Gameday: Cal State Northridge
Before Wednesday, Hawaii had never lost four Big West games in a row.
The Rainbow Warriors try to make sure that distinction stops AT four tonight.
Cal State Northridge should provide UH (13-9, 4-5 BWC) another prime opportunity at stopping its losing streak. The Matadors (5-19, 2-8) have lost five straight themselves, and got blasted by the ‘Bows by 19 at the Matadome last month.
UH is favored by 11.5 points tonight (UPDATE: That’s up to 13). CSUN is the only Big West team to have not won at the Stan Sheriff Center as a conference member (0-5), and its only win to date here came in 1998. UH has won seven straight in the series, having last lost to CSUN in the 2014 Big West tournament first round.
You’d expect the Rainbows to revert to their typical starting lineup tonight after Eran Ganot shook things up against Riverside on Wednesday, starting Zigmars Raimo and Samuta Avea alongside Brocke Stepteau, Leland Green and Jack Purchase.
UPDATE: That’s confirmed, as UH is going with its regulars, Drew Buggs, Brocke Stepteau, Sheriff Drammeh, Mike Thomas, Gibson Johnson.
You’d also not expect Ganot to get T’d up late in a tight game again. He said afterward he sees some value in getting one in certain instances (to fire up your team or send a message), but that wasn’t one of them.
UH has six regular-season games left after this, including four on the road. If it wants to have any chance at a top-three seed in the Big West tournament, it has to take this one.
I want to cut out the piece of my brain that loves University of Hawaii sports.
I’m going to watch the Criterion Blu-Ray release of “The Breakfast Club” and try to forget this.
Matlin needs prevent Ganot from awarding anymore scholarships. Let the next coach clean up this mess. Every Big West team is now more talented than Ganot’s collection of athletes after his three full reruiting classes. This guy is wasting the time and money of UH and it’s fans. First we gotta sit thru a home schedule of Troy, Pine Bluff, UH Hilo, Utah Valley, Howard… then we have to pay to watch players nobody else even offered. Matlin needs to be fired for extending his contract before the season even started forcing UH to pay to get rid of another coach or worse forcing fans to sit thru another year of this embarassing exhibition of college basketball.
That loss to CSUN at home just described the entire athletic situation at UH. Ganot won with Gibs players. It sure looks like he can’t win with his own players.
I guess that’s what happens when you prepare for Big West play by playing Pine Bluff. Why would anyone pay to see a product like that? Most consumers spend money on products they think are at least decent. Last night was an embarrassing.
CSUN?!?!
Now, the season is about to start with UH baseball and I think they’re picked to finish 7th in the conference. UH is great at producing mediocrity in athletics.