Warrior Insider

Drew Buggs had 17 points and eight assists, Dawson Carper scored 15 on 7-of-8 shooting, and Zigmars Raimo added 10 to lead the University of Hawai’i basketball team to a convincing 75-54 victory over Cal Poly on Thursday night.

The Rainbow Warriors improved to 15-9 overall and climbed into a tie for third place in the Big West Conference at 6-4. The Mustangs dropped to 5-18 overall and remained in last place in the conference at 1-9.

A crowd of around 3,000 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the Warriors rely on its defense to keep Cal Poly at a distance throughout most of the game.

The Mustangs shot just 37.7percent from the field (19 for 52), including 22.7 percent from 3-point range (5 for 22).

Senior forward Jack Purchase scored just five points and grabbed eight rebounds, but his 3-pointer with 4:30 remaining in the game gave him 180 for his career. That ties the UH career record set by Zane Johnson from 2010-12.

Hawai’i opened the game by making one of its first five shots, and fell behind 5-2. But the Warriors then went 6 for 7 from the field over the next four minutes to take a 15-8 lead with 10:57 remaining in the first half.

The Warriors eventually took a 26-19 lead at intermission, with Cal Poly shooting just 26.9 percent (7 for 26) from the field. Carper, a 7-foot freshman reserve center, helped Hawai’i maintain the lead in the first half, scoring nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Brocke Stepteau and Buggs early in the second half increased the Warriors’ lead to 36-21 with 15:55 remaining. The Mustangs never got closer than nine points the rest of the game.

The Warriors will remain at home to host UC Riverside in another Big West game on Saturday night.

More details, including video highlights and interviews, will be posted later.Big West Conference
Thursday’s Results
at UC Riverside 71, UC Santa Barbara 57
at Hawai’I 75, Cal Poly 54

Saturday’s Games
Cal State Fullerton at CSUN
Long Beach State at UC Davis