Game Night: UH-UC Santa Barbara
A tie for second place is on the line when Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara meet tonight at 8 p.m. (or so) in the Stan Sheriff Center.
Both teams are 4-2. Cal State Fullerton, which is 5-2, has a bye tonight.
> UH forward Jack Purchase is 10 away from tying Zane Johnson‘s UH record of 180 career 3s. On Thursday, Purchase set the UH record for most 3s attempted in a career. He has launched 475. Of course, there’s no telling how many Clarence “Pop” Dickerson and Aaron Strayhorn would have been credited with launching if the 3-pointer had been in place back in the day. Back story: Back in my Ka Leo O Hawaii days, I’m interviewing Riley Wallace, who was Larry Little‘s assistant at the time. This skinny guy keeps draining deep shots during the interview. Wallace said the guy was transferring from Elon, and that he’s very good. It turns out it’s Dickerson. And he was very, very good. By the way, “Elon” is the answer to the four-letter North Carolina college, a clue that appears at least once a month in the New York Times’ crossword puzzles.
> Zigmars Raimo is easily the most improved, leading the ‘Bows in shooting accuracy (58.4 percent) and steals (26). Also remarkable is how he backed his pledged to improve his free-throw shooting after converting 45.8 percent in the first 17 games. In the past three games, he has converted 11 of 13 (84.6 percent).
> After leading the Gauchos in scoring last year (19.1 points), guard Max Heidegger has struggled to regain his accuracy. He missed the first nine games because of an ailment. In nine games this season, he is averaging 7.3 points on 24.3-percent shooting. But the Gauchos have enough weapons. Ar’mond Davis, a 6-6 transfer from Alabama, is averaging a team-high 14.3 points. Guard Devearl Ramsey, a transfer from Nevada, averages 3.5 assists. JaQuori “J-Rock” McLaughlin, an Oregon State transfer, is one of four double-digit scorers. Robinson Idehen, a 6-10 post with a 7-3 wingspan, and Amadou Sow (6.3 rebounds) provide an interior presence.
Isa
Will be a sweep for UH athletics if the men’s basketball win tonight (not counting men’s tennis). Wahine basketball beat Cal Poly 70-52 today; Wahine water polo won twice, beating LMU 19-17 in OT and Fresno St 19-8 at the UCLA mini-tournment.
ST, thanks for the quick facts!
Offense looks pretty anemic tonight…
Max Heidegger regained his accuracy at UH’s expense.
It was like watching Jimmer Fredette.
UH’s sharp-shooters need to be wide open in order to drain the three.
Samuta Avea has done enough to earn a shot at starting. The only bad thing I can say about him is that he needs to be more aware of defenders encroaching upon him from the back. Two games in a row he got stripped from his blind side. He seems to be the only player who can shoot over his defender. The bigs need to learn to foul without playing dirty.
It was nice to see Odumu get off the bench, let alone score. I don’t understand why she’s the last player to come off the bench. I remember all the last players to come off the bench and she seems a notch or two above her bench-warming predecessors.
Megan Huff probably moved up in the draft after scoring 38 points and grabbing 12 rebounds against the #4 team on their home court. She was originally projected to go late in the 3rd round. Hearing her being described as a “superstar” by the Pac-12 announcer was pretty jarring. Somebody on this blog once described her as being Bill Walton-like. Doesn’t sound crazy now. No, it wasn’t me. I wish it was. I don’t know what I’m talking about. I thought Josh Pigg was going to be drafted.
What I like about this year’s women’s team is that they seem to like each other.
I vote for more playing time for Odumu.
Stephen, why has everybody gotten into the last 2 men’s games, except Hulland ?
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