“Another physical team? Bring it on.”
That is the approach — basically — that the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team is taking into Saturday’s Big West Conference showdown against visiting Cal State Bakersfield, less than 48 hours after suffering an 83-60 home loss to Cal State Northridge.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., with the action being broadcast live on statewide TV via Spectrum Sports Channel 16, and live via radio on ESPN Honolulu 1420AM.
The Warriors enter the game at 11-6 overall and 3-3 in the Big West Conference. CSUB is 9-9, 3-3 and well rested after its most recent game — a 94-90 comeback home victory over CSUN on Jan. 11 in which the Road Runners overcame a 23-point deficit.
“I think our teams have responded after losses, every year, including this year,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “It’s a quick turnaround (for us), and they haven’t played in a week. Great. You don’t want it easy after a tough loss, you want it harder, tougher. That’s how you grow. Competitor’s dream. It’s never going to be easy. Do you want to sit on it forever? Or get back to work, against another physical, tough, well-coached team that is off to a good start.”
In the victory over Northridge, Jemel Jones led the way with a stunning 45 points, Jaden Alexander added 16 points and Kadar Waller contributed 11 points.
“Bakersfield is even more physical (than CSUN) and they’ve been having a good year so far,” said Hawai’i senior guard Ryan Rapp. “We have to use this as a learning curve. Everything happens for a reason, so we just have to try and stay positive for this.”
Fellow guard Tom Beattie agreed the Northridge game was good prep for what is to come.
“It’s a mentality thing, is what it comes down to,” Beattie said. “Teams are going to be doing that (play physical) the rest of the year, just to try to get us flustered and out of our offense. Our offense is really good when we don’t have anyone pressuring us. Teams are always going to try get us away from what we do best, which is execute. (So) it just comes down to our execution is even more important in games like this when we play Bakersfield, because they will try to out-tough us and set the tone early on. I think we can do a better job doing that.”
Big West Conference Standings
UC Irvine 6-0
UC San Diego 5-1
UC Santa Barbara 4-2
Cal State Northridge 4-3
UC Davis 4-3
Cal State Bakersfield 3-3
Long Beach State 3-3
HAWAI’I 3-3
UC Riverside 3-3
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 0-7
Cal State Fullerton 0-7