By WES NAKAMA
Stephens Media Hawaii
HONOLULU — Taking little mercy on its “little brother,” the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team turned on the pressure and fired up the jets in the second half to rout the University of Hawaii at 114-63 in nonconference action Thursday night before a crowd of 4,794 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Christian Standhardinger scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Isaac Fotu added 17 points and nine boards as the Warriors improved to 3-2. The Vulcans fell to 2-2.
“I’m proud of the way our guys played tonight, everybody who got in there played well and contributed,” UH-Manoa coach Gib Arnold said. “I thought the Hilo coach (GE Coleman) prepared his team well and they did some good things that took us out of our game a little in the first half, but we’re a little bigger and deeper, and that’s why you saw the difference between the first half and the second half.”
Aaron Valdes added 16 points and seven rebounds, Garrett Nevels contributed 11 points, three boards and three assists, and Keith Shamburger finished with 10 points and eight assists for the Warriors.
Hilo started strong and led 8-6 four minutes in, but Standhardinger scored on back-to-back layups to start UH on a 17-3 run to make it 23-11 midway through the first half, and the Vulcans never got closer than nine points the rest of the way. After Hilo guard Darnell Williams drained a 3-pointer to cut it to 30-21 with 7:01 remaining in the first half, Valdes slammed home a putback to start the Warriors on a 10-2 run capped by Shamburger’s 3-pointer to make it 40-23 with 4:11 left.
UH led 48-34 at halftme and began the second half with a 21-9 run in the first six minutes to extend the lead to 69-43.
“We played as hard as we would if we played Duke,” said Standhardinger, who also had two assists, two blocked shots and one steal in just 22 minutes of action. “That’s what this team is all about — we’ll play hard against anybody.”
The Warriors, employing full-court pressure for most of the game, wore down the Vulcans with a deep bench and kept the tempo fast by pushing the ball quickly upcourt after every defensive rebound.
The rotation included 5-foot-9 redshirt freshman guard Dyrbe Enos, a former Kamehameha-Kalapama standout from ‘Aiea. Enos swished a 3-pointer from the right corner late in the first half and nailed two more from beyond the arc in the second half to finish with a career-high nine points. He also added one assist, one blocked shot and a steal.
“It was really good to see Dyrbe get in there and knock down some shots,” Arnold said. “He’s a guy that has worked hard and moved into our rotation, he earned it.”
Enos played 13 minutes in the season opener against Tennessee State and eight minutes vs. New Mexico State, and made a short appearance in the loss to Missouri in Kansas City, Mo. last Saturday.
“He’s worked his way into the rotation, and we game plan with him (getting in),” Arnold said. “He’s set bigger goals for himself than just being that local guy who gets a couple minutes at the end of the game, he’s worked hard and I’m real proud of him. He can shoot it, he’s got a quick release, and if he keeps hitting shots and keeps his percentage up, he’s gonna help us. He’s going to continue to be a weapon for us to have.”
Williams led Hilo with 15 points — all but two coming in the first half — and four assists, Brandon Thomas added 12 points and four rebounds, and Joey Rodriguez contributed 10 points off the bench.
The Vulcans shot 42.9 percent (15 of 35) from the field in the first half but were held to 31.3 percent shooting (10 of 32) in the second, finishing 25 of 67 overall (37.3 percent). They made just 5 of 21 field goals from 3-point range.
“We set goals for this game — mostly defensive goals — just like we do for every game, and we worked on it all week,” Arnold said. “We wanted to hold them to under 40 percent (overall) and under 30 percent on 3-pointers, and we did that.”
Arnold said the depth and versatility of this year’s team not only allows for constant full-court pressure and a fast-break offense, but also an ability to freely switch when playing man-to-man half-court defense.
“Interchangeable parts — that’s the difference,” Arnold said. “We went about 10 minutes of switching on every screen, and we never could have done that before, but this team can. It’s one of our strengths. The foot quickness of this team is night and day from what it has been (in past years).”
The Warriors will return to action Wednesday with a home game vs. New Orleans. UHH returns home for its Naniloa Volcanoes Resort Thanksgiving Tournament, hosting Fort Lewis (Colo.) at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
UHH (2-2)
Perkins 0-4 2-2 2, Williams 7-16 0-0 15, Owens 1-5 0-0 3, Thomas 5-8 2-4 12, Campbell 3-5 0-0 6, Clayton 1-6 0-1 2, Swanson 3-7 0-0 8, Rodriguez 3-8 4-5 10, Dyachenko 1-4 0-0 3, Dancer 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 25-67 8-12 63.
HAWAII (3-2)
Shamburger 4-6 0-0 10, Nevels 5-8 0-0 11, Spearman 3-7 0-0 6, Standhardinger 10-12 2-5 22, Fotu 7-9 3-4 17, Jawato 0-3 0-0 0, Enos 3-5 0-0 9, Smith 2-3 3-3 7, Rozitis 3-3 1-1 7, Jovanovic 1-3 0-0 2, Hackman 1-1 0-0 3, Valdes 7-11 2-5 16, Harper 0-2 0-0 0, Thomas 1-2 2-4 4. Totals 47-75 13-22 114.
Halftime—Hawaii 48-34. 3-Point Goals—Hawaii-Hilo 5-21 (Swanson 2-5, Owens 1-2, Williams 1-3, Dyachenko 1-4, Clayton 0-2, Perkins 0-2, Rodriguez 0-3), Hawaii 7-18 (Enos 3-3, Shamburger 2-3, Hackman 1-1, Nevels 1-3, Harper 0-1, Valdes 0-2, Spearman 0-2, Jawato 0-3). Fouled Out—Owens. Rebounds—Hawaii-Hilo 22 (Dancer, Thomas 4), Hawaii 51 (Fotu 9). Assists—Hawaii-Hilo 13 (Williams 4), Hawaii 26 (Shamburger 8). Total Fouls—Hawaii-Hilo 16, Hawaii 16. A—4,794.
