The UH-Hilo men’s basketball team couldn’t hit jump shots, 3-pointers or rebound against Academy of Art, which did everything better.
The Urban Knights were able to contain one of UHH’s top scorers and ran off with a 76-66 victory on Friday night at the Afook Chinen Civic Auditorium, breaking a modest two-game winning streak.
Sara Vuksanovic scored 18 points on 8 of 12 shooting, and Elisa Duplechan added 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting for the Vulcans (9-8, 7-7 PacWest), who shot 45 percent from the field, including 5 of 20 from beyond the arc.
UHH’s Kupaa Harrison, who averages 18 points per game, was held to 11 points on 4 of 16 shooting.
The Urban Knights (7-14, 5-9) had better scoring balance with five players in double figures: Josh Hill and Dante Williams with 12 points each, Stefan Milivojevic and former Vulcan Victor Ruiz de Carranza with 11 points each, and Joshua Bagley with 10 points.
AAU shot 55 percent from the floor, including 7 of 18 from long distance and outrebounded UHH, 41-17. Ruiz de Carranza and Hill had 12 and 11 rebounds, respectively.
When the starters took a breather, the Urban Knights found better production, outscoring UHH’s bench 28-13.
“We pretty much came up short in every aspect of the game,” UHH coach GE Coleman said. “We didn’t play good defense, we didn’t shoot well and we got pounded on the boards. If we play like that against Chaminade on Sunday, we will get beat by a lot more than 10 points.”
In the second half, UHH tied it 47-47 when Duplechan scored on a layup with 12:35 left.
Williams burned UHH’s defense when he raced in for a transition layup for a 49-47 lead, an advantage AAU never lost.
Duplechan then made a spin move in the paint and threw a shovel pass to Harrison, who scored.
But Williams’ quickness was trouble again for UHH. He soared to the rim for an easy layup, Ruiz de Carranza scored, and Williams tortured the Vuls again with another layup off a turnover to cap a 6-0 run for a 55-49 lead.
Isaiah Duplechan drained a 3-pointer to cut AAU’s lead to 68-63 with a minute to go.
From there the Urban Knights made 6 of 6 free throws to close out the Vuls.
The Urban Knights seized a 37-30 halftime lead, built on a strong 11-2 opening run.
AAU worked the ball inside to Hill or kicked out shots for their guards and shot 59 percent in the first half. The Urban Knights outscored UHH, 22-12, on points in the paint.
The Vuls struggled to get consistent stops and shot just 42 percent in the first half, including just 2 of 8 from long distance.
Hill scored on a jump hook, and Vuksanovic answered with a short bank shot.
From there, Josh Bailey hit a jump shot and followed with a 3-pointer. Milivojevic scored on a putback, and Hill posted in the paint and scored to give AAU an 11-2 lead.
Bagley had 10 points in the first half, and Milivojevic, AAU’s top scorer at 17 points per game, added eight points.
Milivojevic was guarded by Damani Whitlock and showed his scoring ability in the second quarter. He got the ball on the baseline, dribbled, pulled up and hit a teardrop over Whitlock for a 34-23 lead with under three minutes left until halftime.
Vuksanovic, who can shoot with both hands, had 10 points in the first half on 4 of 7 shooting. He backed down his defender and scored to cut AAU’s lead to 34-27 with 1:04 remaining.
Right before the buzzer, Kaleb Gilmore fired up a 3-pointer and was fouled. The shot was good but not the free throw. Yet, UHH chipped the lead to seven points.
