College basketball: Hawaii beats Cal Poly 86-73 in Big West opener

HONOLULU — Roderick Bobbitt scored 21 points, Stefan Jankovic had 19 points with 13 rebounds and Hawaii beat Cal Poly 86-73 on Wednesday night in a Big West Conference opener for both teams.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Bobbitt and Jankovic gave Hawaii a 48-42 lead early in the second half. Jankovic extended the Rainbow Warriors’ lead to 61-51, but Cal Poly rallied and Taylor Sutlive’s 3-pointer pulled the Mustangs within 66-64 with seven minutes left.

Hawaii answered with a 9-2 run, capped by Aaron Valdes’ open 3-pointer in the corner off a nice assist from Isaac Fleming, for a 75-66 lead with four minutes remaining.

Valdes finished with 20 points for Hawaii (12-2) and Fleming had 12 points with five assists.

Reese Morgan led Cal Poly (6-8) with 17 points.

Morgan scored eight of the Mustangs’ final 10 points of the first half. Hawaii’s Quincy Smith scored inside just before the halftime buzzer to tie it at 37-all.

• UH is appealing the NCAA’s decision to ban the men’s basketball program from postseason games.

Athletic Director David Matlin said Wednesday the university readily accepted most of the penalties handed down by the NCAA. But he says the postseason ban during the 2016-2017 academic year unfairly penalizes student-athletes for the mistakes of others.

The NCAA put the men’s basketball team on three years’ probation after an investigation found former head coach Gib Arnold violated ethical conduct rules and provided false or misleading information to investigators.

The NCAA also said Hawaii would lose two scholarships during the next two seasons. The university imposed a $10,000 fine on itself and must also pay a penalty equaling 1 percent of the basketball program’s budget over the previous three years.