UNLV punishes UH for its shortcomings

Ouch.

What else can you say after Hawaii was taken apart in the second half of its Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic opener against UNLV of the Mountain West?

“I appreciated our fight-back at the end there to give us an opportunity with two and a half, three minutes left,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “But we just had too many lapses in a lot of areas.”

The Runnin’ Rebels sped away for a 73-59 victory, sending the Rainbow Warriors to the consolation bracket of the DHC for the third straight year — and seventh time in the event’s 10 years.

UH got within eight after trailing by 18 following UNLV’s game-breaking 22-3 run in the middle of the second half. Kris Clyburn’s emphatic tomahawk stuff in transition ended the comeback notions.

UH (6-5) has still only played in one single-digit game all season — Dec. 8 vs. Hawaii Hilo, 87-80. Otherwise, it seems the Rainbows will either win convincingly, or get convincingly taken apart.

This time, they were worn down by a team with a considerable length and athleticism edge. The Rebels (6-4), for much of the game, were content to pop 3s, and when they missed, crash the glass and do it all over again.

Rebounding (a 44-29 UNLV advantage) and second-chance points (18-5) were some of the factors that swung the outcome after the Rainbows did a respectable job in them for more than a half. That’s a big reason they came back from their early 23-10 deficit to lead 28-26 at halftime — and even led by five points early in the second half.

“That was the key to the game and we didn’t handle it,” Ganot said. “When you’re working so hard to make them work tough shots, which we did … just to get another offensive rebound, and-1, and-1. They had four (O-boards) on one possession. It was an indicative aspect of the game. It probably deflated us a little bit.”

UNLV has beaten UH six straight times in nonconference encounters going back to 2006. That includes a consolation bracket game in the first Diamond Head Classic of 2009.

Things get no easier at 2 p.m. tomorrow against Colorado (8-2) of the Pac-12, a surprise loser in Saturday’s first game against Indiana State, 73-68. UH beat the Buffaloes 69-69 in their meeting in the 2014 DHC third-place game, but these are obviously not the same ‘Bows — or Buffs.

UH continues to “tinker” with its lineup, Ganot said afterward.

Samuta Avea, UH’s most athletic player, stepped into the starting lineup for the first time this season. Eddie Stansberry remained in the first five for Sheriff Drammeh and Brocke Stepteau went to the bench.

Avea was aggressive, but was held to four points and five rebounds on 1-for-5 shooting. The 5-foot-9 guard was out of sorts in his reserve appearance, scoring two points on 0-for-3 shooting. Especially uncharacteristically, he missed his first three free throws.

“I think we’ve been too little,” Ganot said. “We tried something. To be honest, and it’s disappointing, we’re still at a point where we tinker, figure out your team. We’re still there because of our lack of consistency. We’re not going to beat these kind of teams or move up a level if we don’t compete on the glass and compete physically. Compete with toughness. We’re just going to continue to kind of hang around and hang around. If we’re going to make a move, it’s going to come in that area. We’re trying things. It didn’t obviously work very well.

“Because that group, we were down 13 to start the game. Now, we did miss some good looks in the first half. But we gotta continue to get good looks and stick those shots.”

UH shot 33.3 percent, one of its worst offensive outings at home since shooting below 30 in consecutive Diamond Head losses to Illinois State and Utah in 2016.

Sheriff Drammeh made a scoreless, three-minute second-half appearance during UH’s ill-fated rally attempt, his first action since his suspension absence. Leland Green saw five minutes of action and Dawson Carper (four) and Owen Hulland (three) had brief stints as well.

There were some uncharacteristic unforced errors — ones that were potentially costly had the game been closer. Green was not listed in the official scoring book, so when he checked into the game for the first time, UH was assessed a one-shot technical foul.

Later, a two-shot bench technical was assessed on UH when associate head coach Adam Jacobsen barked at an official.

“The first one is pretty clear. It’s an administrative technical. He wasn’t in the book,” Ganot said. “It’s a new point of emphasis. We’ve never had that, I think, since I’ve coached. The way it was explained, that’s on us. We can’t have that. We gave them a free point. And then we had it on our bench in the second half, and those are unacceptable. We’re trying to make a comeback.”