The Hawai’i men’s basketball team secured an 89-74 victory over CSU Bakersfield on Thursday night at the Icardo Center, keeping their position at the top of the Big West standings. With this win, the Rainbow Warriors improved to 18-5 overall and 10-3 in conference play.
This result marks Hawai’i’s fifth win in their last six games and places them alone in first place in the conference after UC Irvine lost on Thursday. The Rainbow Warriors are now half a game ahead of UC Santa Barbara and one game ahead of UC Irvine. The team has also achieved three conference road wins by at least 15 points and five total Big West victories with similar margins this season.
Five players from Hawai’i scored in double digits, led by Dre Bullock with 19 points. Harry Rouhliadeff and Isaac Johnson each contributed 17 points, while Gytis Nemeiksa added 12 off the bench and Isaac Finlinson finished with 10 points.
Hawai’i shot eight for twenty-one from beyond the arc and made half of their field goal attempts. They were successful on twenty-five out of thirty-two free throws, including making twenty out of twenty-five in the second half. Defensively, they limited CSU Bakersfield to just one made three-pointer on thirteen attempts; entering the game, Hawai’i ranked fourth nationally in three-point field goal defense.
After both teams started strong offensively, Hawai’i went on a nine-point run midway through the first half to take control. By halftime, thanks to six made three-pointers out of eleven attempts, they led 43-32.
CSU Bakersfield (9-17 overall, 2-12 Big West) narrowed the gap early in the second half before Hawai’i responded with a decisive twenty-one-to-six run to extend their lead. Despite a push from CSU Bakersfield that cut the margin to single digits late in the game, Hawai’i maintained control for their fourth road win within conference play.
The Rainbow Warriors will finish their two-game road trip against CSUN on Saturday, February 14. The game is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. PT/3:00 p.m HT tipoff at Premier America Credit Union Arena.
