HONOLULU — For just the second time in the six-year history of the Diamond Head Classic, the host team will be making a semifinal appearance.
HONOLULU — For just the second time in the six-year history of the Diamond Head Classic, the host team will be making a semifinal appearance.
Aaron Valdes scored 15 points and Isaac Fleming 10 as Hawaii held off Nebraska, 66-58, in a tournament quarterfinal game late Monday night.
The Rainbow Warriors (9-3) captured their second consecutive victory and fifth in their last six games and will face No. 11 Wichita State on Tuesday.
“I love our effort. I thought we played really, really smart down the stretch,” Hawaii acting head coach Benjy Taylor said. “We made stops when we needed to, we executed when we needed to and we made free throws when we needed to.”
Hawaii opened on an 8-0 run, but Nebraska stormed back, tying it at 11 on a 3-pointer by Walter Pitchford, and taking a brief lead on Terran Petteway’s layup. Quincy Smith converted a three-point play to ignite a 6-0 Hawaii run that forged a 17-13 lead.
The Rainbow Warriors closed out the first half on an 11-4 run — capped by a steal and slam dunk by Roderick Bobbitt — to take a 34-23 lead at halftime.
The Cornhuskers’ offensive struggles in the first half were evident by the numbers: 30 percent shooting from the field, 50 percent from the free-throw line and 11 turnovers.
Conversely, Hawaii held the halftime advantage in points in the paint (16 to 8), points off turnovers (12 to 3), second-chance points (7 to 1) and bench points (14 to 4).
Nebraska came out of intermission and quickly cut it to a three-point game with a 10-2 run and tied at 38 on a 3-pointer from the right wing by Pitchford at the 14:22 mark.
Pitchford drained another 3-pointer on the Cornhuskers’ next possession and Benny Parker followed with a 17-foot jumper to give them a 43-40 lead.
However, the Rainbow Warriors scored the next eight points, aided by four consecutive Nebraska turnovers, to reclaim the lead.
Later in the half, Garrett Nevels hit a 3-pointer for Hawaii from the left corner to break a 53-all tie with 3:07 to play. Bobbitt drained another from behind the arc about a minute later to extend the lead to 59-53.
Nebraska answered with a pair of layups by Petteway and Benny Parker to cut it to 59-57 with 52 seconds remaining, but could get no closer.
“I thought we pulled it out, but I didn’t think we played very well tonight, but like we typically do, we played hard, we played together and it was a unified effort,” Taylor said.
Petteway finished with 14 points to lead the Cornhuskers (6-4), who also got 12 points apiece from Shavon Shields and Parker.
It was the seventh meeting between the teams. Hawaii has won five times, including the last time the teams faced off back in 2006, by a score of 81-72 in Honolulu.