HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team dropped their second game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic with a 76-69 loss to South Florida Thursday night in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. UH fell to 4-5 with their fourth loss in the last five contests.
 
For the second straight night UH got off to a sluggish start. USF out-rebounded UH 21-10 in the first half alone. The Rainbow Warriors managed to stay close until a 10-0 USF run created separation and an eventual 34-23 halftime lead for the Bulls.  
 
The Rainbow Warriors came out of the locker room on fire hitting four of five shots and cutting a double-digit deficit down to a single bucket. Freshman Justus Jackson, who joined the team just three days prior, saw his first minutes and provided a spark as the Warriors went on a 10-2 run to take a 51-50 lead with less than eight minutes left. The lead, however, was short-lived as the Bulls scored off three straight UH turnovers to take the lead for good.
 
Fresh off a career-high 31-point game, Noel Coleman continued to shoot the ball effectively and finished with a game-high 22 points in 39 minutes. Kamaka Hepa added 16 points and Junior Madut with 11 to round out the Bows' double-digit scorers.
 
The Rainbow Warriors will face Northern Iowa in a consolation bracket matchup on Christmas Day at 10:30 a.m. HT. 
  
 Thursday's Results
 Stanford 79, Liberty 76
 Wyoming 71, Northern Iowa 69
 Vanderbilt 69, BYU 67
Hawai'i 76, South Florida 69
 
Saturday's Schedule
5th-Place Game: South Florida vs. Wyoming 8:30 a.m. HT
7th-Place Game: Hawai'i vs. Northern Iowa 10:30 a.m. HT
3rd-Place Game: BYU vs. Liberty 1:30 p.m. HT
Championship: Vanderbilt vs. Stanford 3:30 p.m. HT