Warriors seeking road revenge at UC Davis
DAVIS, Calif. – The real Hawai’i basketball team is hoping to show itself to UC Davis on Thursday.
The Warriors who lost to UC Davis, 93-82, on January 19 in the Stan Sheriff Center certainly had a different look. In that loss, the Warriors started three freshmen and one senior (Vander Joaquim), and senior wing Hauns Brereton did not play at all due to a knee injury.
This time around, the Warriors will likely have three seniors – including Brereton – and no freshmen in the starting lineup. How it plays out remains to be seen.
The Big West Conference rematch between the Warriors and Aggies will start at 5 p.m. (Hawai’i time) at The Pavilion on the campus of UC Davis.
Hawai’i, which is on a five-game winning streak, is 15-9 overall and in second place in the Big West at 9-4. UC Davis is 9-13 overall and in sixth place at 5-6.
“We take it personal,” Joaquim said of the loss to UC Davis last month. “We had a good week of practice, so now we just have to be ready to perform.”
The Warriors arrived in Sacramento on Tuesday night, and went through a two-hour workout on Wednesday evening at UC Davis’ practice gym.
The Warriors are focused on slowing down a UC Davis team that is the only Big West opponent to reach the 90-point mark on the Warriors this season. In particular, Hawai’i can not allow UC Davis guard Corey Hawkins to score 40 like he did in Honolulu.
“In the conference, he’s only made 15 (3-pointers), and most of them came from our game,” Hawai’i assistant coach Brandyn Akana noted. “We’re going to treat him as a shooter. He proved that to us … we’re going to have to slow him down and take away some of those shots.”
Hawkins, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, leads the Big West in scoring at 19.3 points per game. He went 8 for 9 from 3-point range in the win over the Warriors, but has gone 4 for 12 from long range since then. Akana said Hawkins’ points usually come from “driving, pull-ups, getting to the basket, transition.”
The UC Davis player who usually shoots the 3 is Ryan Sypkens. The 6-4 junior is averaging 14.4 points per game and leads the Big West with 83 3-pointers and a .485 percentage from 3-point range. Those stats also rank among the top ten in the nation for both categories.
The Warriors will also try to contain point guard Paolo Mancasola, who had a career-high 11 assists in the win at Hawai’i.
Hawai’i will also try to utilize its size advantage in the post. The Aggies normally use a rotation of eight players, and the three tallest are 6-9 Josh Ritchart, 6-7 J.T. Adenrele and 6-5 Ryan Howley.
The Warriors top three scorers are all 6-8 and taller. Junior Christian Standhardinger leads the way with 16.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. He is averaging 22.4 points and 11.2 rebounds over the last five games and has earned the last two Big West Player of the Week awards.
Joaquim is averaging 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and freshman Isaac Fotu is contributing 9.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, and leads the Big West with a .636 field goal percentage.
The Warriors also have a rejuvenated backcourt featuring Brereton, Jace Tavita, Brandon Spearman and Brandon Jawato.
Brereton is averaging 14.4 points per game during the five-game winning streak; Tavita leads the Big West in assists with 5.3 per game; Spearman ranks fourth on the team in scoring at 9.8 points per game; Jawato leads the team with 39 3-pointers and a .464 percentage from long range.
GAME INFORMATION: Hawai’i (15-9, 9-4 Big West) vs. UC Davis (9-13, 5-6 Big West)
When: Thursday, Feb. 14, 5:00 p.m. (Hawai’i time)
Where: The Pavilion (5,931) – Davis, Calif.
Television: None.
Streaming Video: Live video streaming is available on BigWest.tv.
Radio: ESPN 1420 AM will carry the game live. Neighbor islands can listen live on KNUI on Maui, KHLO in Hilo, KKON in Kona, and KTOH on Kaua’i.
Audio Webcast: Live audio streaming on espn1420am.com
Live Stats: Live in-game stats are available at ucdavisaggies.com
ANSWER ʻBows!
Dominate, Out-Play in Most/ALL Phases & Metrics/Team Goals
Win/Even Turnovers
Suffocating Defense
Shut Down UC-DAVIS Shooting and Driving
Lock Out Defensive Boards
Dominate Offensive Boards
Close Out the Key
Alter/Block Shots
Dominate Fouls & Make Free Throws
Hit ALL Lay-Ups and Five Footers
Shoot Well for All the Rest
Out-SHOOT ʻEm!
