The highly anticipated unveiling of the 2026-27 University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team proved to be highly entertaining and enticing for fans, as the Warriors showed much potential in a convincing 89-60 exhibition game victory.
A small but appreciative crowd of about 1,500 in BankOh Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center watched senior guard Jaden Matingou score a game-high 19 points — including 12 in the pivotal second half — with three rebounds and two assists, and junior guard Chance Trujillo added 16 points and two assists for UH, which lost all five starters from a Big West Conference championship team that fell to No. 4 seed Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament First Round.
Zack Davidson contributed 15 points and six rebounds, and fellow senior post Bol Dengdit added 14 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Sharp-shooting guard Nemanja Sarenac scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed five boards for the Sharks, who compete in NCAA Division II but pulled a major upset at Boise State last season. Post player Marino Dubravcic added 12 points and Will Woodward and Avi Halpert each contributed 10 points.
HPU jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first four minutes, after Woodward’s 3-pointer, and trailed 13-12 after Evan Kilminster’s driving layup with 13:19 remaining in the first half. Dengdit answered with a layup 19 seconds later to ignite a 10-0 run capped by Dengdit’s free throw to extend the lead to 25-13 with 8:31 remaining.
The Sharks rallied back and closed it to 27-20 on a lob pass tip-in by Dubravcic with 6:11 left, and stayed as close as 50-41 after Halpert’s fast break layup with 17:23 remaining in the game. But Mantigou responded with a 3-pointer just 23 seconds later to spark a stunning 26-4 surge culminating in Dengdit’s slam dunk off a nice assist by Tanner Cuff to make it 76-45 midway through the second half.
“As usual early in the year, (there was) some good, some bad, some things that we can build off, some things that we can work on,” Warriors coach Eran Ganot said. “Some things we were exposed … I have a lot of respect for the coaches and student-athletes for every school in Hawai’i. This was a unique game for us, actually I think it’s the first time since I’ve coached where every single player who played for us was new (never played a regular season game for UH).”
More details to come.