UC San Diego’s strong defensive performance overwhelms Hawaii

By Mark Remsa (@RUHoopsHQ)

Special to Daly Dose Of Hoops

HONOLULU — The first media timeout occurred at the 12:57 mark of the second half, and UC San Diego found itself amid an all-out assault by Hawaii as the Tritons trailed the Rainbow Warriors, 47-38.

During the timeout, head coach Eric Olen rallied his team together and told his players not to lose sight of focus and to continue to play hard.

UC San Diego players Hayden Gray and Tyler McGhie answered the call, helping engineer an impressive 22-3 run that secured the lead for good, giving the Tritons their 18th victory of the regular season, 74-63.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” Olen said after the game. “I thought it was a really tough performance from us in terms of our resilience and responding multiple times throughout the game, I’m really proud of that effort today.”

It was UC San Diego (18-4, 8-2 Big West) that came out of the gates fast with active hands on the defensive end, as the Tritons forced Hawaii (12-9, 4-6 Big West) to commit five turnovers just five minutes into the game, giving themselves an early 9-5 edge. However, during a timeout with 14:39 remaining in the first half, Hawaii coach Eran Ganot energized his team by inserting veterans Ryan Rapp and Kody Williams from the bench, who then orchestrated an 8-0 run of their own to capture the lead at 13-9.

“If we’re going to take care of the ball, we’re going to play guys who take care of the ball better, but then we had four turnovers in the first four minutes,” Ganot said. “I give a lot of credit to Ryan and Kody, they responded well in that moment.”

Hawaii eventually built its largest lead of the game. at 29-16, off a barrage of consecutive three-point shots with 5:56 remaining in the first half. Although Hawaii had the hot hand from deep throughout much of the first half, UC San Diego never panicked, and began clawing its way back into the game. In the final five minutes of the first half, UC San Diego resorted back to the defensive tactics that were successful earlier in the half, disrupting multiple Hawaii shots and passes, generating turnovers, grabbing rebounds, and scoring nine fast break points to erase a 13-point deficit, the largest the Tritons have overcome this season. The Tritons fought back and came within a point at the break.

“We try to not overreact,” Olen said. “Our style is pretty aggressive to the ball, so we do give up a fair number of threes. We’ve had a few of those games where we’ve given up a fair number of threes and still have been able to have success, so I think that experience has helped us to not overreact and not abandon our gameplan, despite how well (Hawaii) played in the first half.”

At the start of the second half, Hawaii immediately jumped out to a 47-38 lead, but UC San Diego dug deep and forced the Rainbow Warriors to make mistakes with the ball and take poor shots. With just under 12 minutes remaining the game, senior leaders Gray and McGhie remarkably changed the game at the flip of a switch and steered the Tritons on a 12-0 run that gave them their first lead of the game since the 14-minute mark of the first half.

During the unprecedented run, Hawaii forward Gytis Nemeiksa made an errant inbounds pass that was intercepted by Gray. Gray then tossed the ball to McGhie, who drained a laser three-pointer in a massive five-point swing that gave UC San Diego a 55-50 lead. The Tritons then deployed suffocating defense for the remainder of the second half, and the Rainbow Warriors were never able to draw closer than seven points after that.

“I give a lot of credit to UCSD. I think they're really connected,” Ganot said. “I’ve had great respect for them from prior years. They’re a team with a lot of continuity right now, something we can learn from them. They’re connected with handling their composure and their runs.”

McGhie led all scorers for UC San Diego with 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Gray and Nordin Kapic both hit double-figures in scoring and combined for 24 points. UC San Diego also saw major contributions on both ends of the floor from Hawaii-Hilo transfer Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, who finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.

It was not only a solid effort on the offensive end that helped UC San Diego capture its first-ever road win at Stan Sheriff Center, but a strong, complete defensive effort that got the Tritons back into the game when they were down early.

“This a very difficult place to win and we haven’t been able to do that. You have to be good to come here to have success,” Olen said. “This is by far the best defensive team we’ve had, so I think that contributes to us winning on the road.”

UC San Diego, one of the nation’s best teams in turnover margin, finished with 10 steals and forced 17 total turnovers.

With the win over Hawaii, UC San Diego now takes sole possesion of second place in the Big West and remains within one game of UC Irvine. On the other hand, it was a crushing loss for Hawaii, who was dealt its third loss in a row and have fallen to seventh place in the Big West standings. Last night’s game was an opportunity squandered by the Rainbow Warriors as they failed to capitalize in building separation and limiting mistakes during the game.

“We have to limit the mistakes. That’s going to be the biggest thing for us to make the next jump,” Hawaii guard Ryan Rapp said after the game.”

Ganot added, “for us, it’s the lack of consistency from a game within a game. It's been the story of the year.”

UC San Diego looks to continue to improve upon its historic season when it hosts UC Riverside next Thursday (7 PM PT, ESPN+). Faced with a one-day turnaround, Hawaii must quickly regroup and prepare for Cal State Fullerton on Saturday (7 PM HT, ESPN+).