This time, the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team left no doubt.
After previous challenges by local NCAA Division II rivals Chaminade and Hawai’i Pacific, the Warriors jumped out early and quickly took care of business Wednesday night to rout UH Hilo, 98-46.
A cozy pau hana crowd of 1,432 in BankOh Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center watched senior forward Harry Rouhliadeff score 16 points and grab nine rebounds and grad transfer guard Dre Bullock added 12 points and four boards as UH won its fifth straight game and improved to 9-2 overall. Jamal Entezami scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds and former Warriors guard Jessiya Villa added 10 points and two assists for the Vulcans, who fell to 0-7.
Hawai’i jumped out to leads of 8-2, 17-4 and 25-8 in the first eight minutes and stretched it to 48-24 by halftime. The gap only got wider in the second half.
It was a stark contrast from previous close victories over Chaminade (93-87 on Oct. 26) and HPU (88-76 on Nov. 24).
“I’m just very pleased, I’m happy with our guys, I thought there was some stuff in the first half we didn’t like as much, but in the second half it was a complete performance,” Warriors coach Eran Ganot said. “We were ready, obviously. We have a lot of respect for these (local) teams, and I think that’s why. They just had a battle (83-79 loss) with Chaminade, who we’ve seen battle with everybody and we had a (close) game with last time.
“I thought the whole game, in terms of sharing the ball, was great. In the first half, I didn’t like some of the lackadaisical defensive plays and we addressed it. When we came into the locker room as a staff at halftime, our guys were dialed in. You could feel it, and that carried over into the second half.”
More details to come.