The University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team will go out in style for their final homestand of the season.
The Warriors will debut brand new exclusive green “Island Heritage” jerseys with orange numbers and the island chain, plus “808” printed on the right bottom corner of their shorts, for Wednesday’s 7 p.m. home game against Cal State Northridge in SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center. The game will be televised live statewide on Spectrum OC Channel 12, and broadcast via radio on ESPN Honolulu 1420AM.
The jerseys will be auctioned off via UHEvent.com from 6 p.m. Wednesday through 10:30 p.m. Saturday, with proceeds to directly benefit the Hawai’i Athletics Scholarship Fund. Registration for the auction is free.
With a spot in next week’s Hercules Tires Big West Tournament still to be clinched, UH hopes to not just look good against CSUN, but more importantly … be good. The Warriors are 17-13 overall and 9-9 in league play, coming off last Saturday’s 76-73 overtime victory at UC Riverside.
The Matadors are 18-13, 9-10 and coming off last Saturday’s 79-69 home loss to UC San Diego. Hawai’i’s “magic number” to clinch one of the Tournament’s eight berths is 1, meaning a Warriors victory Wednesday seals the deal. UH also is still in contention for a top four finish, which would be rewarded with a first-round bye.
“Always at this time of the year, you’re trying to build momentum going into the conference tournament, and now (there’s) the added caveat of the way the seedings work,” Warriors coach Eran Ganot said. “It happens for every game at the end of the year, people could be fighting for Top 2, Top 4, getting in … So there are going to be a lot of great games in college basketball, certainly in our conference.”
CSUN already owns a 76-66 home victory over Hawai’i back on Jan. 6, in which forward De’Sean Allen-Eikens scored a team-high 20 points and guard Gianni Hunt added 16 points and six rebounds.
“I think we’re in a better place than we were at that time,” Ganot said. “They’re coming in as a team that’s been really good (9-6) on the road, they’ve won (three) of their last road games. The plan is ‘us first,’ get better in a quick turnaround –this is one of our quickest turnarounds in league, in terms of home or away. And get ready for a dynamic Northridge team that is having a great season, they’re electric in transition, they get to the free throw line, they’re really good on the offensive boards, they have great guard play, experienced guard play. And Allen-Eikens is having an All-Conference year.
“We need to continue to improve, be consistent, take away easy baskets.”
Warriors guard Noel Coleman said compared to early January when they first faced the Matadors, UH is enjoying itself after winning seven of its past 10 games.
“We’re just playing with a lot of fun, we’re having fun on the court,” Coleman said. “We’ve been working hard, and I’m just glad it’s paying off right now.”
Coleman tied a career high with 31 points last Saturday, making 13 of 25 field goals (52 percent) including 5 of 10 from 3-point range.
“I just felt like I haven’t been aggressive this season, so I feel like I owe my teammates a lot more than I’ve shown,” Coleman said. “I just wanted to help out the team. It was a big game, definitely after losing at (UC) Davis. Riverside has played a lot of great games lately, so being able to get that win in overtime there, it was great for our momentum.”
BIG WEST STANDINGS
- UC Irvine (15-3)
- UC San Diego (14-4)
- UC Davis (12-6)
- Long Beach State (10-8)
- HAWAI’I (9-9)
- CSUN (9-10)
- UC Riverside (8-10)
- UC Santa Barbara (8-10)
- Cal State Bakersfield (8-11)
- Cal State Fullerton (7-11)
- Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (0-18)