Continue to Find The Ways to Win
Just like the First Meeting…Donʻt ʻHave to Beʻ Close
This Time, Make the Better Team Win…
Out- Effort, Out-Hustle, Beat ʻEm to the Ball
Get the Early Lead and Keep Building it…
All the Way to The Win…
(Then Do It Again…)
Go ʻBows!
WIN Warriors!
Jace auditioning for your job, Dayton. Looking forward to your report and video … after the victory, of course. Thanks to the Schmidt ohana for sending you along.
fan4m2b:
February 14th, 2013 at 12:12 am
To be realistic, non-gender, non-controversal, common-sense.. let performance represent!
Why not just “Athletix” !?
OK Warriors, man up and do not let Hawkins embarrass you again! This is our revenge game , they made you look like a bunch of high school players last game , pay back time tonight!
Tha “WARRIORS”
POUND ‘um and HOUND ‘um….
Show ‘um the muscle and hustle..
Let ‘um know it’s WARRIOR time…
It goes without saying that this is another important game. UC Davis and Cal Poly are the only two teams left we have to pay back. It would be great if we can avenge those losses and go into the BW tourney knowing that every team is beatable (from a confidence building standpoint). Also, I’m excited that WI is covering this trip. Much thanks. Go Warriors!
Serious road test, although I have to believe if we can come within seconds of beating 1st place Long Beach St. on the road, that we can beat any other team in the conference on the road. Important game for the former boys, recently become men and carry the momentum into UC Davis and come away with win #6 in a row! Just a few keys to carrying the momentum….
-Continue to keep taking care of the rock, low turnovers
-Keep making those free throws
-Get into a rythm early, set the pace of the game and control the opposition
-The X-Factor, as always, is CHRISTIAN!
I know we’re the Warriors now, but I’m old school…LET’S GO BOWS!!!
Guys, DEFENSE, whether at home and most importantly on the road will win ball games. Have a good scout, Bigs, play big, like how, Vander came to top of key and Christian went to work. If they double Christian, leaves room for Isaac to work, if Cal Davis pays attention to Fotu, Christian or Vander go to work! Developing a nice variation on offense, good job coach and staff.
Perimeter guys, Spearman, Jawato, Hauns, even if not hitting a ton of 3’s , still play defense, hit the glass, dive for loose balls, hit mid range, go to rim, and hit FT’s , and of course, keep turnovers to 13 or below, give youself chance to win in last few minutes of game.
UH: Big Boy and smart Boy Basketball, you guys can get the 2 wins. Hopefully no worse than split 1-1, should have a nice flight home!
And Gee Garrett Jefferson, important role: backup ball handler, and super defender, you can have great impact on both games, your energy and on ball defense,playing passing lanes, and getting clean steals and blocks are huge. Also, you have improved form a 40% FT shooter to around 66% shooter this year , that is huge, now have to concentrate, relax, bend knees, take deep breath and shoot 2 FT’s , nothing but net.
Same for Fotu and Christian, have to bend knees, breath, relax, focus, nothing but net, Isaac and Christian, have to get your FT percentages up to 70% or above, so vital to winning these last 5 BWC games, on road and as SSC!!
Hey Christian,
We knew how good you are & how much you contributed to the TEAM but,
You & TEAM both make the same mistake sometime, which is that only play one good half of a game!
You’ve cracked the 30pts+15bds double-double club but you know what, your 1st1/2 was disappointing for that game!? You could had had 40pts+20bds; a new record all by yourself!
That’s it a “New Record” for you to set. Make it easier, just by providing 20pts+10bds for two consecutive halves of any game.
As for you, TEAM, just scored 44pts every 1/2, will win you a lot more games.
This is the perfect time to commence!
Hawaii you got the talent to elevate your game to another level. The time is now.
IF You have to –
To Block Out and Prevent UCD Catching and Shooting…
JUST PLAY MAN Defense,
DENY the Ball (BEFORE The Shot) and
BLOCK Out
Move Your Feet
Make Up the Deficit
Play OUR Game (Defense) & Score and
Take Back This Game & This Series….