UPDATED: Warriors wipe out Long Beach, 94-73
Now we have a race.
Thanks to an amazing first half performance, the Hawai’i basketball team moved closer to the top of the Big West Conference standings – and brought the first-place team down a notch – with a stunning 94-73 rout of Long Beach State on Thursday night.
A raucous crowd of 6,343 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the Warriors win their fourth consecutive game to improve to 14-9 overall and 8-4 in the Big West. The victory avenged a frustrating 76-72 Hawai’i loss at Long Beach State a month ago.
The 49ers had an eight-game win streak snapped and dropped to 13-9 overall. They are still in first place in the conference at 9-2, but are now just one-and-a-half games ahead of both Hawai’i and Pacific (7-3).
“Now that is college basketball right there,” Hawai’i head coach Gib Arnold said. “That was an unbelievable atmosphere … and I thought our guys really responded. That first half was probably as good a 20 minutes, for sure, as we’ve played this year, or since I’ve been here and in 20 years of coaching, one of the tops I’ve ever been a part of.”
Senior wing Hauns Brereton had his best game since the season opener, and finished with 21 points as the Warriors had five players score in double-figure points. The Warriors shot 54.2 percent from the field, and became the second team to score 90 points on the 49ers this season (Arizona was the other).
“The only thing we can plan for is energy and effort, and we came out with the best energy we could,” Brereton said.
Junior forward Christian Standhardinger continued his torrid pace with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, and 13 rebounds. During the four-game winning streak, he is averaging 23.0 points and 11.8 rebounds per game.
“I think it just comes down to hustle plays – how much do you want it,” he said. “Do you go to every rebound.”
Senior center Vander Joaquim had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and grabbed five rebounds; junior guard Brandon Spearman finished with 16 points and five rebounds; freshman guard Brandon Jawato contributed 12 points, including 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range, but was limited to 10 minutes due to cramping in his legs.
Freshman forward Isaac Fotu scored just two points, but grabbed 10 rebounds, helping the Warriors to a dominating 46-21 advantage on the boards.
“Huge – if you can out-rebound a team like that by 25, that’s big,” Arnold said. “I love the 15 offensive rebounds.”
But the real difference was the first-half, when the Warriors shot 58.8 percent from the field, including 7 of 12 (58.3 percent) from 3-point range. Hawai’i opened the game with a 16-5 lead and then basically ran away from the 49ers.
A 25-3 run later in the first half increased the Hawai’i lead to 41-13, and the Warriors eventually took a 53-20 lead at intermission. Joaquim capped the half by draining a difficult turnaround jumper from the baseline over two Long Beach State defenders as the buzzer sounded.
“The team played outstanding,” Arnold said. “Played well, played together, played tough. Did things that you work on in practice and went into the game, and I couldn’t be happier.”
The celebration of the first half quickly turned cautious as the 49ers opened the second half with a full-court pressure defense that stymied the Warriors. Long Beach State went on a 25-8 run in the first seven minutes of the second half to cut the Hawai’i lead to 61-45.
The Warriors were eventually able to adjust, and the closest the 49ers got was 14 at 77-63 with 6:33 remaining.
“I hope we get a lot of practice of being up (33) at halftime,” Arnold said. “That’s the first time we’ve ever seen that … that’s a good problem to have.”
Hawai’i tied its season-high with 23 turnovers, but 18 came in the second half against the Long Beach State full-court defense. The 49ers finished with 19 steals, including 15 in the second half.
“They did exactly what you need to do to get back in,” Arnold said. “They stole the ball and scored on us. But give our guys a lot of credit. They continued to battle.
“I knew they were going to come back. I knew we weren’t going to win by 64. It didn’t shock me or surprise me that they came back. Obviously we didn’t want to have a letdown. They hit us pretty good the first eight minutes but after that, once we calmed down, the last eight minutes, we actually moved the score back up.”
Tony Freeland led the 49ers with 18 points and seven rebounds. Keala King added 14 points and James Ennis contributed 13.
