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Warriors return home with important road victory

The University of Hawai’i basketball team returned to Honolulu on Sunday afternoon with the best souvenir available in Flagstaff, Arizona … a road victory.

The Warriors adjusted to the challenging road conditions – 7,000 feet of elevation and freezing temperatures – to earn a 76-66 victory over Northern Arizona on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s huge,” senior center Davis Rozitis said. “It was hard to play in that 7,000 feet elevation. Conditioning-wise it was hard, but we came together. It was a team win.”

The Warriors have now won four consecutive games and have an overall record of 6-2.

November 11, 2013  at the Neil Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii

“It’s really important, definitely heading into conference play next month we need to learn how to win on the road,” sophomore forward Isaac Fotu said. “That’s how we’re going to be successful in our conference. It was really important for our confidence and for the new guys to get used to playing on the road.”

The Warriors got big performances from their starting guard trio of Garrett Nevels (24 points, 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range), Keith Shamburger (15 points, 10-of-10 shooting on free throws) and Brandon Spearman (13 points, 6 for 9 from the field).

“You travel all that way, you don’t want to come back with a loss,” Nevels said. “It was like a hostile environment, you had their fans yelling at you and everything, so it feels good to go somewhere else and beat them at their place.”

Starting forwards Fotu and Christian Standhardinger scored six points each, although both played key defensive roles.

“(Northern Arizona) locked it in inside for both me and Fotu, that’s why we both struggled a little bit,” Standhardinger said. “I’m just happy that we have such a balanced team that our guards beat them.”

Fotu played with his broken right hand wrapped in protective tape for a second consecutive game, but he said the injury is making progress.

“I still have to play with that cast on, which is pretty annoying, so hopefully it will be off in a week or so,” he said. “It’s feeling much better.”

As the victorious Warriors exited Walkup Skydome after the game, they were greeted with snowfall. Before they could board the team bus, a snowball fight broke out.

“At first it was players against coaches, and then it was like a free for all,” Rozitis said. “Who ever was in a target area got fired at.”

The Warriors’ next game will be this Saturday against NCAA Division II neighbor Chaminade on the island of Kauai. It is the second consecutive year that the Warriors and Silverswords will meet for a Neighbor Island game (last year it was on Molokai).

It will be Hawai’i’s only game between now and December 22, as the players must also focus on end-of-the-semester academic finals.

Statistics of interest:

• The Warriors starting five players are all currently averaging double-figure points: Christian Standhardinger (16.9), Garrett Nevels (14.0), Isaac Fotu (12.4), Brandon Spearman (11.8) and Keith Shamburger (10.1).

• Garrett Nevels leads the team with 18 3-pointers, and is shooting 51.4 percent (18-35) from 3-point range.

• Standhardinger leads the team with 11 blocked shots. He had a total of 15 all of last season.

• Davis Rozitis is 17 for 20 on field goals this season, for an amazing .850 percentage.

26 Comments

  1. Great win UH MBB team! Now get some rest, and go to Lihue to beat a nothing to lose, 3 ball shooting Silversword team! The battle for College MBB supremacy in Hawaii!

    Go Bows!
    😀

  2. Awesome win! And for covering the spread, always a plus 🙂

    So does anyone know if the game against Chaminade this weekend will be televised?? I’m worried it’s not since it’s going to be played on Kauai 🙁

  3. The keys to winning his year are 1) Shamburger 2) Nevels 3) Spearman, and 4) Q. Smith.
    I would rather have them over 1) Tavita 2) Clair 3) Jefferson and 4) Pavlovic. There is no comparison. 1) better ball control and ball handling 2) better free throw shooting 3) better 3 pt. shooting 4) better field goal percentage 5) better passing 6) better defense and quickness 7) more steals and 8) less turnovers.

    We don’t miss Joaquim. Rozitis has improved. I still want him to go up hard at the rim with a two handed dunk instead of laying it up. Common man, he’s 7’0″ tall. I like Aaron Valdes and Mike Thomas. These 2 freshman can make a difference come February and March when it’s really in crunch time.

