Last month, guard Kody Williams earned a University of Hawaii basketball scholarship.
On Friday night, Williams earned the “Mana Award” — a maile lei presented by graduate assistant Zoar Nedd — for his inspiring play in the Rainbow Warriors’ 96-61 rout of Life Pacific in the opening round of the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
A crowd of 2,138 saw the Rainbow Warriors seize a 43-20 advantage in rebounds, including 15-4 off the offensive glass. The ’Bows also had a 23-0 advantage in second-chance points. The ’Bows committed only five turnovers, and just one after the intermission.
Akira Jacobs led the ’Bows with 20 points. Gytis Nemeiksa and Williams each contributed 14 points.
It was the first start of Williams’ three-season career with the ’Bows.
“What makes anybody the guy?” head coach Eran Ganot said of picking starters. “They earn it. (Williams) had a great week of practice.”
Williams said a starting job was hinted when he worked with the first group during the shoot-around on Friday. “Honest to God, I was very nervous being a starter,” Williams said. “I’ve never experienced something like that my last two years being a walk-on.”
Williams said he wanted to add vocal leadership to the double-point attack, as well as ball security. In previous exhibitions against Hawaii Hilo and Chaminade, the ’Bows committed a combined 53 turnovers, several of them unforced. While LPU, also nicknamed the Warriors, did not apply excessive pressure out of the man-to-man and 2-3 zone, Williams said, “five turnovers is still impressive. … The big thing is to take care of the ball so we would win the possessions.”
Williams also unveiled a deep-shot accuracy. Williams, who hit five 3-point shots in 18 games last season, connected on his first four shots from behind the arc against the Warriors. “I’ve been working on my shot,” Williams said. “It’s something I wanted to work on playing at the Division I level. I wanted that to elevate my game. I put in a lot of work, and I felt good today.”
Williams was part of a four-guard rotation that held LMU point guard Austin Cook, an NAIA All-America candidate, to 0-for-7 shooting in 30 minutes, 3 seconds. Cook’s struggles could be partially linked to a bent-back fingernail that drew blood during the game.
Jacobs, a 6-10 sophomore, had moved from the post to his natural wing position during the fall training. While he still waded into the post, he was able to break free on the perimeter. Jacobs scored a team-high 20 points on 6-for-10 shooting, including 3-for-6 on 3s.
“I think with the team we have now, we’re unselfish,” Jacobs said. “There’s not real ego out there. People will pass up a good shot for a great shot. The ball’s moving. We’re all looking for each other. We want each other to score. We want to get better together.”
LPU coach Tim Cook said he expected the ’Bows to play better after uneven performances in the two exhibitions. UH’s 16-2 run in the first half created distance between the teams. “They came out and punched us in the face a little bit,” Cooke said. “We finally got our traction a little bit. In the second half, we played them even all the way to the four-minute mark.”
The ’Bows missed 11 of 13 3-point shots after the intermission. “One of the thing is if you’re going to take 3s, you’d better be impactful on the offensive glass,” Ganot said. “Because if you don’t, offensively you’re three-and-out.”
The ’Bows outrebounded the Warriors 10-2 on the offensive glass in the second half. Nemeiksa grabbed six of his seven offensive rebounds after the intermission, parlaying four of them into putbacks. While the Warriors started three 6-5 guards, the tallest forward was 6-7. UH started 6-10 Jacobs and Tanner Christensen and 6-9 Harry Rouhliadeff.
The ’Bows meet San Jose State in Sunday’s second round. Pacific defeated San Jose State 80-67 in the first game of the doubleheader.