The Warriors will play another Big West home game on Saturday when they host UC Irvine.
(Game photos courtesy Brandon Flores)
First?
Anybody else find that 6,343 attendance as very disappointing??
hawaii fans are slow to realize what they’re missing, but I think we’ll have a great huge crowd on Saturday.
awesome turnout by the students. i think they finally realize that the arena is the place to be on game nights. Only 4 home games left. BE THERE!!!
Great win by the Bows! Dominant performance and this team’s potential is finally coming together. Whatever Gib told his seniors after the Cal Poly loss has really got this team’s attitude going in the right direction.
Gib is continuing to improve as a coach. Last night, I saw Gib alternate his defenses a lot in the first half and it threw The Beach off as they could get the right offense vs the changing zone looks. At one point they were alternating from a 2-3 and 3-2 on each possession and once Jawato and Fotu came in, they went man-man. It kept The Beach off balance and out of rhythm.
Because of practice time restrictions, it’s impossible for any college coach to work on all of their issues. it looks like the team has found it’s identity and by nailing the rotation to 8 players, guys know their roles. I know it sucks for Roop, Oz, & Rozitis because their minutes have diminished, but the 10-11 man platoon just wasn’t working.
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Looking forward to Saturday… UC Irvine has been a poor road team, (1-5) on the road in BW play. I don’t see any reason that they would turn it around on Saturday, as UH probably has the best home court advantage because of the travel distance.
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I got to mention it again, but the Big West officiating is flat out terrible. The 1st half lead may have been even bigger if not for a 4 or 5 really bad calls/no calls going against UH. In the second half UH did benefit from a few bad calls also, so it did even out a little.
The best (worst or funniest) call of the night was in the 2nd half and Vander got the ball at the mid post and got double teamed… In true Vander fashion, he doesn’t pass to 2 wide open teammates but decides to dribble out of the trap, in which he clearly lifted his pivot foot (should have been whistled for traveling). Then he picks up his dribble then while still stuck in the trap, restarts his dribble (refs fail to call double dribble) driving to the baseline, where he stops and pivots for a shot (again could have been called for traveling)….
The outcome = shooting foul on The Beach and Vander nails 2 free throws… hilariously bad officiating, but at least Vander took advantage.
I never thought I’d say this, but I miss WAC refs. Talk about a step down in quality. The reason the press worked so well for LBSU was the refs were scared to blow their whistle. I think Monsen told his players to hack away until they call it, which they didn’t. You can only trap so close, but both defenders were literally all over our guys. And it was so obvious when they missed a call and called a make up foul on something ticky tack.
Even the double technicals, Vander walked away from #22 who was yelling in his face. And they did nothing to slow down the talking that #22 also did to Christian right in front of him during the inbound passes that almost led to another fracas. I thought Christian should’ve passed it off his face instead of his leg. Heh.
btw, how awesome was #35’s free throw shooting style??? i need to go watch the replay just for his Street Fighter fireball throws
chawan, yes, the student section was better. Still hard to believe that 300-400 students is considered a good turnout.
I just watched a few other college games last night and the better student sections have over 2,000 students all wearing the same colors.
I think Utah St brings in about 3,500 students in big home games. UNLV’s “The Rebellion” usually has a few thousand. San Diego St’s student, named “The Show”, section is amazing and bring it for every game.
SDSU’s Viejas Arena is about 12,000 seats, so just a little bigger than Stan Sheriff. They are a commuter campus in a large city, but fans show up in force. SDSU is struggling right now in MWC play and last nights game vs Boise, they still sold out Viejas Arena on a thursday.
And on top of that, there’s a lot more entertainment choices for locals in San Diego than there is for locals in Honolulu in the evening.
UNLV fans are a bit more fickle, but UNLV faces much more competition for evening entertainment options. That being said, their last home game vs Nevada Reno drew 16,800. 16,800 translates to about 8,200 at Stan Sheriff Center after adjusting for capacity.
