LIHU‘E — The Warriors were topped by UC Irvine in their first road contest of the season, 80-70 at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif. Hawai‘i’s Roderick Flemings led all scorers with 25 points, but the Warriors were done
LIHU‘E — The Warriors were topped by UC Irvine in their first road contest of the season, 80-70 at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif.
Hawai‘i’s Roderick Flemings led all scorers with 25 points, but the Warriors were done in by a slow start, trailing by 15 points at halftime. They tried to compensate for their early struggles with the 3-point shot, but it was not falling consistently all night and the team finished just 5 for 20 from downtown.
After scoring only 22 points in the opening half, the offense became more consistent after intermission, adding 48 points in the second 20 minutes of action.
UC Irvine was the more aggressive unit, getting to the free-throw line 34 times on the night, coming away with 31 makes for an impressive 91 percent showing. That proved to be the difference in the outcome, with UH making 16 of its 23 attempts from the charity stripe.
Other than that discrepancy, the teams were virtually even statistically across the board in their field goal makes, rebounding and turnovers.
Forward Pavol Losonsky led UC Irvine with 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting. Eric Wise had a strong all-around game for the Anteaters, finishing with 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
For the Warriors, guard Hiram Thompson put together 15 points, six rebounds and eight assists. Forward Brandon Adams came off the bench to score 15 points and grab four rebounds.
From here, the Warriors (2-4) come home to face the Lamar Cardinals, Sunday at 5:05 p.m.
