Once Hawaii’s ball-movement caught up to its defense and rebounding, it looked like the top seed at the Big West tournament.
Once Hawaii’s ball-movement caught up to its defense and rebounding, it looked like the top seed at the Big West tournament.
The Rainbow Warriors just took a half to get in gear offensively.
Aaron Valdes scored a game-high 18 points and Hawaii shot 52 percent in the second half and rolled over the No. 8 Titans in the quarterfinals Thursday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
“Pleased with the performance particularly in the second half,” coach Eran Ganot said. “Even in the first half, we had some turnovers but we were defending and rebounding. That served us well and that continued in the second half. We started sharing the ball and that was the difference.”
Hawaii will face fourth-seeded UC Santa Barbara (18-12) at 4:30 p.m. HST on ESPNU in the first semifinal. The Gauchos beat UC Davis 87-61. The Rainbow Warriors won the two previous meetings between the teams this season.
The Rainbow Warriors (25-5) outscored the Titans (10-20) 48-18 in the second half, relying on a 23-3 run.
“The guys came out firing and they were motivated and focused and we were solid across the board,” Ganot said.
Fullerton (10-20) used a 13-4 that spanned halftime to take a 30-29 lead on a jumper by Tim Myles with 17:33 to play.
UH scored 28 of the next 31 points, including 10 from Valdes, to open a 24-point lead with 10:06 left as the Titans went nearly eight minutes without a field goal.
“I thought we settled in the first half,” Ganot said. “The difference was half our shots in the first half were from three, in the second half less than a third.”
Mike Thomas had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Stefan Jankovic added 12 points. UH didn’t lose momentum after Jankovic, the league Player of the Year, left with his third foul.
Rainbow Warrior senior guard Roderick Bobbitt, who scored 14 points, picked up four steals and passed Tom Henderson for the UH career record of 160.
“We played defense the kind of way we’ve been playing all year,” Bobbitt said. ““It’s always next man up. Big Steph came in and gave us tremendous minutes. We’re so deep and our bigs play phenomenal. We knew that we couldn’t just stop, we had to keep pushing and that’s what we did.”
Jamar Akoh scored 12 points to lead the Titans, who shot just 29.8 percent and were outrebounded 49-34.
“Tale of two halves,” coach Dedrique Taylor said. “Hawaii is the the No. 1 seed for a reason. They took over the basketball game and showed why they’re one of the better teams in the country.”