Agree. With exception of Fabulous Five days, Tom Henderson led teams and Alika/AC teams, where, UH MBB would draw near capacity at Blaisdell Arena(HIC) and new SCC, huge crowds for a front leading team are far and few in between. During those years, a lot of the large crowds were made up of older generation fans, not as much students. Now that group of fans are very old, or have passed on.
I like the Maniacs, even if they are starting at 250-300, and Jamie Smith doing a fantastic job, creating a buzz for UH MBB , With all of the promotions and themes, that core 200-300 students that are now coming out, will tell their friendsm, and hopefully another hundred will come out. Nice if the student section was filled with 500+ for the remaining 4 home games. Gib and team producing an enjoyable product, exciting , full energy NCAA DI basketball. The students are really helping their fellow classmates play better and get on a roll.
Hopefully, this Sat nite against Irvine, SSC will have at least 7500+ in attendance ,. In coming year, great for UH MBB to start building promotion and marketing of UH team already, next year should be very exciting team too.
We all enjoy the atmosphere at SSC, I think it is the best MBB venue in the BWC, hands down.
To students, and fans that can make it out to SSC, come on down, and cheer on the guys,, the team needs you, and it is a great experience!!
Outstanding performance last night. Hawaii’s ball movement in the first half was superb. Christian did an exceptional job sealing off his man. Half court D and rebounding were great as well. Much credit goes to these group of guys. It is safe to say that we’ve finally arrived in the Big West.
We still have a lot of work to do counteracting a full court pressure defense, but I can’t complain about the overall result. My main concern is that Irvine will scout the second half of the game. I hope UH is prepared to see more full court pressure in the near future. Anyway, good job team!
Well done Warriors, huge win. Love the intensity and the effort. Good to see Hauns continue with his come back and Christian, Vander, Jace the upperclassmen leading the young warriors out again todo battle.
Huge congratz to Jamie Smith for getting the Manoa Maniacs fired up. Looking forward for another entertaining game on Saturday Night.
Go The Warriors.
I hope its a sign of things to come with the student section. It was at its peak with AC/Alika and then dwindled down to embarassing. I wasn’t around for the Fab Five days, but it must’ve been awesome to be a part of that. Much props to Jamie Smith and the student group trying to get an organized constant showing to work together in cheers and distractions. You need a bunch of set rituals/routines that everyone knows and remembers and they’re trying to teach them.
I believe the word has gotten out. It’s a nice start and I think it’ll grow. Just hope it can span seasons.
The teams is putting an exciting product on the floor and it has become a true college home court and I also agree that it’s the best in the Big West. Thunder dome??? The Pyramid?? Welcome to a real arena.
and yes, Welcome back HAUNS!!!!!!!!!
I liked Hauns handling that rock and breaking the press late..he didnt hesitate and really played like the senior leader everyone knows he is…great team win..
Awesome win last night. 1st half was amazing. 2nd half was very frustrating but we pulled it out. As I mentioned in another post, I think we match up well with LBSU.
Jamie Smith is doing a great job with getting the students in the seats. The themed events have been fun. Sat. night is 70s night… it would be great if the SSC can change out the music to match the theme.
Great win! I am very happy for team and coach Gib. Good crowds and growing support.
Much Mahalo(thank you)to families and friends of UH team from across the mainland USA and around the globe, from Angola to Australia!
Our family, includes the 24/7 poster “hoopsa” love UH Basketball. Hope team makes a strong finish and gets great seeding for tournament.
Still, one great advantage of Big West Conference, their sports are made available via the internet online stream for free!
Happy that Tonganator, Aussie Mum and Ozi Mum, Memphis, Chicago ohana, etc can follow games live and direct!
Very good support for this forum, and to Dayton , WI, and sponsors, hope this site will continue for years to come!
Mahalo WI, and Warrior, or is it Rainbow Warrior(?) nation!
UHF.
