'Bows growing in wins, maturity
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
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It's true, the young ones always seem to behave a little better a few days before Christmas.
Such was the case with the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team.
The "kids" — as head coach Riley Wallace likes to call this season's Rainbow Warriors — received a championship trophy as their reward for winning the 43rd annual Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic on Saturday.
"These guys are young college kids having fun," Wallace said. "They horse around in the locker room ... they're kids and they're growing and becoming young men."
The 'Bows may have come of age last week, scoring an average of 82 points per game in their three Rainbow Classic victories.
"We tried to push them mentally — the fans, the press, and me, the coaches, everybody — to be good immediately," Wallace said. "And it's a team that looks like it had to learn and grow and understand what Rainbow basketball is all about."
Hawai'i is 8-4 and on a four-game winning streak after Saturday's 76-60 championship victory over Creighton.
There were several noteworthy performances by the 'Bows during the Rainbow Classic:
In one of the most memorable performances by a Hawai'i player in Rainbow Classic history, Lojeski drained 12 of 15 shots, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range, to shoot down Creighton.
Prior to the game, he was shooting 28.1 percent from 3-point range.
"I was kind of due for one of these nights," said Lojeski, a 6-foot-6 senior guard. "I've been struggling with my jump shot, but I knew it would come around some time."
"P.J. stepped up," Gibson said. "He hasn't been scoring as much, but he's playing great defense on their post guys."
The Hawai'i defense was also a key to the success, limiting opponents to a 39.9 field goal percentage in the tournament. The 'Bows also out-rebounded their three opponents by an average of 38.3 to 27.3.
"Nash is 6-6, Lojeski is 6-6, Gibson is 6-5, Riley Luettgerodt is 6-5," Wallace said, noting the team's height on the perimeter. "We can contest shots ... that affects good shooting teams."
The only problem, according to Wallace, was that there weren't enough people to witness Hawai'i's Classic performance in person. Hawai'i's three games drew an average attendance of 4,562. The Stan Sheriff Center has a capacity of 10,300.
"The ones who were here were great, but we didn't have enough," Wallace said. "This team is fun to watch, and (the fans) need to come out and watch them."
Gibson added: "When the Stan Sheriff comes alive, it fills us all with emotion and we feed off that."
In any case, the 'Bows will not have too much time to celebrate. They host Tennessee-Martin in a non-conference game on Thursday at the Sheriff Center.
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.