  4. Good Comments —

    Beating The SPREAD Actually IS Important
    Some of The Basketball Power Ratings DO (And Should) Consider Margin of Victory,
    Location of Game, Stats Percentages etc.

    Hawaiʻi Now Up to # 130 in Pomeroy Ratings (Next Rated Team is Boise @ # 60)

    SMART Integrated Choice — Having ESPN Involved Has Some Big Time Advantages
    BOTH Oregon State And Boise Accepted HAWAIʻI BOWL Invitations (Remember, Football? Me, Neither)
    SO THEY WILL Have Loud and Maybe Large, Fan Support Contingents @ The Diamond Head Classic…

    SSC WILL BE Rockinʻ!
    Big Time College Basketball Atmosphere…

    Beat the Silver-Swords!
    Shut Down The Three Line
    Dominate the Boards
    Shut Down D
    Go ʻBows!

  5. Derek: Agree 100% , last year, Jace, Garrett Jefferson, Manroop Clair, or were awesome young guys and students, it was hard for them to be the athletic, defenders, distributors and scorers from the rim to 3 line. These new 3 guards plus Spearman( who is the physical attack on O and D guy), his leadership is greatly needed. When you see Nevels, Smith and Shamburger, helping close out close games, that speaks volumes. What say Eagle, we had this discussion last spring…upgrade at the PG and SG positions, guards who take care of ball and have athleticism, and BB IQ, definite upgrade. No knock on last years guys, they were well loved by the whole UH team, wish them well, wherever they may be at present.

    With the additions of Smith, Shamburger, Nevels , and the young athletic freshmen , AV and MT, plus, Davis Da Defensive Beast, causing havoc, and , I wish he would dunk, however, his left handed and right handed quick, very quick sure layups, are as good as a dunk..Davis, is a Defensive problem for most teams, the first time they see it. Team can still get better, and the Guards are taking the lead, like any good team. By mid BWC play, we shall, see, a possible real contender for NCAA’s or NIT, ..

    I wish the game would be televised from Kauai, up to Oceanic, or if Kaleo, had a online one camera, and commentator, live feed,, synced up with BC’s KKEA radio broadcast, would be awesome. Any tech savvy, people on Kauai, I am sure there are, that is One Beautiful Island, the Garden Isle!

    Go Rainbow Warriors! No Let down, bring the D against the Swords, the battle for Numbah one in local college hoops!
    😀

  6. Big West Update and thoughts…

    Hawaii 6-2 – so far so good. Lost to 2 best teams on schedule, but have taken care of business with easy ones. Newcomers Shamburger, Nevels and Smith have been awesome

    UCSB 4-3 – hot and cold. Pounded UNLV but lost to other good teams. Allen Williams is one of best players in the BW, and Boswell and Bryson can bomb 3’s to balance the offense.

    Northridge 5-5 – Junk

    UC Irvine 5-5 – Very inconsistent but dangerous with the 7’5″ Ndiaye and 3 good shooters. They have some very bad losses to poor teams.

    UC Riverside 3-4 – Junk.

    Cal Poly 3-5 – Poor start to season. They are usually tough at home, but Pacific came in and beat them.

    Cal State Fullerton 3-7 – Junk

    UC Davis 3-7 – Junk

    Long Beach State 1-9 – Brutal schedule has led to brutal record. They played pretty well at NC St, but came up short. I think they pick it up for BW play. They clearly have not recovered from Monson dismissing King, Deng Deng, and Freeland this past spring. They still have more talent than most BW teams.

    As of right now, I see UCSB and Hawaii as clearly the top two teams in conference. UCI could be in the picture with 3 quality shooters. Long Beach could be the dark horse if they can put things together, but LBSU is a terrible 3pt shooting team, so teams will pack the paint against them.