Warriors shouldn’t be happy or proud of that second half which hopefully will make them hungry for the next match up against Long Beach, lets win by 30 next time and no second half letdown and sloppy ball.
Josh,
I think, that is scout on Hawaii, what LBSU did to them in second half. Look for Cal Irvine to press, go after steals deflections, really D up the inbounds pass. UH and coach Gib have to address that, otherwise, UH could go back to turnover city again.
If UH makes it to NIT or NCAA’s, teams there can really pressure the ball, very active. You are right, and coach Gib knows too, they are going to look at that second half, and go back to drawing board to work against pressure D. A lot of the steals that LBSU got, maybe half dozen of so, it looked like LB players, were committing a lot of fouls, however as was mentioned here by other fans who were at the game, and I noticed too, the BWC officials, not greatest in the world, they are letting a lot of physical stuff go on. If that is the case, UH , with Christian, Garrett, Hauns, Spearman, have to go for steals too, get run outs etc.
Agreed, if UH plays with the energy and smarts like first half, UH could go 6-0 to finish BWC play. Have to take care of the ball when playing teams, that pressure D and go for steals.
Good that, the final 6 minutes or so, UH started to attack the press, and closed out a 21 point win. For now, we enjoy the win. From today , Friday Feb 8 2013, pretty sure, Gib working team good, have to play 40 minutes of great basketball all the time till final buzzer, then UH will be not just a good team, they can be a great team.
ONE game at a time, have to get the W against Irvine. UCI will be ready. MBB team don’t let this game be a TRAP game. Play well, and get the victory, a great launch into next weeks 2 important road games!
Go UH MBB team!!
NO team can press all game long, especially no big west team so UH will be fine, ALSO competent refs wouldn’t have let Long Beach get away with half of the so called press defense they played, they should have been clearly called for more fouls But UH needs to relax and not look like deer in headlights next time, breaking a press isn’t rocket science.
The refs were terrible last night… for both teams. I thought WAC officiating was bad… the BWC is even worse. There’s one ref in particular that’s been especially bad… he’s worked a couple of our games and his officiating is consistently terrible.
They should give a tape of the first half to every player on the team and have them replay it over and over. That first half reminded me of the fabulous five days, particularly that game with Florida State in which Hawaii was 20 points up on them midway through the first half and the coach pulled his team off the court and refused to play, citing the referees as biased.
If team continues playing like we all know they can, wow, fab five days are coming around the bend. And when was the last time you recall 5 players consistently scoring in double figures? I think only fab five days.
From now until tournament time the team needs to stay focused and forget about parties and late night stuff. Go home, sleep, eat, and drink basketball. Of course, do your homework but other than that commit yourselves to the remainder of the basketball season and do our State proud.
Manoa Maniacs are getting better, but here’s the goal they need to shoot for…
SDSU Students “The Show”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZbFBaWInQg
Utah St Student section, ”
WInning Team / Losing Team”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvpImNY7hM0
Maybe the best student section cheer ever, or at least the most creative:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc6sJT8I2bw&feature=endscreen
from Central Catholic (MA)
Student attendance last night was not 200-300. We had 574 students. The Student section includes Section F, G, JJ, and Upper N. the capacity for the student section is around 850.
The average student attendance of our games this year (not including the games during Christmas break) is just shy of 400.
Last year’s average student attendance was below 200.
Go Bows: ’60s theme music was played throughout warm-ups. We did the same for Nerd Night, and yes there will be ’70s Disco music tomorrow night. The students are even involved in putting the playlist for theme nights together by commenting on our Facebook page… A secondary benefit of playing the themed music is it takes the opposing team who are not expecting it out of their rhythm. Long Beach State looked uncomfortable warming up to Beatles Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds last night. Our guys know it’s coming and can prepare accordingly. This is part of our home court advantage… We have no control on what music they play during timeouts.
