Warriors want a repeat of last year against Long Beach
The University of Hawai’i basketball team is hoping history repeats itself from a year ago when it hosts Long Beach State in a Big West Conference game on Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Last season, the Warriors brought home a three-game winning streak from the road and then proceeded to rout Long Beach State, 94-73.
This season, the Warriors are on a three-game winning streak – including two on the road last week – and are looking to maintain the momentum against the 49ers.
“They’re not the running team they used to be,” UH assistant coach Scott Fisher said. “They’re good in transition, but they’re probably winning their games defensively.”
Hawai’i is 14-5 overall and tied with Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara for third place in the conference at 3-2. The 49ers are 7-12 overall, although that is a deceiving record as they played the toughest non-conference record in the nation, according to several websites.
It will be a contrast in styles, as Hawaii leads the Big West in scoring at 82.7 points per game, while Long Beach State is seventh at 66.7. The Warriors are second in the conference in field goal percentage at .484, while the 49ers are last at .402.
“They’re not shooting a great percentage right now as a team,” Fisher said. “They’re doing most of the work on the defensive end, so they’re holding teams down. They’re all big, strong, physical … they’re going to want it to be dirty. They’re going to want us to slow down.”
In five Big West games, the 49ers have head each opponent to 74 points or fewer, including four opponents under 62. They are also coming off consecutive victories over Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge – two teams that beat Hawai’i earlier this month.
The 49ers are led by the backcourt duo of Mike Caffey and Tyler Lamb. Caffey, a 6-foot junior, leads the team with 16.5 points and 4.5 assists per game; Lamb, a 6-5 junior, is averaging 16.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
The 49ers average 61 field goal attempts per game, and Caffey and Lamb combine to account for nearly 30 of those. However, neither guard has been particularly accurate. Caffey has a .412 field goal percentage, while Lamb is at .356.
Their top inside player is senior Dan Jennings, a 6-9, 245-pound center who is averaging 10.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. He has a .594 field goal percentage, and is the only key Long Beach State player shooting better than 50 percent.
The Warriors will counter with what has become their solid starting five – Keith Shamburger at the point, Garrett Nevels and Brandon Spearman on the wings, and Isaac Fotu and Christian Standhardinger at forwards.
Shamburger, the reigning Big West Player of the Week, has been the catalyst during the Warriors’ three-game winning streak. He is averaging 13.0 points, 7.0 assists and just 1.0 turnovers per game in those last three games.
Standhardinger remains the team’s top producer at 18.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Fotu is next in both categories at 14.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, and he leads the Big West with a .616 field goal percentage.
Nevels is averaging 14.4 points per game and leads the team with 38 3-pointers and a .452 percentage from 3-point range. Spearman is contributing 11.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
“Athletic, tough team coming in; we just have to be ready for these guys,” Spearman said. “I know they want revenge from last year when we beat them here badly. I know they’re going to be out for it, but we’ll be ready.”
Game 20 Tipoff Notes
Who: Hawai’i (14-5, 3-2 Big West) vs. Long Beach State (7-12, 3-2 Big West)
When: Thursday, Jan. 30, 7:00 p.m.
Where: Stan Sheriff Center (10,300) – Honolulu
Television: Live on OCSports – Channels 16 (SD) and 1016 (HD).
Streaming Video: BigWest.tv
Radio: Live on ESPN 1420 AM. 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 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.
Promotions: Oceanic Time Warner Cable is the sponsor on Thursday and will distribute 5,000 pom poms and award $300 in gas cards. Jack in the Box is the sponsor of Saturday’s contest and will distribute 1,000 koozies and award hundreds of dollars of Jack Cash throughout the game.There will be an autograph session with the men’s basketball team in the arena concourse near Gate B following the game. UH Student Promotions: Thursday’s game is “Rainbow Warrior Paint Night” and the student with best painted face will win a special prize. Also, students will receive free temporary tattoos, Manoa Maniacs pens, and a free slice of pizza (while supplies last). Saturday’s game is “Pajama Night” and the student with the funniest “jammies” will win a special prize. Also, students will receive a slice of pizza. All student giveaways will be at the Manoa Maniacs table at Gate B.
Hawaii has to have same effort and scoring from bench to get win.
Go Bows!!
😀
Let’s Go ‘Bows!
One More Thing i Really DO Like is How This Team ‘Learns’
Even from its Opposition;
‘Bows! “Better” LBSUs Defensive Effort
As a Measure of Success
Beat ‘Em on All the Defensive Stats
It’s a Habit/Skill that should Carry You to
Chase Championships, maybe even Win Some
Then Knock ‘Em Out
With Your Conference Leading
Conference-Smashing Offense
90+ Streak Continuing?
At Home, Likely
IF SO, With Good D Pressure
LBSU probably Can’t Keep Up
To Me, A Big Part of This Prep
Is to Be Ready to Pay Back Northridge and Cal Poly
Keep Winning and Sweep to Mid-Season First
Against Santa Barbara
BUT FIRST Focus:
BEAT Long Beach Today
And Learn How to Handle Them Well Enough
To Beat ‘Em Again @ The Pyramid and Anaheim
Hawai’i has The World Class Beaches
70+Degree Water
And Beach-Hardened BB Players
Who Impressively Ironman their way through 2-0 Overtime Road Trips
Jump In Bench, The Water’s Fine!
BEAT The Beach!
Go ‘Bows!
Back to business tonight for the Warriors…repeat of last year sounds fairly likely, long as “Maestro”, aka Shamburger keeps doing what he’s been doing as of late. I’ll keep saying it, as long as Keith is on, this team is practically unstoppable, top 25 in the nation in my opnion! Soooo ridiculously excited for this game tonight, love watching the boys play. Run those 49ers out of the building!! Let’s GO BOWS!!!!
Pack the house tonight ,everybody come down and raise the roof! Warriors feed off noisy fans cheering them on!!! Nothing like seeing a live game , you are in the action and feeling it!!
Can’t wait to welcome the squad back to the arena. I’m going to be hoarse and tired at work tomorrow, but WTH, you gotta catch the wave when it breaks and just enjoy the ride.
LBSU’s D can’t contain our O, and our D is going to rise to same level of the decibels in the arena.
Time to ROCK THE STAN!
Know it is school night, however nice to have 7000+ in the Stanley !
Agree with scout, from Fish, team uptempo on O and D, just keep on pushing, score, quickly, before, another good big defensive team, LBSU can set up, Hawaii, try to score 80-90 pts , a lot of shots up, clean the glass, and don’t let LBSU, slow down game, UH can get win.
Agree with hoopsa, UH the bench, Smith, Enos, Valdes, Thomas, Jovanovich, Rozitis, have to contribute, that 16-18pts, or more, to get team ready for battle for regular leauge championship and BWC tournament title.
Should be fun, however, No game in the BWC either at home or away, will be a given, UH has to give 100% plus effort every night, and they should win a lot of conference games, have to protect home court.
ONE game at a time guys!
don’t expect a big crowd on a Thursday night but if you guys really want a loud crowd you guys better win tonight then expect a legit 8000+ fans for a revenge game
Hope it’s a decent turnout. Good luck Warriors! 😀