  7. Been following, like you have UH athlete…the Big West non conference records. Your assessment very good. In Big West, whomever, at least for the NCAA one invite, is hot during Tournament gets in. So who can peak in March has chance.

    Hawaii, still has things to improve on, the battles on the boards, they have to do it as a team, the guards the wings, just getting every ball off of the glass. However, this team with better guard play, that is the determining factor, on winning games here and on the road. That win at Flagstaff against N. Arizona was huge. BWC did not do Hawaii a favor by scheduling 4 or the Bows first 5 games on the road.Pretty brutal. This team, I really like, seeing in person at the Stanley and on TV. They, as others have commented, are a smart team. The Big West, seems like the wild west., anyone, going with guns blazing, and on fire, will win that conference, either regular or tournament championships. Nice if it is the Bows!

  8. I would think, when Isaac’s hand is better, and cast is off, maybe just soft wrap to protect, more flexible, he will rebound more, and shoot more effectively. He does a great job at 6’8″ in the paint against guys his size upr to 7’5″. Christian, I am surprised, really upped his defensive game. Leading the team in blocked shots! With, Valdes, Smith, Nevels, Fotu, Standhardinger, Rozitis, able to get steals AND blocked shots, helps their defense tremendously, since, UH team does not have the traditional Big Bigs.

    Team, getting better, hope they do well this semester in school, and have a great last 6 games of the year 2013. If they can win the DHC, good spring board into BWC play. Hope that, Smith, Dressler, Fotu, and Spearman, heal up well from their nagging injuries. Echo thoughts of others, good thing UH is at least 10 or 11 guys deep this year. Gib, first time in four years, he has a roster to turn to, at least two units, that can uptempo, on O and D. Fun team to watch, and hopefully, get a good run in BWC, and maybe NIT or NCAA invite. Still a lot of season left. So , day by day, keep working hard guys!

    Uhfanzonly1.

  9. Well, almost end of the year. …Once Again, Big Shout Out and Kudos to Dayton Morinaga and Warrior Insider. Love this site Dayton. Really fan, and family friendly. I would think that 99% of comments are favorable in support of Coaching staff, athletes and program.

    Thank you for the video reports, interviews and updates! First Rate!

    Look forward to your report, on hopefully a good win against Chaminade on Saturday Dec 14 2013!

    Go Bows!
    😀

  10. Actually, 100% of the posts, are from people who have a passion for the MBB program, without a doubt. expressing their thoughts and opinions.
    UH MBB, for now, and by extension, WBB, are the programs, until Women Softball, Men VB and Men Baseball, starts up, that UH Athletics fans are looking to, for excitement and wins!

    Go Rainbow Warriors, and Wahine!
    😀

  11. Kia ora UHMBB fans.

    The Tonganator Ohana will be landing in Hawaii on Sunday, hopefully to celebrate another win against Chaminade. Had an awesome time watching them win last December at Molokai. Man this year’s team very exciting.

    We have a group of 18 Kiwi fans coming for the DHC so they will be making some noise at the SSC.

    Maybe I can catch up with some of the regular, die hard fans posting on this wonderful forum face to face.

    Looking forward to also taste some more Poke bowl…

    Until then,

    GO THE MIGHTY WARRIORS!!!

  12. The good news is that UCI’s 7’5″ Ndiaye is build like Manute Bol. At least the UH bigs can get leverage and push him around, unlike NMSU’s moose with high tops.

  13. Warriors to Kauai this week , dominate the Swords!! come on , do not let up. and do not underestimate the enemy!

  14. In NYTimes, Publishers’ Weekly Number One Best-Seller “DAVID & GOLIATH: Underdogs, Misfits and The Art of Battling Giants”, FOUR-Time Best-Seller and Most Influential Person, Author Malcolm Gladwell points out that Huge Underdog Ragtag Fordham University and its coach Digger Phelps defeated National Power UMASS and their star Julius Erving with a Relentless Full-Court Pressure D, watched and apparently only understood and learned by a feshman guard who didn’

  15. …by a freshman guard who didn’t even play, watching the entire game from the bench, named Rick Pitino…
    who Now Hosts the Mecca @ Louisville for coaches who want to learn the finer points of coaching full-court pressure…
    “invariably they return home and e-mail ‘why they can’t use the full-court pressure defense’…”

    (Don’t have Five Guys who can get their teeth on the rim?)