I would not predict as high a turnout of students for Saturday’s game based on the trends I’ve seen this season (though hopefully I’m wrong). Unlike general attendance which swells on a Saturday after a win on Thursday, it’s been different for the students. Also we are not offering a give-a-way. The games where we have a give-a-way item such as t-shirts or wigs have been the most successful.
Former UH Athlete: All three videos posted on here have already at some point been posted on our facebook page. Feel free to “like” our page, and post any future suggestions on there so that you can interact directly with the students.
https://www.facebook.com/HawaiiBasketball
I still believe students wanna see those high flying dunks from our team rather than 1 player getting about 3 poster dunks on us
Congrats to the UH Warriors! Fantastic to see team working together!
At least 3 consecutive good games for Hauns. I think it’s ok to say, “Hauns is back.” Best half played in a while. I remember watching the Cross/Gaines teams, AC/Alika teams (my time during UH), Savo/English teams, lord help us the Nash teams, etc… that half was awesome. I just wish the Warriors would work on their press breaks. They seemingly just hand the ball to the opposition. Keep up the good work gentlemen. Awesome atmosphere last night. Let’s make it happen students! Win or lose!
Congrats on the WIN!
Also the student attendance, per Jamie’s comments have been way above the 300 mark. Thursday was at 574. We were hoping to break the student record on Thursday, but maybe Saturday it can be much higher. Although the student section can seat 800+, the facebook message was we were shooting for 1000! (it’s a good problem to have, more students than the student section can hold!)
I think it is great for the team to know that their friends are in the stands supporting them!
Congrats to the students This is becoming a more college atmosphere. Hope we can get student participation with the likes of Utah st. Speedo guy is a riot. Give him props for guts to strip down threw off the Long Beach shooters. Booster club needs to get involved with students maybe give them hot dog and soda
Jimmy The Brit:
The students are really supporting MBB! Thank you for keeping count. The team plays better when their fellow classmates are in the SSC house. Good job. Hope, before the end of season, students will set an all time attendance record!
The Stan Sheriff Center with A LOT of loyal student support and coordination by Jamie Smith with jeers getting on opponents making free throws is something to behold. In the past, we would just scream and wave our hands!
Great job UH student body. I am sure Gib, appreicates support,., you guys represent very well! Team is playing their hearts out for Manoa Maniacs and fans!
People need to be a little patient with the student section.
You guys have to understand a few things.
yes, the SDSU and USU sections are amazing.
the difference is, both student sections are MUCH larger than ours is. we cant even get half of what SDSU has because we dont have the seats allotted for it even if we did fill all 850 seats.
also, both of those schools have years and years of repeated basketball success with frequent tourney appearances.meanwhile, we’re just digging ourselves out of a Bob Nash sized hole.
another thing that comes with their years of basketball success are fans that know basketball. our fans dont. we’re teaching them how to coordinate cheers, and its getting better every game, but its not an overnight thing. cmon, i still hear LOTS of students asking their friends what the hell is going on. i have people asking me if Christian’s name is “stanburginger” and dont understand what a foul is and why they’re shooting free throws .we have a lot of clueless fans, but at least they’re loud and supportive and having fun. with time, we’ll get much more knoledgable fans and the student section will be that much better.
realize that we’re starting with NOTHING. i went to games in the nash era (not as a student), and there would be less than 50 people in the student section. the last couple of gib years, it was better, but i could still walk in and get a seat anywhere i wanted to at 7pm. last night, i walked in 30 minutes early and had to sit all the way in the back of the student section, in the worst seats behind the shot clock. this student section has made miles and miles of improvements thanks to Jamie Smith’s committment, and it will only get better, but you cant expect us to be elite fans withing a half season of actually going to the games. that isnt fair.
xer 21.
Any fan ,student or otherwise that supports UH MBB team at the Stan Sheriff Center is to be commended. UH BB is very unique. University is situated in the middle of the Pacific. The history of successful Basketball teams,goes back to Fabulous Five era, the seventies, the Tom Henderson teams, until Riley Wallace teams with Gaines/Cross , AC /Alika and Savo/English teams, Now Gib in 3rd year building something special.
