The good times did not roll long enough for the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team at Cal Poly San Luis San Luis Obispo on Thursday.
Coming off its most convincing victory of the season, the Warriors fell flat late in the second half as the Mustangs pulled away for a 79-63 win in Big West Conference action. An announced crowd of 1,756 at the Mott Athletics Center watched Owen Koonce score a game-high 20 points — all in the second half — and Jarred Hyder add 18 points as Cal Poly improved to 9-15 overall and 3-9 in league play.
Gytis Nemeiksa scored 13 points off the bench and Ryan Rapp added 10 points and five rebounds — also off the bench — to lead UH, which fell to 13-10 and 5-7 with its fourth loss in five games.
The Warriors actually led at halftime, 35-34, and led 55-54 after Nemeiksa’s jumper with 9:21 remaining in the second half. But Peter Bandelj answered with a jumper to ignite a stunning 25-8 run to close out the game.
Hawai’i shot 52 percent (13 of 25) from the field in the first half, but fell to 36.7 percent (11 of 30) in the second, including just 6 of 22 (27.3 percent) shooting from 3-point range. By contrast, the Mustangs shot just 40.6 percent (13 of 32) from the field in the first half, but went a blistering 17 of 26 (65.4 percent) in the second half, including 5 of 12 shooting from beyond the arc.
Cal Poly scored 21 points off turnovers, compared to six for the Warriors, and the Mustangs outscored UH on fast break points, 18-2.
Cal Poly made its last eight shots from the field and held the Warriors scoreless in the final two minutes.
“I think they got a little fatigued,” Mustangs coach Mike DeGeorge said of Hawai’i, in a postgame livestream interview. “Our pace is challenging, and it hits teams right around that time (late in the game).”
The Warriors end their road trip Saturday with a 5 p.m. (Hawai’i time) game at UC Santa Barbara.
Big West Conference Standings
UC Irvine 10-1
UC San Diego 9-2
UC Riverside 8-4
Cal State Northridge 8-4
UC Davis 7-5
UC Santa Barbara 7-5
HAWAI’I 5-7
Cal State Bakersfield 4-8
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 3-9
Long Beach State 3-9
Cal State Fullerton 1-11