Senior Night for University of Hawai’i men’s basketball usually is an emotional celebration highlighted by postgame festivities and heartfelt, tearful thank you’s and goodbyes.
There no doubt will be much of that this Saturday, but first and foremost will be the urgent task of defeating UC Davis and staying in the top eight of the Big West Conference standings.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center; the game will be broadcast live statewide on Spectrum Sports Channel 12 and aired live on radio via ESPN Honolulu 1420AM.
Calling this game a “must-win” for the Warriors would not be much of a stretch:
UH is 14-14 overall and 6-11 in league play after Thursday’s 82-76 home loss to UC Riverside, a defeat that dropped the Warriors into eighth place, just one game ahead of ninth-place Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (5-12). Only the top eight teams at the end of the regular season next Saturday will qualify for the Big West Tournament in Henderson, Nev., March 12-15.
Hawai’i, which is on a three-game slide and has lost eight of its past 10, finishes the regular season with road games at Cal State Bakersfield (7-11) on Thursday and Cal State Northridge (12-5) on Saturday.
That makes this Senior Night home game against UC Davis (15-13, 9-8) all the more crucial.
“I think our guys have always responded, except for (at) UC San Diego (on Feb. 22),” Warriors coach Eran Ganot said. “So we talk about two things: One, be ready to go. Two, with this group more specifically, when you get hit, respond. Our group has never fragmented. We addressed the senior stuff early in the week, so we can focus on the task at hand.
“We gotta win the turnaround — they (UC Davis) had a (bye), we have a quick turnaround. I think we’ll continue to get the mindset right, and the messaging. Our leadership has to step up.”
The good news for UH is the Warriors know that beating the Aggies is attainable, having fallen just short in the teams’ first meeting in Davis on Jan. 23. Hawai’i lost, 68-66, but only after missing two point-blank layups in the final 1.6 seconds.
The Warriors will be facing a familiar task, trying to contain high-scoring guard Ty Johnson. On Thursday, they had a similar challenge against UC Riverside guards Barrington Hargress (25 points) and Isaiah Moses (14 points).
“They’re two really good players and I wish we could re-run that game, but we can’t, we gotta move on,” said Hawai’i senior guard Ryan Rapp. “It’s all about the next game, Senior Night on Saturday. I just want to see what kind of effort we’ll come out with as a group, and see what we can do as a response.
“(Johnson) is very similar (to Hargress), very aggressive. He’s going to be the head of the snake for Davis, same kind of thing as Hargress. They’re both very aggressive and both playing really well at the moment, we gotta try to defend him as well as we can but also try to make the other players try to win the game for them. It’s going to come down to our overall team defense and one-on-one defense. We gotta make sure they feel us on the defensive end.”
In addition to Rapp, who is from Melbourne, Australia and transferred to UH after three seasons at Washington State, the other seniors who will honored after the game are:
Tanner Christensen, center (transfer from Utah Tech)
Marcus Greene, guard (transfer from Houston Baptist)
Gytis Nmeiksa, forward (transfer from Xavier)
Jerome Palm, center (transfer from Valparaiso)
“Obviously we would love to get the Stan packed,” said Rapp, a team co-captain. “There’s no better feeling than having the Stan packed, and we thrive on that energy as a team. And we could really use that right now. Normally Hawai’i fans are the best at that. We just gotta fight through this adversity and keep battling.
“The season is not done, but we gotta take it by the reins, we can’t just want it to come easy for us. We gotta make sure to go out and earn it.”
Big West Conference Standings
- UC San Diego 15-2
- UC Irvine 14-3
- Cal State Northridge 12-5
- UC Riverside 12-6
- UC Santa Barbara 11-7
- UC Davis 9-8
- Cal State Bakersfield 7-11
- HAWAI’I 6-11
- Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 5-12
- Long Beach State 3-14
- Cal State Fullerton 1-16
NOTE: Only the top eight teams at the end of the regular season will qualify for the Big West Tournament set for March 12-15 in Henderson, Nev.