Hawaii men’s hoops routs Bakersfield with shuffled lineup | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

The short-handed Hawaii men’s basketball team came up big in a statement-making 98-71 victory over Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday night at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

A crowd of 2,991 saw the Rainbow Warriors control the post, the boards and eventually the Roadrunners to improve to 14-4 overall and 6-2 in the Big West. The ’Bows remained in a first-place tie with UC Irvine.

During Wednesday’s practice, UH point guard Aaron Hunkin-Claytor suffered a sprained left ankle. He was in a walking boot on Thursday night, although he said he expects a quick recovery. Isaac Finlinson replaced Hunkin-Claytor in the starting lineup, and wing Quandre “Dre” Bullock and guard Hunter Erickson opened in the UH backcourt.

Bullock produced his first UH double-double — 16 points and 12 rebounds — while also surpassing the 1,000-point mark in his Division I career. Bullock transferred from South Dakota last June.

“It was a good feeling,” Bullock said. “Shoutout to the crowd. They brought a lot of energy. We played hard. Everbody on the court stepped up.”

Isaiah Kerr, a transfer from Chico State, came off the bench to score a season-high 16 points. Kerr connected on five of nine shots. One of Kerr’s baskets came after he blocked a shot and went coast-to-coast for a layup. Post Harry Rouhliadeff also had a breakaway dunk for the ’Bows.

The ’Bows entered with two areas of concern. As one of the top rebounding teams in recent years. the ’Bows were out-boarded in the previous four games. They also wanted to maintain their free-throw opportunities, having averaged 24.4 attempts in the first 17 games. In a tightly officiated game, the ’Bows drew 24 fouls, leading to 34 free throws, of which they made 27.

The Roadrunners also were understaffed. They were without injured guards CJ Hardy and Jaden Alexander. Acting head coach Mike Scott said he held out Ronald Jessamy, who averaged 6.2 rebounds and had 40 blocks, as an injury precaution. Pierre Genesete, a 6-foot-11 post who can guard all five positions, picked up three fouls in the first half. He eventually fouled out. Tom Mark also was assessed two early fouls, including a technical, that limited his playing time.

“I think we were definitely trying to attack,” Kerr said. “Our rebounding coach Gib (Johnson) does a great job of telling us to crash every time and be on that.”

The ’Bows constructed a 53-26 rebounding advantage, including 17-5 on the offensive glass. Finlinson had five of the ’Bows’ offensive rebounds. The ’Bows made sure to keep 7-foot Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson, 6-10 Yacine Toumi or 6-9 Rouhliadeff in the post rotation.

“Their bigs were out, so we had to take advantage of what they do well,” UH defensive coordinator Rob Jones said. “They went small. We kept our bigs in there and had to do our thing on the boards.”

Scott said: “AJ George was 6-5 playing center tonight. Hawaii’s probably the biggest team in the league. It’s something we have to try to overcome.”

Kerr said the ’Bows embraced head coach Eran Ganot’s motto of “next man, every man.”

“It really sucks (Hunkin-Claytor) wasn’t able to play tonight. But we have such a deep team, every guy is capable of stepping up.”

CSUB guard Dailin Smith missed his first seven shots and finished 4-for-16 from the field. But he hit 20 of 25 free throws and finished with 28 points.

Thursday
Cal State Bakersfield at Hawaii, 7 p.m.
Cal Poly at UC Santa Barbara
UC San Diego at UC Davis
Long Beach State at Cal State Fullerton
UC Irvine at UC Riverside
Saturday
Cal State Northridge at Hawaii, 7 p.m.
UC Riverside at UC Davis
UC Santa Barbara at Long Beach State
Cal State Fullerton at Cal Poly
UC Irvine at UC San Diego
Thursday, Jan. 29
Hawaii at UC Irvine, 6 p.m.
Cal Poly at Cal State Bakersfield
UC Davis at Cal State Northridge
Long Beach State at UC Riverside
UC Santa Barbara at UC San Diego
Saturday, Jan. 31
Hawaii at Long Beach State, 11 a.m.
UC Davis at Cal State Bakersfield
Cal Poly at UC Riverside
UC San Diego at Cal State Northridge
Cal State Fullerton at UC Santa Barbara