UH men’s basketball team beats Cal Poly for first conference win of the season

Pulling a fast one on the nation’s quickest basketball offense, Hawaii ran away to Saturday night’s 68-55 victory over Cal Poly in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

A crowd of 3,328 saw the Rainbow Warriors defeat the Mustangs for the ninth consecutive time to improve to 9-5 overall and 1-2 in the Big West. The Mustangs fell to 6-10 and 0-4.

The ’Bows were bracing for the blur of an opponent that averaged 13.9 seconds per offensive possession, the fastest tempo among 352 NCAA Division I teams. The Mustangs, who do not run set plays, had built an 84.3 scoring average mostly from behind the arc. They launched 31.7 3-point attempts per game, draining 10.39, in their first 15 games.

But the ’Bows used an elastic man-to-man defense to harass the perimeter shooters in the Mustangs’ five-out offense. UH centers Tanner Christensen and Harry Rouhliadeff dropped into the lane when the Mustangs drove.

The ’Bows also pumped the brakes on the Mustangs’ fast breaks. The Mustangs, who averaged 15.4 fast-break points in the first 15 games, were limited to five points on the run.

“I think we stopped their transition offense, which is their strength,” UH forward Gytis Nemeiksa said. “Then when they need to play their offense … it was just harder for them. We took the plays out of them.”

Cal Poly coach Mike DeGeorge said his players did not have their “sea legs” following a challenging travel itinerary. After Thursday night’s overtime loss to UC Irvine in San Luis Obispo, the Mustangs made the three-hour bus ride to Los Angeles. They stayed in a hotel until going to LAX on Friday morning ahead of the 51⁄2-hour flight to Honolulu.

“I want to give Hawaii credit,” DeGeorge said. “They were physical and they disrupted us around the rim. We couldn’t get finishes. And then we didn’t really have our sea legs. It was a tough battle in overtime on Thursday night. And the travel and everything, we didn’t make some shots we normally make. But that’s all part of it. You’ve got to be ready when it’s time to tip it up. And we just didn’t make shots tonight.”

The Mustangs missed their first nine shots, including going zip-for-6 on 3s.

The Mustangs did not hit their first 3 until Isaac Jessup hit a 3 in transition with 12:48 left in the first half. Fueled by guard Tom Beattie’s nine first-half points, the ’Bows led 27-22 at the intermission.

The ’Bows scored 15 of the first 17 points of the second half to end the suspense. Their largest advantage was 60-40 after wing Akira Jacobs weaved for a layup with 6:06 to play.

Jessup, who entered burying 45.8% of his 3s, was 2-for-10 from that distance.

Cal Poly point guard Jarred Hyder, the other deep threat, missed all six of his first-half shots, including four from 3-point range.

Hyder finished 2-for-11, including misfiring on seven 3s.

“I think we were really prepared for their offense,” said Nemeiksa, who hit the game’s first 3 en route to scoring a game-high 19.