Gameday: at CSUN
Apologies for the belated gameday entry; was having some media issues.
Hawaii leads it 32-26 at CSUN’s Matadome at halftime despite committing 11 turnovers in the period and missing Aaron Valdes for this game with flu-like symptoms.
(Yes, Hawaii STILL can’t get everyone on the court at once.)
CSUN isn’t whole, either. Starting center Olalekan Ajayi was a scratch while dealing with the concussion protocol from the Matadors’ last game.
UH has so far capitalized on the interior with 11 points and six rebounds from Stefan Jankovic and another seven points from Mike Thomas.
The Smith brothers, Quincy and Kendall, have occasionally checked each other so far, but haven’t been each other’s primary defender. They’ve combined to shoot 5-for-15, with six points for Kendall and four for Quincy.
Isaac Fleming is playing for the first time in five games, and hasn’t quite looked like himself coming off that ankle sprain, as you might expect. He’s got two points on the break.
You can be assured UH coach Eran Ganot is getting on his team at halftime about taking better care of the ball. UH will need to if it is to improve to 5-0 on the Big West road heading into Saturday’s showdown at UC Irvine.
Point guard Roderick Bobbitt went into this game needing just 10 steals to match Tom Henderson for the UH career steals mark. He stole it once in the first half.
Hawaii caught a big break when Kendall Smith went out of the game.
That was the difference.
I like how Quincy’s first comment to the sideline reporter during the post-game interview was about Sai’s three.
Did Jankovic blow-off the media?
That is your interview subject.
Hawaii goes for its legit twentieth win on Saturday.
I’m confident.
I think they’re better.
Despite CS-Northridge’s low RPI, Hawaii actually moved up three places to #85. I thought I had the Ratings Percentage Index figured out. I expected to find them around #90-#92.
UC-Santa Barbara has the Big West’s best non-conference win: at Washington. I guess that’s why they’re only seven places behind Hawaii, despite having a sub-.500 record.
There doesn’t seem to be a truly elite team this season. Look at Maryland, losing to Minnesota, who was winless in the Big Ten. The Terrapins are the 6th best team in Division I?
Hawaii can win a first round game if they only get the opportunity to do so.
C’mon, guys. I don’t want to be retired when this finally happens.
That 2002 Xavier game. The Musketeers GOT ALL THE CALLS.
Cappie, I went to Dallas and watched that 2002 Xavier game in person. We led after the first half and I thought we were in great position to advance to the second round. It was a killer to watch the dream slip away.
Thank you, HawaiiMongoose.
Finally, somebody to communicate with.
I went to class that day.
Victorian Literature.
Mostly girls, and a smattering of guys who gave a rat’s ass about college basketball.
But there was this one guy, an outlier, somebody who clearly wasn’t an English major, told the class the damn score. I was livid. To my surprise, so was the professor, who I would never have guessed as a supporter. (There are a lot of hostile academics who loathe athletics. I was in a Science Fiction class when June Jones got into that near-fatal car accident, and two grad students were complaining about the excessive coverage on all the news outlets.) She got her BA and MA at Rutgers, and apparently was a Crimson Knights basketball fan. Anyway, she stood slackjawed at me, because it was practically the first thing I ever said spontaneously in class. She became my academic advisor.
That Romain Sato three at the buzzer to cut the lead to 40-33 at the half was the difference.
That 2001-2002 team, as Jackson Wheeler said last year on his radio show with Jeff Portnoy, would have been good enough to beat a whole host of teams from these past five or six seasons.
Butler.
Something is wrong with sport if Butler makes it back-to-back.
That George Mason team would have kicked their butts.
21-3.
I am so psyched for tomorrow’s game.
Monmouth lost today. They were the CollegeInsider Mid-Major #1 team.
That’s more potential votes for Hawaii. But, perhaps, it’s a blessing that Hawaii is unranked. No bullseye on their backs. No team is going to get pumped up to beat the unofficial #38 team in the land.
It sounds crazy, but maybe Mike Thomas and Quincy Smith are the most important players on the team. They’re the two consistents during this plague of injuries, and god knows what. (I think Fleming is keeping himself healthy for the next team.)
I think bobbit is the MVP of that team. The team has shown it can win with Jankovic sitting for extended minutes or even quincy smith, but bobitt, even if he ends up not scoring very much, is the catalyst.
on another note, i have no idea why shariff is getting so many minutes. he’s pretty terrible.
Cappie, thanks for sharing that. Takes me back. I skipped Japanese class to watch Hawaii-Xavier at Campus Center.
I think, however, Hawaii has a significant target on its back at the Bren Center tonight.