Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium was open for lunch Friday, but while the Vulcans’ basketball buffet showed potential, the meal never tasted right.
For one, the main course was under-cooked – i.e., Devin Johnson was underfed.
For another, the presentation was ruined – too many miscues.
Most important, the guest at Friday’s noon tipoff at Hilo Civic, Western Oregon, was a downright unruly guest, carrying off with all the dessert.
The Wolves used a 14-0 run to take early command, and one of the best in the West forced turnovers and banged the offensive glass to keep UH-Hilo at arm’s length, racing to an 80-69 nonconference victory.
“We turned the ball over 18 times,” UHH coach GE Coleman said on the 670 AM postgame show. “You’re not going to beat somebody like that, turning the ball over 18 times.
“We just got pounded on the glass, and then we give up 16 offensive rebounds. (Turnovers and offensive rebounds), that tells the story right there.”
The Vulcans (3-4) hung around for a bit in the second half and looked poised to make a run, getting to within 54-48 on Johnson’s jumper with 9:46 remaining, but at every turn the Wolves (7-1) had an answer.
And they usually made it quickly and emphatically by attacking the basket and then the glass, with five players scoring nine points or more, led by Brandell Evans (16).
Coming off the bench for the third time this season, Johnson was a bright spot inside for UHH, enjoying his best game all year with 19 points and nine rebounds.
“He has been struggling a little bit early, but he played great,” Coleman said. “He really brought it.”
But Coleman wishes Johnson, who shot 6 of 10 from the field and 7 of 10 from the free throw line, would have been able to bring it more often, questioning the Vuls’ outside shot selection.
“For me, bad shots are just as the same as a turnover,” Coleman said, “and we took about four bad shots that allowed them to have mini-runs.
“If we would have been more disciplined and continued to get the ball to him, especially at the start of the second half, we might have had something there.”
Western Oregon, an impressive outfit that is replacing four starters from a team that finished 31-2 last season, fit its profile, finishing with a plus-9 turnover margin. The Wolves entered fourth in the nation at plus 7.3. The Vuls had been forcing 19 turnovers, but the Wolves committed just nine.
Both teams shot in the 46 percent range, the Wolves just shot more.
“We’re supposed to be a pressure team, we only force nine turnovers,” Coleman said. “Part of it is we knew our advantage was inside, going to (Johnson) and Denyhm (Brooke), but then again we go big and we get a couple of baskets and then we take bad perimeter shots when we score two or three times inside.
“That one’s on me as a coach to make sure we pound it inside.”
Playing without injured leading scorer James Griffin, who was hurt in the Hawaii game last Saturday, guards Jordan Graves and Larry Bush helped pick up some of the slack with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Jalen Thompson made his first start and finished with seven points, making both of his 3-pointers, while Kupaa Harrison collected five points, six rebounds and four assists.
Afterward, Coleman rolled a distasteful word around in his mouth – moral victories – without definitively applying it to what was the Vulcans’ only scheduled afternoon home game of the season.
Next on the menu is a return to conference play Monday when Holy Names visits Hilo Civic.
For Coleman, one bad lunch does not a season make.
“I know this, we will continue, with this many new pieces, we will continue to get better and our best basketball is in front of us,” he said. “Hopefully, we have the luxury where we continue to get better. Who knows, may we will see (Western Oregon) again in March (playoffs).”
