UH-Hilo is one down with two to go, and while a two-way tie for sixth is good, a three-way tie for fifth is bad.
Delving into the complete Pacific West Conference playoff picture for Vulcans’ men’s basketball team requires a few complex twists and turns, but the objective for Tuesday night game’s is simple: just win, baby.
“I don’t even think we talk about winning two (games),” coach GE Coleman said. “We have to win (Tuesday), I think you can get into trouble if you look too far ahead.”
The Vulcans (11-13, 9-11) welcome Notre Dame de Namur (1-24, 1-18) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, hoping one last homestand is enough to push them into the conference tournament for the first time since it was established in 2012.
There will be no scoreboard watching Tuesday. Vuls-Argonauts is on the only PacWest game on the calender, and in theory this the perfect opponent at the perfect time for UHH, which would have seemed to have faced much heavier lifting last week on the road.
Coleman brushed aside any chance UHH would underestimate Notre Dame de Namur – which is easily the lowest scoring team in the PacWest at 53.3 points a game and loses by 17.6 points on average.
“They played us tough the last time,” Coleman said, pointing to a 66-56 road win Jan. 26. “We know it’s not going to be easy.”
The previous victory was a classic one for UHH in that it finished plus-four in the turnover department and it was led by Larry Bush, James Griffin and Kupaa Harrison. On average, the Vuls come in at plus-4.8, fourth-best in the West Region, while those three players represent their three scorers who average in double-figures.
Though it’s Game No. 25 and fatigue is a concern, Coleman said it was necessary for the team to hit the court for practice each of the past two days.
“You have to balance things a bit at this point, but after four games in (eight days) on the road, we needed some practice,” he said.
Senior day is Saturday against Chaminade (20-6, 14-6), and by the 7:30 p.m. tipoff that night UHH should have a clearer idea of its playoff picture, or if one even exists.
As of now, at least one victory for the Vul is imperative, but two guarantees nothing.
Academy of Art (10-15, 10-10) is a game ahead of UHH for the sixth seed with road games against two teams it lost to at home. The Urban Knights are at Azusa Pacific (17-10, 14-6) on Thursday and Biola (14-12, 10-10) on Saturday.
The Vuls own the head-to-head tiebreaker against Academy of Art and obviously want the Knights to lose twice, but if UHH should win twice this week and the Urban Knights once, UHH has to be wary of a three-way for fifth place with slumping Holy Names (12-14, 11-10). The Hawks have lost two in a row heading into their finale Saturday at Fresno Pacific, and a three-way tie leaves the Vuls at home for the playoffs.
None of that matters Tuesday: just win.