HENDERSON, NEV. — In the din of the win, Hawaii coach Eran Ganot struggled for words.
Ganot, with his cheeks spiced with the salt of his tears, said softly, “I just want to hug everyone.”
Center Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson embraced his wife, Audrah.
Quandre “Dre” Bullock, the wing with the 44 1/2-inch vertical jump, was soaring with emotion.
“I don’t know what to say, I don’t know how to feel,” Bullock said.
The Hawaii basketball team — inspired by a head coach whose contract expires April 30 and with one of the nation’s oldest rosters — is going to the Big Dance.
The Rainbow Warriors held off UC Irvine 71-64 in Saturday’s championship game of the Big West Tournament to earn the conference’s accompanying berth in the NCAA Tournament.
A week earlier, the ’Bows missed a chance to earn a share of the regular-season title when they lost to Long Beach State on senior night.
But according to captain Harry Rouhliadeff, that sparked renewed determination.
“As much as it hurts to say, that probably was the best thing that could happen to us,” Rouhliadeff said. “It kept us grounded.”
Johnson said: “If not getting a ring that night made getting a ring tonight, I’ll take it 100 times out of 100. We used that as fuel and we locked in this week. Great practices. We got a little bit of our swag back. We joked around and we’re happy. We got the mood back up. But we were locked in, which was the most important part. We knew personnel. We knew sets. And the coaches did an amazing job preparing us. And so I think that (Long Beach State) game exposed us a little bit. And showed us what we needed to fix. So, here we are.”
The ’Bows, who earned two byes into the semifinal, defeated Cal State Fullerton on Friday, setting up the showdown against top seed UC Irvine.
The Anteaters can be a defensive nightmare. Colorado State transfer Kyle Evans is the nation’s leading shot blocker. Akiva McBirney-Griffin is a physical forward who can mix it up in the post. Point guard Jurian Dixon, who entered averaging 16.0 points per game, controls the pace.
“It was a defensive battle, no surprise there,” said Ganot, referencing the ’Bows’ 31-30 lead at the intermission.
“At halftime, we were telling our guys we were 50-50 on winning plays,” Ganot said. “We’re up one on the boards. Are we trying to hang on or are we trying to separate? I think the winning plays went a little more in our favor in the second half. The boards we won by four.”
Instead of avoiding Evans, Rouhliadeff went at him, hitting a pair of hooks. Bullock, Isaiah Kerr and Isaac Finlinson drove the lane, with the reasoning Evans can’t block every shot. He finished with three rejections. Rouhliadeff and Johnson also looped outside for 3-point shots or to clear the lane. Johnson’s two 3s were part of his 22-point performance.
When the Anteaters closed to 59-56 with 6:08 to play, Rouhliadeff swished a 3.
After UCI’s Andre Henry hit a 3-point shot to cut the deficit to 62-59, Johnson drove for consecutive layups. The ’Bows made 14 of 27 layups; the Anteaters made 11 of 28.
“What resolve our players showed when UC Irvine made their runs,” Ganot said.
As point-of-attack defenders, Bullock, Kerr and Hunter Erickson helped limit the Anteaters to five 3s. And Rouhliadeff grabbed 12 rebounds, scored 15 workmanlike points and neutralized UCI’s interior game.
“There’s nothing like sitting on the bench (and) taking it all in and watching these guys smile,” Ganot said. “That’s undefeated. Nothing will ever pass that.”
After Rouhliadeff was fouled and stepped to the line with nine seconds left and UH leading 70-64, several ’Bows began celebrating.
“I’ve been through this game long enough,” Ganot said. “We’ve got nine seconds. We’ve got to get a stop. … And obviously the emotions came in when the buzzer sounded.”
This will be the ’Bows’ first NCAA appearance since 2016, Ganot’s first season as head coach. Ganot was lost in emotion when he recalled the ensuing years, of fixing NCAA concerns he inherited, of dealing with the new landscape of easy transfers and NIL payments.
“The only thing that could be better than 10 years ago is if we get back to this right now,” Ganot said of the NCAA berth. “To do it with this group, with guys out (with injuries), I mean, I was very emotional. We did it the right way, the only way.”
Rouhliadeff said: “This championship means everything to me. I’ve worked four years for it. I can’t even describe how I’m feeling right now.”