RIVERSIDE, Calif
— The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team (14-5, 5-2 Big West) concludes a stretch of four games in eight days when it faces UC Riverside (14-6, 7-1) in a road contest Saturday, Jan. 21 at SRC Arena. Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m. PT/11:00 a.m. HT.
The Rainbow Warriors dropped to 5-2 and to fourth place in the Big West standings after a 76-68 loss at UC Irvine on Thursday. They now look to gain ground against the first-place Highlanders who are coming off a 74-72 win at UC Davis for their sixth straight win.
HEAD COACH ERAN GANOT
Overall record: 131-84 (9th season)
At Hawai'i: 128-82 (8th season)
ALL-TIME RECORD vs. UC RIVERSIDE
Overall: UC Riverside leads, 10-9
In Honolulu: UCR leads, 4-3
In Riverside: Tied, 5-5
Streak: UH, 1
'BOW BITS
- UH is 1.5 games behind first-place UC Riverside and looks to gain ground against the Highlanders who have won six straight Big West games.
- UH is coming off a 76-68 loss at UC Irvine while UCR won at UC Davis, 74-72, on Zyon Pullin's last-second jumper.
- Pullin is second in the Big West in scoring (18.8 ppg) and third in assists (4.0 apg).
- The Highlanders lead the Big West in 3-pointers made per game (8.4), while UH ranks 4th nationally in 3-point FG% defense (.264).
- The team meet for the first time since UH's 68-67 win over UCR in the 2022 Big West Championship quarterfinals.
- Due to the impacts of COVID, this will be the fourth straight regular-season meeting between the teams in Riverside.
- UH assistant coach Rob Jones returns to Riverside after serving as an assistant coach for the Highlanders during the 2021-22 season.
- The game Saturday will conclude a stretch of four games in eight days for the 'Bows who are 2-1 in the previous three games.
- UH was out-rebounded (37-33) for the first time this year by a Big West opponent in its loss at UC Irvine.
- UCI's 49.3 percent shooting and 29 made field goals were an opponent high.
- JoVon McClanahan has scored in double-digits in all seven Big West games and nine of the last 10 games overall.
- UH is one of only nine teams nationally to have the same starting lineup in every game this year.
- The UH starters have accounted for 81% of the team's scoring this year, including 89% (417 of 470) in league play.
- Noel Coleman has drained 27 straight free throws in the last four games and has converted 38 of his last 39 attempts dating back to UH's Big West opener vs. UC Davis.
- The school record for consecutive FTs made is 34 by Brocke Stepteau (2018-19).
- Coleman leads the Big West in free throw percentage in conference games converting 95.3% (41-of-43) so far.
- He also leads the conference in minutes/game (34.9). In the last four games, he has played in 159 of a possible 165 minutes.
- UH is one of only nine teams nationally that has yet to surrender 80 or more points in a game this year.
#HawaiiMBB
