Saturday, March 14, 2015

Hawaii 65, UC Davis 58

Down in Anaheim as part of the Big West Conference tournament, Hawaii got past UC Davis 65-58 on Friday, winning the first half by three points and the second 20 minutes by four. Roderick Bobbitt was big with 14 points, six assists and four boards. For the Aggies, Corey Hawkins led with 22 points.

Bruce Gallaudet:

"The dream of playing in the NCAA tournament ended Friday when No. 5-seed Hawaii upset regular-season Big West champ UC Davis, 65-58.

The Aggies (25-6, 14-2) couldn’t come all the way back from a 24-12 first-half deficit, but given their penchant for turning things around late, the Davis faithful remained in the game as on three occasions UCD tied the game in the second half.

But after Josh Fox’s two free throws knotted the score, 56-56, the Aggies missed their next six shots. In the meantime, Hawaii made nine free throws to seal the deal before Corey Hawkins’ layup at the buzzer signified the locals’ last gasp.

Hawkins scored a game-high 22 points. It was his conference-best 15th 20-point performance this year and his 39th career 20-plus outing, setting a school record (previously shared with Audwin Thomas).

Hawaii (22-12, 8-8) now meets the winner of the UC Santa Barbara-UC Irvine game for the Big West automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

“What I told the guys after — and it was an extremely emotional locker room — (was) they’ve poured their heart and soul into this team, into the program and I’ll live and die with that one,” Les said afterwards. “They’ve earned the right, by what they’ve done, to play another day."

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