HONOLULU – The University of Hawaii men’s basketball team begins play in the Big West Tournament at 11:30 a.m. (Hawaii time) Thursday against Long Beach State at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Prime Ticket — Oceanic Cable Channels 1228 (HD) and 228 (SD) – and will be broadcast live on radio via ESPN 1420 AM (KHLO in Hilo, KKON in Kona).
UH (20-12) is coming off a 91-70 win at Cal State Fullerton last Saturday, matching its biggest margin of victory in 16 conference games. Five different Rainbow Warriors scored in double figures — Garrett Nevels (16), Stefan Jovanovic (15), Aaron Valdes (12), Isaac Fleming (11) and Stefan Jankovic (10) – and the 15 points by Jovanovic is a career-high and his first double-figure scoring outing since Dec. 29.
Valdes added nine rebounds, his highest total since Dec. 19, and Fleming contributed six assists in his most significant action since Feb. 12. Mike Thomas, who like Fleming is recovering from a sprained ankle, posted six points and five rebounds in 18 minutes.
The back-to-back 20-win seasons are the Rainbow Warriors’ first since 1996-97 and ’97-98.
Long Beach State (16-16) is riding a three-game winning streak, including a 59-58 victory at UC Riverside last Saturday. Senior guard Mike Caffey, who is averaging 15.9 points per game, was named to the All-Big West first team for the third straight year.
The winner of Thursday’s game will advance to Friday’s 3:30 p.m. semifinal against the highest remaining seed, most likely to be No. 1 seed UC Davis (24-5).
The UH women, meanwhile, earned a double-bye after winning the Big West regular season title and will open play at 9 a.m. (HST) against No. 7 seed Cal State Fullerton, which upset No. 3 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
The game will be televised live on ESPN3 and broadcast on radio via ESPN 1420 AM (KHLO in Hilo, KKON in Kona).
The Rainbow Wahine (22-7) are riding a 14-game win streak coming off a 61-38 home victory over Cal State Fullerton (13-18) last Saturday.
BASEBALL TEAM PLAYS HOST TO OKLAHOMA: The UH baseball team will play host to Oklahoma in a four-game series Thursday through Sunday at Les Murakami Stadium.
First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with a 1:05 p.m. start time scheduled for Sunday. OCSports Channels 1016 (HD) and 16 (SD) will televise the first three games of the series live statewide, and all four games will be carried live via radio at ESPN 1420 AM (KHLO in Hilo, KKON in Kona) with possible changes to NBC Sports Radio 1500 AM, pending the outcome of the UH men’s and women’s basketball teams at the Big West Tournament.
The Rainbow Warriors are 6-10 coming off a 1-2 record at the Houston College Classic at the Houston Astros’ Minute Maid Park. Hawaii defeated Baylor, 2-1, before losing to Nebraska, 4-3, and then-No. 8-ranked Houston, 8-6.
Senior center fielder Kaeo Aliviado was named to the All-Tournament Team, and Konawaena graduate JJ Kitaoka, a redshirt freshman, batted .250 and drove in a team-high five runs while holding down second base for the injured Stephen Ventimillia.
Junior right-hander LJ Brewster (3-1) led Hawaii to its only victory by allowing only one run (earned) on two hits, with seven strikeouts in six and one-thirds inning pitched. Brewster has a 1.75 earned run average.
First baseman Eric Ramirez is batting .309 with 11 RBIs, nine runs scored and a .412 on-base percentage. Shortstop Jacob Sheldon-Collins batted .444 at the Houston College Classic and third baseman Alex Sawelson hit .385.
Oklahoma is 12-7 coming off a 5-1 home loss to Oral Roberts on Tuesday.
SOFTBALL TEAM PLAYS HOST TO HAWAI‘I PACIFIC HEALTH RAINBOW WAHINE CLASSIC: The UH softball continues play in the Hawaii Pacific Health Rainbow Wahine Classic from Thursday through Sunday.
UH will play Virginia Tech at 6 p.m. Thursday, St. Bonaventure at 6 p.m. Friday, Virginia Tech again at 6 p.m. Saturday and Columbia at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Rainbow Wahine were 17-9 entering Wednesday night’s game against Western Illinois.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM PLAYS HOST TO HOPE INTERNATIONAL: The UH men’s volleyball team plays host to Hope International University in non-conference action Friday and Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Both matches are set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on radio via NBC Sports Radio AM 1500.
The Rainbow Warriors (15-3) climbed to No. 4 in this week’s AVCA Coaches Poll after sweeping a two-match series vs. then-No. 5 Pepperdine last week, extending their win streak to eight straight matches. The No. 4 national ranking is their highest since 2010.
Hope International is 11-9.
DIVER GISMERVIK QUALIFIES FOR ALL NCAA EVENTS: UH junior Amund Gismervik has qualified for the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform diving events at the NCAA Championships in Iowa City from March 26-28.
Gismervik earned the qualifying marks at this week’s NCAA Zone E Qualifying Meet at Colorado Springs, Colo.