UH @ UCR (1/1/26)
New team, new year, same result!
Despite being inactive since December 13, the University of Hawaiʻi Men's Basketball team showed no rust and dominated the UC Riverside Highlanders, 88-45, on Thursday at the SRC Arena in Riverside, California! The win marked UH’s fourth consecutive at the SRC Arena!
Isaac Johnson led all players with 18 points and six rebounds in the win; he was also 3-for-4 from 3-point range! Gytis Nemeikša (13) and Isaac Finlinson (10) followed with a combined 23 of UH's 39 bench points. Nemeikša was a rebound shy of a double-double while Finlinson chipped in five rebounds of his own and was a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point range.
Marqui Worthy Jr. led the Highlanders with 14 points and three rebounds. BJ Kolly was the next closest with eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
UH showed they came to play and shot out of the gates to score the first 10 points of the game! That began when Johnson made the good layup on an assist by Aaron Hunkin-Claytor. By the first media timeout, UH was already ahead early, 15-2!
UCR got off to a sluggish start and did not score until the 16:54 mark off a Worthy layup! They could not get a solid rhythm going, as UH crashed the boards early and often!
UH efficiently handled the press and squashed any run UCR could make! UH would commit just four turnovers in the first half alone to UCR's five.
UH was very efficient from 3-point range, as they shot an even 50% (8-for-16) in the first half alone! In the end, Nemeikša was the only Rainbow Warrior not to hit a triple!
At halftime, UH took a big lead, 45-27!
The second half saw another strong start from UH despite four early turnovers! Hunter Erickson started the second half with a layup just 12 seconds in, and Johnson made a slam dunk 47 seconds later; Johnson and Hunkin-Claytor, respectively, assisted both field goals.
Riverside responded with back-to-back driving layups from Tyler Jones and Andrew Henderson; unfortunately, aside from free throws, just about every shot they took did not drop through the hoop for almost 10 minutes! With 7:16 to go, Jailen Daniel-Dalton broke that drought with a driving layup, but UCR made only two field goals after that the rest of the way.
UH shot an outstanding 64% (18-for-28) in the second half while UCR only made five baskets and shot 20% (5-for-25) in the second half alone! UH scored 43 points in the second half and held UCR to just 18.
UH's 43-point win is the program's largest winning margin in Big West play! They outscored Riverside in just about every category. They won the battle on assists, 21-4, bench points 39-9, points in the paint 40-26, second-chance points 16-6, and outrebounded UCR, 46-24!
Riverside drops to 1-2 in Big West play and 6-9 overall.
UH improves to 11-2 in the 2025-26 season, and 3-0 in Big West play. They will have a quick turnaround when they take on the UC San Diego Tritons, the defending Big West champs, on Saturday, Jan. 3. Tipoff at LionTree Arena is scheduled for 5 p.m. HST, and you can listen to the game on ESPN Honolulu.
