‘Bows rebound in big way
There’s rebounding, and then there’s what Hawaii did on Sunday against Colorado.
The Rainbow Warriors went from getting outdone soundly on the glass to UNLV, to polishing the windows at both ends in a thrilling 70-62 overtime comeback win over the Buffaloes in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic consolation semifinals Sunday.
UH won the battle of the boards 48-35 about 24 hours after losing it 44-29. But it was a rebound of a performance in general; UH was deflated after being bested by a former WAC opponent that played so-so, at best.
“There were some gritty, breakthrough toughness moments for our team on the glass,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “We defended the other night. We’ve made a lot of headway defensively. But rebounding left us yesterday. We played another plus-nine rebounding team today and won (that) by 13. A combination of that and clutch plays made by guys like Brocke (Stepteau) and Jack (Purchase) led to this special moment, and I’m happy for them.”
UH (7-5) improved to 4-0 all-time against Colorado and will play the winner of Rhode Island and Charlotte at 10 a.m. on Christmas. It is the sixth time in 10 years of the DHC that UH is playing for the consolation championship, and a potential 2-1 record in the eight-team event. It is 3-2 in fifth-place games.
Colorado (8-3) was not as long and athletic at every position as UNLV, but it still had a size advantage on UH. But it was clear UH redoubled its efforts early, personified in Zigmars Raimo grabbing eight rebounds in his first nine minutes on the floor.
No Rainbow player had recorded a double-double this season going into the day, but that changed emphatically in front of a crowd of 2,265 that was louder than its size would indicate.
Raimo, who had his family from Latvia in house, would finish with a DHC-record-tying 17 boards (Harvard’s Zena Edosomwan, 2015) to go with 14 points for his first career double-double.
Purchase followed suit. The Aussie went from five points and zero rebounds against the Runnin’ Rebels to 14 points and 10 rebounds. He hit a big 3 during UH’s rally from six points down in the last four minutes, and another in overtime for a 65-60 lead.
“Zigmars, 17 boards, almost broke the record. He was terrific on the boards,” Purchase said. “It was amazing. … He was just hunching them. Boxing out and taking care of his man. It was great to see. We all kind of followed his lead. I was trying to crash harder to help him out, as well. It was a massive emphasis today because we got smashed on the boards yesterday, so it’s good to bounce back as well.”
UH had 15 offensive rebounds.
“Sometimes guys who didn’t get rebounds allowed other guys (to),” Ganot said. “Samuta (Avea) blocked out. At the end of the day we’re team rebounding. We rebound as a team.”
Stepteau (11 of his 13 points in second half and OT), Drew Buggs (the go-ahead 3 in OT) and Eddie Stansberry (18 points, game-clinching free throws) all had huge moments late, as well.
Some more shots from the rousing victory:
System players rule!!!
My voice is so hoarse.
Crowd size does not matter, as long as everybody is cheering them on.
It helped that none of the Colorado players looked like MMA fighters.
UNLV was beating themselves last night. Shooting all those threes.
I am mostly happy for Eran Ganot.
I think tonight he truly understood Brocke Stepteau’s worth.
Just like last season, he makes a lot of shots late in the game.
The last time Hawaii played Rhode Island, Jim Harrick was the coach and I think Tyson Wheeler and Cuttino Mobley was on the Rams roster.
Okay. Let’s talk about winning and winning with integrity.
Rhode Island was not put on probation, but UCLA was.
You have to be a little suspicious when future NBA players matriculated through Rhode Island.
Hawaii just beat a Pac-12 school with players that were lightly recruited, if at all.
But to be honest, I did not think Hawaii would win today.
Like Principle Skinner says on “The Simpsons”, “Prove me wrong, kids.”
were on the Rams roster.
Hmmm. Can they still win it all? They still have to play TCU no matter what, no? That should be good.
Man. Purchase got some major armpit bush.
Sorry for the wrong day of the week in the lede. It’s been fixed.
You can’t get more secular than watching college basketball on Christmas day.
I hope Coach Ganot finds a way to make Sheriff Drammeh feel like a part of the team again.
I hope he gets some PT.
Green is back in the fold. Now it’s Drammeh’s turn.
165 is Hawaii’s RPI. But more interestingly, their SOS is 79. It will go up again after the Rhode Island game.
Man, I wish Hawaii wasn’t playing another one win team in Alabama A & M.
339.
Mississippi Valley State is 332.
Our sister school Arkansas Pine-Bluff is 198. If they can go into Lubbock and lose only by 18, that probably signifies they are going to win the SWAC. Last season, they were winless in non-conference play, and then started out of the gate 9-0 in the SWAC.
Raimo putting in work. No game day for URI?