The UH Men’s Basketball team claimed the OUTRIGGER Rainbow Classic title for the third straight year despite a 73-66 loss to Portland! They are less than satisfied with how the game went though.
The team won and lost on the same night.
Although the University of Hawaiʻi Men’s Basketball team fell to the Portland Pilots, 73-66, on Monday, Hawaiʻi still claimed the 2026 OUTRIGGER Rainbow Classic Championship for the third consecutive year!
The 3-1 UH Men’s Basketball team finished tied with UT-Arlington and Portland at 2-1 apiece in the tournament. Under the 3-team tiebreaker rules, the team that held their opponents to the fewest points allowed is declared the winner. In this case, UH owned the tiebreaker by holding their opponents to 179 points, compared with Portland’s 211 and UT-Arlington’s 221.
The Hawaiʻi Men’s Basketball team with mixed feelings winning the 2026 OUTRIGGER Rainbow Classic by virtue of the tiebreaker rule.
A woeful second half drought of 18 consecutive missed shots ultimately did the home team in despite remaining in contention.
Tanner Cuff led the ‘Bows with 22 points and was 6-for-11 from 3-point range! Zack Davidson added 18 before fouling out. Bol Dengdit (a former Portland player himself) had 15, and Chance Trujillo added 11. Cuff, Dengdit, Davidson, and Trujillo accounted for all of UH’s 66 total points.
Tanner Cuff (1) making one of his six overall triples in the second half! Cuff led the team with 22 on the night!
James O’Donnell led the Pilots with 18 points and nine rebounds. Riley Parker was 4-for-8 from 3-point range and added 14. Jaxon Olvera added 12 points himself.
UH got out to another good start, but after holding an 11-6 advantage, could not buy a basket for over five minutes. Despite committing just one turnover in the first half, they fell victim to a 9-0 Portland run.
At halftime, Portland took a 40-36 lead.
Bol Dengdit sets up for a tough layup in the first half here! Dengdit had a strong 15 pts. in the loss.
UH came out with fire in the second half and made the first two shots to tie things up. They would take the lead on three occasions, the last on a Davidson jumper with 16:07 to go.
After that, UH kept missing shots for over nine minutes while Portland pulled out to an 11-point lead after a Parker triple.
UH’s Zack Davidson (12) set up for this field goal here, which was UH’s last for the next nine minutes. Davidson went for 18 in the game before fouling out.
UH’s Cuff hit a triple with 7:01 to go, but six points was the closest the ‘Bows could get. Despite UH committing just three turnovers in the second half to total four for the game, those 18 straight misses did them in.
Tanner Cuff was lava hot from outside! This was his final triple here of the night — his sixth.
The ‘Bows were without point guard Jaden Matingou due to a toe injury. Fellow team captain Isaiah Kerr and newcomer Manie Joses still remain sidelined with foot and calf injuries, and Houran Dan is still ruled ineligible by the NCAA for the foreseeable future.
Davidson and Cuff were part of the All-Tournament Team after the game.
UH will have the next nine days off before taking on the Washington State Cougars on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 5 pm HST at a neutral site in Everett, WA. You can listen to the game on ESPN Honolulu.
