For the second time in this young season, the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team showed great promise against a “Power 4” opponent but still came up just short as Arizona State prevailed, 83-76, in exciting nonconference action.
An energized and sometimes even electric crowd of 3,256 in BankOh Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Bryce Ford lead the Sun Devils with 20 points and Anthony Johnson add 16 points as ASU overcame a 65-57 deficit to improve to 4-1. Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson led the Warriors with a game-high 23 points Sophomore point guard Aaron Hunkin-Claytor scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed four rebounds with three assists for the Warriors, who fell to 4-2.
UH led, 65-57, after Fish swished a 3-point basket from the left wing with just under eight minutes remaining, but Johnson answered with his own 3-pointer from the right corner with 7:15 left to ignite a stunning 17-4 run capped by Santiago Trouet’s free throw to put the Sun Devils ahead, 74-69, with 2:53 on the clock.
Big Fish then threw down a thunderous Tomahawk slam dunk to close it to76-74 with 1:31 remaining, but that was as close as the Warriors would get as Johnson responded with two free throws to make it 78-74 and a two-possession game the rest of the way.
“There were a lot of things we’re very proud of, and a lot things we’d like to have back, and that’s life,” Hawai’i coach Eran Ganot said. “We’ll continue to focus on what we can control. There were some incredible efforts, I thought we were in control of the game, we were up six on the boards late in the game and then they evened it up. There were double-whammies, the offensive rebounds that led to free throws in a game that was really close.
“There was a stretch where they made their open shots, and we missed some open shots, that’s part of it … we have to continue to find a way. We felt like we put ourselves in a position to get it done, we had our chances, but we didn’t. We’ll get it back, we’ll learn from it and grow from it.”
The Warriors held the Sun Devils to 38.7 percent shooting (12-for-31) in the first half and took a slim 35-34 lead into the break.
UH outscored Arizona State, 38-26, in the paint but the Sun Devils had a big advantage in fast break points (17 to 5) and points off the bench (32-9).
Gytis Nemeiksa, starting in place of injured forward Harry Rouhliadeff, contributed 11 points, three rebounds and two steals for the Warriors.