To compare UH BB success and fan support(cheers, coordination, amount in house) to other high mid majors, or high majors, you are correct, it is not fair. Give Gib and team several years to have great success, and continue the great promotions and support of ones like Jamie Smith and the student body, UH will have a great College atmosphere enviroment. UH is like Hawaii’s pro team in all sports, so we give it support. Many fans have stuck with the team through 1-27 losing seasons, and 27-6 winning seasons. Kudos to the great fans, young and old. Hawaii is a very special place. Mahalo to the great student support, we are very special. Majority of student body are not on scholarship, paying full tuition, so extra special shout out to!
Mahalo to students , the Manoa Maniacs, they look like they are having a great time! And that is what college life and athletic experience should be. Yes, UH is not SDSU or USU, it is Hawaii, a nice place to play college ball , to get an education and to make lifelong friends.!
hoopsa and UHF.
xer 21.
Any fan ,student or otherwise that supports UH MBB team at the Stan Sheriff Center is to be commended. UH BB is very unique. University is situated in the middle of the Pacific. The history of successful Basketball teams,goes back to Fabulous Five era, the seventies, the Tom Henderson teams, until Riley Wallace teams with Gaines/Cross , AC /Alika and Savo/English teams, Now Gib in 3rd year building something special.
To compare UH BB success and fan support(cheers, coordination, amount in house) to other high mid majors, or high majors, you are correct, it is not fair. Give Gib and team several years to have great success, and continue the great promotions and support of ones like Jamie Smith and the student body, UH will have a great College atmosphere enviroment. UH is like Hawaii’s pro team in all sports, so we give it support. Many fans have stuck with the team through 1-27 losing seasons, and 27-6 winning seasons. Kudos to the great fans, young and old. Hawaii is a very special place. Mahalo to the great student support, we are very special. Majority of student body are not on scholarship, paying full tuition, so extra special shout out to!
Mahalo to students , the Manoa Maniacs, they look like they are having a great time! And that is what college life and athletic experience should be. Yes, UH is not SDSU or USU, it is Hawaii, a nice place to play college ball , to get an education and to make lifelong friends.!
hoopsa and UHF.
UHF – lots of love from Down Under
Jimmy the Brit – love the code name
Josh – disagree with your comments re: second half – any top team is going to come out hard after the first half that they had – in the first half we were hot – and we confused them – but like any top team they re-grouped and initiated a new strategy – that then challenged us – the really great thing I thought was that we hung in there – I was nervous for awhile but the boys pulled together and held off the full attack that Long beach were after. This has to be acknowledged as a great effort and step forward in terms of leadership and maturity of our team.
I really loved so much about that game – congratulations boys.
Student support is improving. Thanks to creative marketing, so keep up the good work. Just have to continue to get the word out that UH students have free tickets. The hardcore fan base is growing, but its the other students that need to start coming, especially the ones living on campus. I don’t know if UH students will ever pull a couple thousand per game like most good programs.
The attendance issue is the result of declining results from Wallace’s last few years and a disastrous Nash era, which scarred the program as many long time season ticket holders dropped out.
I’ve been saying this is the most exciting UH team at least since the 2001 & 2002 seasons and its getting better. So things are looking up. I just hope AD Ben Jay is proactive in locking up Gib long term or at least protect UH (via expensive buyout) from bigger programs that will surely try to steal Gib away at some point.
If UH peaks during the 2nd half of BW play (which they appear to be doing) and make a run through the BW tournament (seems very possible), Gib will be show up on the radar of programs looking for a young up and coming coach. I honestly think Gib needs to string a couple of strong seasons before someone takes a serious run at him, but a desperate program that lost out on its top few candidates may dangle the carrot out.
USC is a bit scary because if Gib’s history there, but I think USC will look at Dan Monson (The Beach) before they talk to Gib. I think Monson would love to jump back to an upper level program. I think he’s just biding his time at The Beach.