    KEEP ON Keeping On The Pressure D, Coach Gib…
    You Look to have the quickness, athleticism and depth to make it work!

    ——

    Hosts? Organizer? Sign-Posted Meeting Area? Table of Food (Poke’?)
    So we CAN Introduce Ourselves to the 18-Strong Tonganator Contingent, The TribeVx4 Valdes’, The Schmidts?
    ALL in the House being Fashioned by Coach Gib & Staff….

  16. Hey Tonganator, waiting to hear if UH women’s BBALL has offered Ella Fotu a scholarship or at least a trip to see if she wants a basketball scholarship here. Just wondering

  17. Hey Rob T. I don’t want to make any comment that would violate any NCAA process but enough to say with Ella at her last year at High School next year, she will be concentrating on getting ready to hit College environment 2015 running. She is currently on Camp for the New Zealand Junior womens team. Hawaii will definately be on the radar. Instantly, Isaac brother Daniel (14 years 6’4”) can play BBall and Volley Ball. Maybe pipeline for the FOTU’s at UH. You never know!!

  18. Looking ahead in the next few weeks…

    Just need to take care of business vs Chaminade. Then the DHC is on.

    Getting Boise St in the 1st round is a dangerous game as Boise can score like crazy. Not sure how good they are because they have played an incredibly easy schedule so far and are untested. The only common opponent is New Orleans, which both UH and Boise demolished. So no apparent advantage in there. Boise’s toughest game was vs a Utah team that has a good record, but have played an equally weak schedule as Boise. Should be a lot of points. Standhardinger, Nevels, Fotu, and Shamburger need good offensive games to hang with Boise’s high scoring offense.

    This year’s DHC is a pretty strong field but no big name programs. Which is not good for tv ratings. St Mary’s, Iowa St, Boise and Hawaii are all solid teams but not much name recognition. George Mason is just a shadow of it’s Final Four form from a few years ago.

    Should be fun…

  19. Papa Fotu, glad to hear from you. Been reading your posts. Love that Isaac returned for one more year, and that Ella and Daniel(remember Warrior Insider video of the surprise visit last year?), if that was Daniel, man, he grew super tall in one year!
    Too, bad, some of us, me due to work schedule cannot make some of the Stan Sheriff games, however, you meet as many of the Men Basketball fans as you can. I like this team.

    UH Athlete, if Gib has his team, all the active 10 or 11 guys, he will use, in Diamond Head Classic, and probably on Kauai, playing a top 40, Defensive effort. Shutting down, the three point shooters, and overall percentages from the field. Now, team , though smaller, are getting, deflections, steals, altering shots, and blocked shots, leading to fast break easy buckets. That is what will win big games, against comparable or even superior talent, like how we use to go to Klum, and beat the Basketball wizards, by sheer, hustle, and defense, though we were not as athletic. Defense, and smart on offense, take care of the rock. UH can win, hopefully, 5 out of the next six games, or better yet, go 6-0 , and win the DHC, and go into BWC play at 12-2 would be Awesome!

