by HONOLULU – The University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team dropped their second game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic with a 76-69 loss to South Florida Thursday night in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. UH fell to 4-5 with their fourth loss in the last five contests.
For the second straight night UH got off to a sluggish start. USF out-rebounded UH 21-10 in the first half alone. The Rainbow Warriors managed to stay close until a 10-0 USF run created separation and an eventual 34-23 halftime lead for the Bulls.
The Rainbow Warriors came out of the locker room on fire hitting four of five shots and cutting a double-digit deficit down to a single bucket. Freshman Justus Jackson, who joined the team just three days prior, saw his first minutes and provided a spark as the Warriors went on a 10-2 run to take a 51-50 lead with less than eight minutes left. The lead, however, was short-lived as the Bulls scored off three straight UH turnovers to take the lead for good.
Fresh off a career-high 31-point game, Noel Coleman continued to shoot the ball effectively and finished with a game-high 22 points in 39 minutes. Kamaka Hepa added 16 points and Junior Madut with 11 to round out the Bows’ double-digit scorers.
