Men's Basketball Takes On Arkansas In First Round Of NCAA Tournament

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Big West champion University of Hawai'i men's basketball team heads to Portland for its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in a decade. The Rainbow Warriors received a No. 13 seed in the West Region and will face SEC champion and No. 4 seed Arkansas in a first-round matchup on Thursday, March 19 at 1:25 p.m. PT/10:25 a.m HT.

This will be UH's sixth all-time appearance in the Big Dance and second under head coach Eran Ganot. UH defeated Cal for its first-ever NCAA Tournament win before falling to Maryland in the second round in the program's last appearance in the 2016.

GAME 33: No. 13 Hawai'i (24-8, 14-6 Big West) vs. No. 4 Arkansas (26-8, 13-5 SEC)
Opponent \| Date \| Time				Arkansas \| Thursday, March 19 \| 1:25 p.m. PT/10:25 a.m. HT
Location				Portland, Ore. - Moda Center
Television				TBS
Live Stream				NCAA.com
Radio				ESPN Honolulu 1500 /Westwood One Radio
Live Stats				NCAA.com
Game Notes				Hawai'i \| Arkansas
Social Media				@HawaiiMBB \| #HawaiiMBB \| @HawaiiBasketball \| Facebook
Championship Website				Main Site \| Bracket

HEAD COACH ERAN GANOTOverall record: 198-128 (12th season)
At Hawai'i: 195-126 (11th season)

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP RECORDAll-Time: 1-5

NEWS & NOTES

For the sixth time ever and the first time since 2016, Hawai'i will play in the NCAA Tournament.
The Rainbow Warriors were also a No. 13 seed in its last appearance in 2016 and upset No. 4 Cal for their first-ever NCAA win that year.
The 'Bows advanced to the NCAAs after capturing the Big West Championship on March 14 with a 71-64 win over UC Irvine.
It was the program's final Big West game after 14 years in the league. The 'Bows move to the Mountain West starting next season.
UH is one of only two schools nationally, along with Duke, to win both a football bowl game and a men's basketball conference tournament this year.
This will be just the third all-time meeting between Hawai'i and Arkansas and the first since 1977 when the Razorbacks won a pair of games in Honolulu on consecutive nights.
UH's 24 wins is its most since Eran Ganot's debut season in 2015-16 when the program won a school-record 28 games and won the Big West title.
Hawai'i is led by Isaac "Big Fish" Johnson. The 7-0 center was a first team All-Big West selection and leads the team in scoring (14.1), blocks (34) and free throw percentage (88.5%).

Hawai'i in the NCAAs

Hawai'i has made five previous NCAA Tournament appearances (1972, 1994, 2001, 2002, and 2016), holding an all-time tournament record of 1-5.
The first trip: The legendary "Fabulous Five" squad led UH to its first-ever NCAA Tournament in the 1971-72 season, ultimately falling to Weber State 91-64. The team finished that season with a No. 12 national ranking, which remains the highest in school history.
The first win: The program's first and only NCAA Tournament victory came during their most recent appearance in the 2015-16 season. Playing as a 13-seed, the Rainbow Warriors upset Jaylen Brown and the No. 4 seed California,77-66, in the first round before falling to No. 5 seed Maryland in the second round.
Syracuse deja vu: Hawai'i's second and third tournament appearances (in 1994 and 2001) both ended in first-round defeats to the exact same opponent: the Syracuse Orange.
Individual scoring highs: Predrag Savovic holds the UH NCAA Tournament single-game scoring record with 26 points (including 10 field goals made), achieved against Xavier in 2002. Trevor Ruffin holds the record for most 3-pointers in an NCAA game, draining 7 of them against Syracuse in 1994.
Coaching leaders: Head coach Riley Wallace led the program to the most NCAA Tournament appearances with three (1994, 2001, and 2002), Eran Ganot has led UH to two NCAA bids (2016, 2026), while Red Rocha led UH to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1972.

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