Beating Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at its own game, Hawai’i sped past the Mustangs, 86-66, Thursday night for a Big West Conference men’s basketball road victory.
A crowd of 2,186 at the Mott Athletics Center watched Gytis Nmeiksa score a game-high 21 points and grab 11 rebounds and Dre Bullock add 20 points as the Warriors improved to 13-3 overall and 5-1 in league play, tied for first place with UC Irvine (5-1).
Hamad Mousa scored 17 points and Peter Bandelj added 11 points and five boards for the Mustangs, who fell to 7-12, 3-4.
Cal Poly actually led, 15-14, after Mousa’s 3-pointer eight minutes into the game, but Isaac Finlinson answered with a layup and UH later opened the lead to 35-28 before closing it to 41-35 by halftime.
The Warriors opened the second half with a 13-5 run to go ahead, 54-40, on Hunter Erickson’s 3-pointer four minutes in. The Mustangs could not get closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
Hawai’i continues its road trip with a game at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. HST, with the game available on livestream via ESPN+ and on radio via ESPN Honolulu 1420AM.
Big West Conference Standings
HAWAI’I 5-1
UC Irvine 5-1
Cal State Northridge 4-3
UC San Diego 3-3
UC Davis 3-3
UC Santa Barbara 3-3
Long Beach State 3-3
Cal State Fullerton 3-4
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 3-4
Cal State Bakersfield 2-5
UC Riverside 1-5