New Year’s Day turned out to be a record-setting one for the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team, which routed UC Riverside, 88-45, in a Big West Conference road game Thursday night.
A sparse and stunned “crowd” of 327 at SRC Arena watched Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson score a game-high 18 points with eight rebounds and Gytis Nmeiksa add 13 points and a game-high nine boards as the Warriors improved to 11-2 overall and 3-0 in league play. Marqui Worthy scored 14 points to lead the Highlanders, who fell to 6-9, 1-2.
The 43-point margin represents UH’s biggest ever on the road and largest in its 14 seasons of Big West play. UCR’s 45 points also are the lowest total for a Warriors Big West opponent.
Hawai’i was coming off an unusual 18-day hiatus since its last game, a 66-61 home victory over Texas-El Paso on Dec. 4.
Obviously the rest did the Warriors some good, as they jumped out to leads of 10-0, 15-2 and 18-4 in the game’s first six minutes. It grew to 43-23 with 2:40 remaining in the first half, and UH led, 45-27, at halftime.
UC Riverside could only get as close as 51-34 four minutes into the second half, after which Hawai’i went on a stunning 20-1 run to stretch it to 71-35 with nine minutes left.
The Warriors will continue their road trip with a game Saturday at UC San Diego. That game is set for 5 p.m. Hawai’i time and will be available for viewing via livestream on ESPN+ and via radio on ESPN Honolulu 1420AM.
BIG WEST CONFERENCE STANDINGS
HAWAI’I 3-0
UC Irvine 3-0
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 2-1
UC Santa Barbara 2-1
UC Davis 1-1
UC San Diego 1-1
Cal State Fullerton 1-1
Cal State Northridge 1-1
UC Riverside 1-2
Long Beach State 0-2
Cal State Bakersfield 0-3