LIHU‘E — The Rainbow Warriors got themselves a postseason victory, Tuesday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. With a 76-64 victory over Portland in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, head coach Gib Arnold led the University of Hawai‘i
LIHU‘E — The Rainbow Warriors got themselves a postseason victory, Tuesday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
With a 76-64 victory over Portland in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, head coach Gib Arnold led the University of Hawai‘i to its first postseason appearance in seven years and will continue his inaugural season at the helm in the second round.
The 24-team tournament, in its third year of existence, does not use a typical bracket to determine matchups. Each round’s games are dependent on the previous round’s results, with re-seeding occurring and a preference for keeping teams close to home.
UH (19-12) made it by Portland (20-12) with a balanced attack and strong defense. It was led by Zane Johnson’s 19 points, though the sharpshooter only knocked down one 3-pointer, doing much of his damage with a perfect night at the free-throw line (10 for 10).
All-WAC Second Team performer Bill Amis notched a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, adding five steals and three blocks to his tally.
Center Vander Joaquim almost matched his frontcourt counterpart with a double-double of his own, going for 11 points and 10 boards.
Point guard Jeremiah Ostrowski had 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals, shooting 7-of-11 from the field.
Trevor Wiseman scored nine, adding four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Joston Thomas had a quiet night with three points, while Bo Barnes nailed a triple for his only bucket of the game, ending with three points.
Jared Stohl led Portland with 22 points. Ryan Nicholas followed with 12, while Nemanja Mitrovic, Luke Sikma, Tanner Riley and Derrick Rodgers all scored six points apiece.
In games when Johnson has led the team in scoring, he has been prolific from beyond the arc. But Tuesday, Johnson was just 1-of-4 from downtown and the ‘Bows made just two 3-pointers as a team.
Yet they were the more aggressive club, getting to the free-throw line 39 times, making 28 (72 percent), compared to just a 4-of-8 night for Portland.
The Pilots did not shoot the ball well during any stretch, finishing the night 26-of-74 from the floor (35 percent).
They continued to fire from long range, going 8 for 26 (31 percent) from behind the three-point arc.
Hawai‘i now moves into the second round, along with first-round winners Air Force (16-12), Buffalo (19-13), Jacksonville (20-11) and Santa Clara (20-14).
Three more second-round participants will be determined today in the following games: Tennessee Tech (20-12) vs. Western Michigan (20-12); Oral Roberts (19-15) vs. SMU (17-14); and Idaho (18-13) vs. San Francisco (17-14).
Three teams are already into the quarterfinals — East Tennessee State (23-11), Northern Iowa (20-13) and Ohio (19-15). The fourth team into the quarters will be determined today in the Iona (22-11) vs. Valparaiso (23-11) matchup.
The second round will be played Saturday and Sunday.
The tournament will play down to a championship game, occurring on March 30.
For more information, go to www.collegeinsider.com/tournament.
