The University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team crossed the ocean for a rare one-game road trip searching for answers, but comes home only with more questions after a stunning 83-44 loss Saturday night at Big West Conference-leading UC San Diego.
A crowd of 3,084 at Lion Tree Arena in La Jolla, Calif., watched former UH Hilo standout Aniwniwa Tait-Jones score a game-high 19 points with five rebounds and Tyler McGhie add 17 points as the Tritons improved to 24-4 overall and 14-2 in league play. The Warriors dropped to 14-13 and 6-10 after their seventh loss in nine games, including their fifth straight on the road.
UH remains in seventh place with four conference games remaining; only the top eight teams in the final regular season standings will advance to the Big West Tournament from March 12-15 in Henderson, Nev.
The Warriors return home for their final homestand of the season, against UC Riverside (11-6 Big West) on Thursday and UC Davis (9-8) on Saturday.
The problems at UC San Diego were widespread:
- A season-low 44 points.
- Abysmal shooting from the field: 15 of 56 (26.8 percent)
- Only five 3-pointers made in 23 attempts (21.7 percent)
- Out-rebounded 40 to 32, including 32-22 on the defensive glass
- Only four points scored off turnovers, compared to 18 by the Tritons
- Outscored in the paint, 28-18
- Outscored on fast break points: 9-0
- Outscored from the bench, 20-16
- Allowed UCSD to shoot 50.9 percent (29-57) from the field, including 13 of 27 (48.1 percent) from 3-point range
- Held the lead for only 16 seconds, compared to 39 minutes for the Tritons.
UC San Diego basically took control early and never let go, building a commanding and ultimately insurmountable 42-17 lead by halftime.
More details to come.
Big West Conference Standings
UC San Diego 14-2
UC Irvine 13-3
Cal State Northridge 12-4
UC Riverside 11-6
UC Santa Barbara 10-7
UC Davis 9-8
HAWAI’I 6-10
Cal State Bakersfield 6-11
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 5-11
Long Beach State 3-13
Cal State Fullerton 1-15