Hawaii hopes it fixed what UCSD exposed in earlier loss

Between classes and basketball workouts, 7-foot Hawaii center Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson and former Rainbow Warriors standout Noah Allen met in a one-on-one session.

They discussed topics from post-college options to the proper rotation and trajectory for a catch-and-release shot, the so-called Noah’s arc.

“He’s such a good player and a really good guy,” Johnson said of Allen. a 6-7 forward/wing who was named to the Big West first team in 2016-17, his lone UH season. “I learned a lot from him. It’s never too late to learn. I’m sure LeBron is still learning.”

The ’Bows also are hopeful of applying the lessons from last month’s 83-73 road loss to UC San Diego. The rematch tips off at 7:05 tonight in Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

“They did expose some things that have come up here and there,” UH coach Eran Ganot said of the defending Big West champion Tritons. “We’re a physical team, a tough team. But we’ve been ‘out-physicaled’ at times in certain areas. Not just the boards (but) in screening, and (the Tritons) spread you out. So they’re a challenge for a lot of teams, especially with the way they can push it, the way they have guys who can pass and shoot at all positions.”

The ’Bows entered the Jan. 3 game with an average rebounding margin of plus-11.2. But the Tritons won the boards 33-29. Ten of their offensive rebounds were parlayed into 13 second-chance points. Earlier in the season, the ’Bows were one of the nation’s best rebounding teams. But they have been out-rebounded in six of the past eight games. They now are 39th nationally with a defensive-rebounding percentage of 75.3. Their rebounding margin is plus-2.5 per Big West game.

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“There’s been some slippage there,” Ganot acknowledged. “You can whine and complain about it or own it. We’ve owned it. It’s a good rebounding league.”

A significant portion of this week’s practices was spent on boxing out, tracking caroms, and ball security after grabbing rebounds.

“It’s just the habits,” post Harry Rouhliadeff said. “We haven’t been sticking to our principles. It’s about revisiting that, like our habits, and boxing out every time.”

Johnson said: “We’ve slacked a lot. We were No. 1 in the country at one point, I think, and now we’ve dropped pretty heftily. That’s something we need to pick up, and especially focus on this game.”

The ’Bows also have worked on five-player box-outs.

“If anybody of theirs gets the ball, that’s on all of us,” Johnson said.

Guard Isaiah Kerr said: “You know the saying, ‘No boards, no rings.’”

Though injured guard Aaron Hunkin-Claytor has missed the past four games, Hunter Erickson and Kerr have played well at the point. In Hunkin-Claytor’s absence, Erickson has 26 assists, including eight in each of the past three games, and Kerr is averaging 9.5 points. The ’Bows also are fourth nationally in 3-point defense (27.4%) and 27th in scoring defense (66.8 points per game).

“Our foundation is to defend, rebound, and we’ve got to start taking care of the ball better,” Ganot said. “That’s been a long talking point so we can put it all together and make our next jump.”

In Clint Allard’s first season as UCSD coach, the Tritons are 16-8 and 6-6 in the Big West following Thursday’s comeback victory over Long Beach State. The Beach had raced to a 13-0 lead before the Tritons rallied behind 6-11 Bol Dengdit’s double-double (18 points, 12 rebounds).

The Tritons departed Friday morning for Hawaii.

“We have to find a way to put our best foot forward in a difficult situation where we travel and (Hawaii’s) on a bye,” Allard said. “But I think at this point in the season, we know who we are and they obviously know who they are, so you don’t need to go too deep into the preparation. It’s the second time through, so we have some familiarity with them. But they’re a really good team at a tough place to win and we’re going to have to be the best version of ourselves to give ourselves a chance.

The ’Bows are 13-1 at home, with the lone loss against the Big 12’s Arizona State.

“They have great fan support,” Allard said. “It’s obviously difficult to travel (to Hawaii). And you get a little confidence, right? You have some success. And we’ve seen that in the past here. When you have some confidence and you can build success and stack wins on top of each other, you kind of just believe you’re going to find a way no matter what. They do a really good job there. They’ve got a strong group, a veteran group, and it’s a tough place to play.”

RAINBOW WARRIORS BASKETBALL

At Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center

UC SAN DIEGO (16-8, 6-6 BIG WEST) AT HAWAII (16-5, 8-3 BWC)

>> When: 7:05 tonight

>> TV: Spectrum Sports

>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM