UH-Hilo’s game-defining surge coming out of the break Saturday wasn’t the result of a halftime talk, nor a bevy of adjustments.
“The guys just had the right mentality,” men’s basketball coach Kaniela Aiona said.
UHH’s mental toughness blew Hawaii Pacific out of its own gym to the tune of a 67-47 victory, the Vulcans’ fourth in five Pacific West Conference pod games.
Sasa Vuksanovic delivered another gem inside with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and the Vuls forced HPU (0-3) into 29 turnovers with 13 steals at the Shark Tank.
For UHH and its proper “mentality,” it was more like a think tank.
“We did a good job of being aggressive on the defensive end, forcing 29 turnovers was the biggest factor in the game,” Aiona said.
The Vuls turned those miscues into 32 points.
“We put an emphasis on making sure we put pressure on them for 94 feet and dictate tempo, and we did that,” Aiona said.
UHH’s lead was 37-33 at the 18:06 mark of the second half when it took off on an 16-0 run. Darren Williams (14 points, five steals, four assists) hit two 3-pointers, Jordan Graves (12 points) made a layup and hit a jumper and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones (15 points, seven rebounds) capped the spurt with a layup.
Graves shook off some poor shooting performances and was 5 of 10 from the field, while Vuksanovic produced his fourth double-double of the season.
“Sasa did a nice job,” Aiona said. “When he was double-teamed, he was quick to pass out of it. When not, he was aggressive.
“His goal is to be the best big man in the league, and to do that we talked about how he would have to put up double-doubles.”
The Vuls led by four at halftime despite HPU’s hot hand. The Sharks shot 12 of 20 in the first 20 minutes but just 24.2% after the half.
UHH will try to improve to 4-0 against its rival this season when the teams meet again at 3 p.m. Sunday.
HPU women cruise
The No. 3 Sharks reeled off their 29th win in a row, stopping the Vuls 80-48 in what was coach Reid Takatsuka’s 200th career victory.
Ally Bates led HPU with 21 points and nine rebounds.
Mandi Kawaha led the Vulcans (2-3) with 11 points and Sara Shimizu added 10 to go along with a team-high five rebounds.
Wahine reign
Amy Atwell scored all 14 of her points in the second half, and former Waiakea standout Kelsie Imai hit a key layup down the stretch as the UH women earned their first road win of the season to split the two-game series.
Imai finished with six points for UH (4-5, 3-4 Big West).