A run at first place came to an abrupt halt for the University of Hawai’i basketball team in an 81-61 road loss at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday night at the Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, Calif.
The Rainbow Warriors, who could have tied for first place with a victory, dropped to 22-10 overall and completed the Big West Conference regular season at 13-7. UCSB improved to 24-8 overall and 15-5 in the BWC. The Gauchos and UC Irvine finished in a tie for the regular-season championship.
Hawai’i will be either the No. 4 or No. 5 seed for next week’s Big West Conference Championship Tournament at Henderson, Nev.
The Warriors fell behind early and never caught up. The Gauchos jumped to a 21-10 lead less than nine minutes into the game, and eventually took a 46-26 lead at intermission.
Hawai’i never got closer than 15 in the second half, and the final margin of 20 was the Warriors’ largest loss this season. UCSB’s 81 points is also the most surrendered by Hawai’i this season. The Warriors entered the game allowing just 61.2 points per game.
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Noel Coleman led the Warriors with 15 points, and JoVon McClanahan added 11 points and five assists.
Hawai’i shot a respectable 45 percent from the field (22 for 49), but UCSB shot 53 percent (33 for 62). The Gauchos connected on 19 of 30 field goals (63.3 percent) in the decisive first half.
Miles Norris led the Gauchos with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Calvin Wishart added 15 points, and Andre Kelly had 12 points and nine rebounds.
More details will be reported later.