Consolation, indeed.
A night after squandering second-half competitiveness against nationally ranked Miami, Hawaii recouped its forward momentum in a 79-71 victory against Davidson in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic consolation semifinals Saturday before a crowd of 3,233 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
“Probably one of our best performances of the last couple years, to be honest,” coach Eran Ganot said after his team held the potent Wildcats to 38.1 percent shooting. “Put into context, (we were) coming off an emotional game 24 hours ago against a really tough team in Miami, then having to turn around … against this team.
“It speaks to the growth, the maturity of our team.”
UH (8-3) won for the fourth time in five games in besting Davidson (4-6) of the Atlantic 10. It now shoots for fifth place in the DHC on Christmas morning against Princeton (6-7) of the Ivy League. The Tigers bested the ‘Bows 75-62 in last season’s Pearl Harbor Invitational.
Sheriff Drammeh scored 16 of his career-high 22 points in the first half, helping stake his team to an eight-point halftime advantage. Forward Gibson Johnson added a career-high-tying 19.
Co-captain Mike Thomas, who was held to one point in the 75-57 setback to No. 6 Miami, continued to struggle and fouled out scoreless in eight minutes.
This time, his teammates did enough to pick up the slack.
Jack Purchase (10 points) and Brocke Stepteau (nine) convened to close it out after Davidson chipped to within three — easy striking distance for a team used to making upwards of 12 3-pointers a game — soon after the break.
Freshman Drew Buggs contributed six points, five rebounds and a season-best six assists.
“We felt like we had a really solid first half against Miami, and then we dropped off in that second half,” Johnson said. “So we knew we had to bounce back, and that’s a strength of this team all season. Every single time we’ve lost, we’ve been able to bounce back. We just focused on that, not letting the loss get to us.”
Wildcats forward Peyton Aldridge had to work extra hard for his 26 points, shooting 8-for-23 from the floor (2-for-10 on 3s) and turning it over five times. Johnson emphatically swatted him twice as part of a season-best three blocks.
“That’s one of the best offenses in the nation, stats-wise,” Johnson said. “I knew I had to step up my game on the defensive end. That’s one of the things I tried to get — meet him up top.”
Stephen Curry’s alma mater, located just north of Charlotte, N.C., shot well south of its custom from beyond the arc, 9-for-27 (33.3 percent). That included a couple of late makes that did not threaten the outcome.
UH came out blazing hot, beating Davidson at its own 3-point-popping game. The Rainbows connected on four of their first eight long-range attempts and led 30-15, the largest margin, with nine minutes left in the half.
“Momentum always feels good, right?” Drammeh said. “Getting off to a good start is super important. … That just gave us a chance to have control of the whole game, basically.”
Leland Green (11 points) cashed in on his third triple in the final minute of the half for a 40-32 lead at intermission.
The ‘Bows got it done in other ways after the break, working inside-out once they regressed to their pedestrian 3-point shooting average.
“We got a little stagnant when they changed to their zone defense,” Drammeh said. “Us not being able to shoot the 3 in the second half (2-for-10), it slowed us down, obviously, but I feel like we … changed up our game plan and scored in different ways. Gibson got easy layups because they were focused on shooters on the perimeter, and we found him. Jack found him multiple times.”
Davidson, which came within an Aldridge 3-point buzzer miss of knocking off New Mexico State on Friday night, drew within 48-45 but Johnson converted a three-point play to launch a 9-0 UH run.
“We got it back to 3. We had to capitalize on every possession,” Davidson’s 29-year coach Bob McKillop said. “Give them (Hawaii) credit. They run great stuff.
“It’s tough to beat Hawaii on their home court.”
Thomas fouled out with 4:32 left and the Wildcats crept within seven, but Green stopped and popped on a fast break.
Johnson scored inside on a feed from Buggs and Stepteau’s runner through contact made it a double-digit game with under two minutes to go.
