The season premiere of Survivor – the UH-Hilo men’s basketball version – was well-received
Plop nine newcomers in an isolated location with three returnees, and so far the results have been drama free.
“We out here on a island,” senior guard Larry Bush said Monday after the Vuls’ 86-80 victory against Alaska-Fairbanks, “so we have to be (tight) with each other.”
Bush’s first game in two years was going off without a hitch until he cramped up in the second half, spent time on the bench, then fought through it, scoring 23 points in just 20 minutes.
“I’ve been out for a year, coming back, it felt good to get my feet wet,” Bush said. “Got the early game jitters out, the butterflies, all that kind of stuff. Just kind of get a feel for a new team.”
“It was a big thing for us being able to close,” he said. “It was a perfect first game, being able to go out there and play it tight in a close-knit dogfight.”
The Vulcans close out a three-game homestand, hosting Simpson University, an NAIA program in Redding, Calif., on Thursday and Saturday night at Hilo Civic. The Red Hawks are 4-1 and already own a victory against one Pacific West Conference school, beating Notre Dame de Namur on the road 88-77.
“Two tough games,” UHH coach GE Coleman said.
If the Vuls pay too much attention to the NAIA label, “They will give us a kicking,” Coleman.
The sixth-year coach thought that the Vuls were primed to pull away Monday in the second half before Bush cramped up, which was the first time he could remember that happening to him in a game.
Senior James Griffin also scored 23 points and true freshman Jalen Thompson was key with eight, helping to pick up the scoring slack for senior Devin Johnson, who drew four fouls and saw limited playing time, scoring six points with seven rebounds.
While Bush and Griffin had the most notable debuts, one first-year player who didn’t score was sixth man Kupaa Harrison, but the Oahu native led the way with eight rebounds.
“When you look at almost our 11, like I told them in the locker room, it can be a different guy on a different night,” Coleman said. “We just had our best returning returning player (Johnson) play 15 minutes. But there is going to be a time Devin is playing 35 minutes and Denhym (Brooke) is playing 15.”
The Vuls’ version of 40 minutes of hell played to mixed reviews in the opener. With athletic guards such as Bush and Jordan Graves, Coleman thinks UHH’s full-court pressure defense can be special, but “in the first half we played hard defensively, but if we got a steal or rebound, we played too fast offensively.”
Meanwhile, the Vulcan got themselves into foul trouble, with the Nanooks (0-3) getting into the double bonus just past them midway point of the first half.
Coleman liked his reserves’ intensity and admitted UHH would have to find a way to pressure without fouling, adding, “It’s going to be an adjustment for officials in how we play, too. Because we’re not going to stop doing what we do.”
Bush’s adjustment came in that he was playing in a game for the first time since 2016-17, when he played in 10 contests for UNLV before “bumping heads” with the coach.
Bush was set on just being a student at UNLV before Coleman recruited him.
“He said he a mission, a goal,” Bush said.
The native of Calabasas, Calif., has at least one mission of his own. He appreciated the crowd of 642 on hand for the opener, but the thinks the Vuls can do better.
Sitting on the bench after most had filed out, he looked around the civic and said, “I want to fill this place up.”