  20. Tonganator, Aloha to your ohana! Ella, Mama Fotu, Daniel, and your contingent of 18 from New Zealand! Hope that, Aussie Mum makes it over too. As well as TribeVx4, and other families. Should be a very special time for your families to be reunited!
    Back in the day, we, our family were at Klum gym, Bloch Arena on Pearl Harbor base, the old Honolulu International Center, which became the Neal Blaisdell Arena, and several years ago, regular season ticket holders with MBB at the new Stan Sheriff Center Arena, starting in 1994.
    Well, time moves on, and we get older, and ailments, still , homebound, however, with this terrific site, as well as online live stream of games, away, and Oceanic broadcasts, and ESPN UH games, can follow UH MBB from home.
    Once, a Rainbow Fan, Now Rainbow Warrior fan, always, from the season they were 2-26, till the Riley Wallace coached NCAA bound team of 27 wins.
    Gib has good kids, including Isaac, Christian, Spearman, Nevels, Shamburger, Smith, Enos, Thomas, Jovanovich, Hackman, Harper, Jawato, Rozitis and Aaron Valdes. Happy for this young and New team, they are outstanding young guys.

    Have a safe trip over Tonganator, and maybe, Future Fotus will be a part of Rainbow Warrior sports teams.

    Always, thinking of the fans that can make it to the games. If you all, can go, please, make at least one game, live at the Stan Sheriff Center, these guys are playing their hearts out, and the sky is the limit…Possible big or little Post Season Dances.
    And Eagle, Gib, has done a good job, recruiting, the right high character 17 for 2013 and beyond!
    Go UH MBB team. Go Bows!

    Uhfanzonly1.

  21. For those who’ve mentioned/asked several times…

    Coach Gib on his Call the Coach show tonight, announced that Jaime Smith got his VISA Today;
    Still needs to Interview with The Embassy but the hardest part is over; it’s good for several years and he should be back with the Team And Students by the time Big West Conference Starts …

    Also, Caleb Dressler had surgery, IS in rehab, can only sit up 15 minutes at a time; is in for a long rehab; “CAN” come all the way back, but that hard work is up to him; should be able to get Medical Hardship and would be a freshman again…

    … and i’m confident we’ll have one or two really nice (6-7? 6-9 to 6-11) players signed during the late signing period…

  22. Eagle …I heard every minute of that interview. ..really feel bad for Caleb..back surgery not fun..up to him on rehab time will take time to be up to speed BB wise..best and speedy recovery Caleb..my personal favorite Big ..great young man..hope he gets his degree in few more years.. Eagle that is exciting Gib trying to sign possible 10 ppg 6rpg 2.5 block per game. 6’9″-6’11” athletic bigs!! Interesting he said before that he was recruiting France..all those Senegal former French colony..Paris must have some good ones..remember Luc-Arthur Verbobe..6’9″SF and of course Ahmet Gueye!!
    Eagle..Chaminade game gonna. be a War!! One Kauai fan said game almost sold out!!
    Go Bows!!
    😀

  23. Eagle Gib really grown as X and O coach..having guys to run O and D helps! ! Guys High Character and ut Team and wins first reason why team getting better and will win a bunch of games this year..after 2 years of FB sad state and WVB one and done Gib and team bring joy to UH faithful..Eagle and all fans this team so focused andBB IQ smart..they still will get much better by March..ther are two goals for team..Regular season champs=auto NIT invite..and ultimately. .BWC Tournament champs=NCAA bound!!
    Shout out to team ..your families are in town..finals..so stay focused..UH MBB fans backing you guys!!
    Go Bows!!
    😀

  24. Very happy that Jamie Smith will be back by BWC play..he is great at coordinating the Mamoa Maniacs!!
    Go Bows!!
    😀

  25. Sorry the Manoa Maniacs..Jamie will try to reach goal of 400 plus at games!!
    Go Bows!!
    😀

  26. Gib’s re-explanation of the miss/make driven Offense is REALLY INTERESTING:

    I LIKE having Rebounder Initiate the Break, bring the ball up court Fast (WE Always did — unless guards were cherry picking it was always faster and more devastating to have “Everyone RACING Downcourt”, Straight to The Rim OR Pass to The Wings…

    Shooting within 8 seconds minimizes turnovers
    And Attacks Before Defense is Established and Coordinated (when Weakest)

    AND What a Difference to Have a Quarterback/Point Guard who can Read & Run All Five Options….
    Potentially Devastating

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