Hawaii head coach Benjy Taylor said he would be thrilled if his team could end up with a season split against UC Irvine. Having loss to the Anteaters at home earlier this season his team would need to pick up a win in Orange County on Thursday night.
For at least 17 minutes the Rainbow Warriors seemed primed to do so but the Anteaters had a late push at the end of the first half and carried that momentum into the second half in a 75-60 win to hand Hawaii (18-10, 6-6 Big West) its first loss in a Thursday game this season.
With the win UCI (15-10, 8-3 Big West) improved to 44-0 since 2011 when holding an opponent to 60 points or less.
Here's 5 things we learned from the UCI win.
Davis II POY?
The obvious candidates for Big West Player of the Year are UC Davis' Corey Hawkins and Long Beach State's Mike Caffey but keep UC Irvine forward Will Davis II in mind. If he's not a candidate, he should be. He's definitely deserving and he played like it on Thursday night notching the 12th double-double of his career. The double-double came in the second half alone with his 13 points and 13 rebounds in the game's final 20 minutes. The senior finished the game with 23 points and 14 boards to go along with three blocks in 35 minutes of action.
The deep ball and a massive game from Will Davis powered the 'Eaters passed Hawai'i tonight. Tonight's #infographic: pic.twitter.com/AtdvU6Xr0E
— UCI M Basketball (@UCImbb) February 20, 2015
Souza can shoot
You've likely heard the term "hand down, man down!" It took Hawaii some time to get the message as it relates to UC Irvine guard Travis Souza. He had just one basket in the first half. It was a three pointer that capped a UCI 7-0 run to end the half and tie the game 29-29. The Anteaters senior knocked down four more from long range in the second half to finish with 15 points and four assists. The shooting of Souza was instrumental in the Anteaters gaining the momentum at the end of a first half that was largely controlled by Hawaii.
TRAVIS SOUZA IS UNCONSCIOUS! Make that FIVE 3-pointers now, and UCI now leads 51-44. #defendthebren
— UCI M Basketball (@UCImbb) February 20, 2015
Jankovic is smooth
Stefan Jankovic wasn't talked about much coming into Thursday night's game but he was impressive. He nearly had a double-double in the first half with nine points and eight rebounds. By game's end he finished with the first double-double of his career. Jankovic had 18 points, 15 rebounds, and three blocks to pace Hawaii.
UCI is hurt
There's a who's who among Anteaters on the UC Irvine bench. Guard Alex Young and forward John Ryan were each on the bench wearing boots. Mamadou Ndiaye wasn't in uniform either still nursing a foot injury. Three starters. Three foot injuries. Young was missing his third game in a row. Ryan suffered his injury early in the loss at UC Riverside last Saturday. For Ndiaye it was the ninth straight game and 18th time this season he was out of the lineup. UCI has been struck by the injury bug for the majority of the season but thanks to efforts of Souza, Jaron Martin who finished with nine points and five assists, and others UCI remains in the top half of the conference.
Nevels struggles
Stefan Jankovic and Negus Webster-Chan were great for Hawaii inside Bren Events Center Thursday night with 18 points and 16 points, respectively. The bad part is leading scores Aaron Valdes and Garrett Nevels were far from their usual selves. They combined for 13 points on 5-of-24 shooting. That made it a tough night on the Mainland for Hawaii.
