HONOLULU — The Hawai'i men's basketball team finished with a flourish in a 93-74 win over UC Riverside Thursday night at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. With the win the Rainbow Warriors remained in position for a regular-season Big West title while also locking up a double-bye for next week's Big West Championship in Henderson, Nev.
Both UC Irvine and UH (22-7, 14-5) remain atop the Big West standings heading into Saturday's regular-season finale and have assured themselves as the top two seeds in next week's conference tournament.
UH got a balanced attack with five different 'Bows finishing in double-digits, led by Gytis Nemeiksa's 19 points.
Dre Bullock and
Isaac Finlinson each scored 17 points.
Harry Rouhliadeff finished with 13 points and
Isaac Johnson had 11 despite each of them missing the better part of the final 10 minutes due to foul trouble.
UCR entered the game with two of the Big West's top scorers in Andrew Henderson and Marqui Worthy, who combined for 43 of the Highlander points. Henderson finished with a game-high 26 points. Worthy, who exploded for 38 points in UCR's last game finished with 17 but shot just 6-of-18 from the field.
UH shot a scorching 60 percent from the floor and went 27-of-35 from the line to win its fourth straight and improve to 16-2 at home this year.
UCR (10-22, 5-15 Big West) played its final game of the season after being knocked out of postseason contention but gave UH a fight. The Highlanders were within one point in the second half but UH turned on the afterburners in the final eight minutes of the game to win comfortably.
UH took a 46-39 lead into the locker room after shooting 64 percent in the first half and going 17-of-20 from the line. But the Highlanders stayed close by taking 14 more shots than UH.
UC Riverside made a run in the early minutes of the second half, cutting the deficit to just one, 54-53, after a three-point play by BJ Kolly. UH answered with six straight but the Highlanders got a three-pointer from Hernderson to make it 60-56.
The 'Bows then got a pair of big energy plays – a Bullock dunk off an in-bound play, followed by a Johnson three-pointer – to extend their lead to 65-56.
Rouhliadeff and Johnson were saddled with four fouls in the final 10 minutes of the game but UH had its biggest spurt with their big men out. It was a 68-63 game with just over nine minutes left but UH went on a game-sealing 13-3 run to put UCR away.
UH now faces its attention to its home finale Long Beach State on Saturday, March 7 on Senior Night with a chance for at least a share of the Big West regular-season title. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
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