who will play a key role is senior point guard Jace Tavita, who is averaging 2.7 points and 9.0 assists per game this season.

“We have to take care of the ball, minimize the turnovers,” he said. “Just defend and run — the things that we’ve done in the first three games.”

Tavita has some distant memories of playing against Illinois when he was still at the University of Utah. In November 2009, the Utes upset then-No. 20 Illinois in a tournament in Las Vegas. Tavita was a sophomore on that Utah team and got 12 minutes of reserve action in the win.

Paul and Richardson were already starting as freshmen for Illinois that season.

“We beat them in Las Vegas with a buzzer-beater so hopefully we can beat them here,” Tavita said.

Note that Friday’s game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m., following a UH women’s basketball game at 5 p.m. It basically gives fans an extra 30 minutes to make it to the Sheriff Center.

“The home court advantage is more important than people think,” Tavita said. “It gives us extra energy and motivation. It gets us pumped up, and the other teams they come out here and they kind of get rattled … we need everyone to come out and support us.”

GAME FACTS
When: Friday, Nov. 16, 7:30 p.m. start
Where: Stan Sheriff Center (10,300) – Honolulu, HI
Television: Live statewide on OCSports – Channels 16 (SD) and 1016 (HD).
Streaming Video: Live video streaming is available on ocsports.tv.
Radio: 1500 AM The Buzz will carry the game. Neighbor islands can listen live on KNUI on Maui, KHLO in Hilo, KKON in Kona, and KTOH on Kaua’i.
Audio Webcast: None
Live Stats: Live in-game stats are available at HawaiiAthletics.com
Ticket Information: $26 (lower); $18 (upper-adult); $16 (upper-sr. citizen); $5 (upper-youth, ages 4-HS); UH Manoa students free with validated ID. Parking $6. Fans with a men’s ticket will be admitted free to the preceding women’s basketball tournament games. Special upper level ticket rates will be also be available on from two hours prior to the start of the women’s basketball game until halftime of the women’s game.
Promotions: Chevron is the game sponsor and will distribute 400 rally towels at Gate A (distribution begins at 6:30 p.m.) and another 100 rally towels in the student section and award up to $650 in Chevron gift cards. In addition, 2,400 bottles of Pepsi NEXT will be distributed to fans as they leave the arena. The student theme is “Wig Night” as the first 200 students will receive a free wig.

And for those who did not get a chance to see this, here is video of head coach Gib Arnold commenting on the recently signed recruits Michael Thomas and Stefan Jovanovic (it is the same video as the previous post):