Box Score
Post Game Quotes
Photo Gallery

HONOLULU – The University of Hawai`i men's basketball fell victim to a hot-shooting Cal Poly squad in a 102-89 non-conference loss Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Warriors dropped to 9-17 overall with their eighth straight loss.

 

UH lost despite career efforts by a pair of Rainbow Warriors. Coming off a 25-point, 11-rebound effort at New Mexico State, Roderick Flemings had another monster effort pouring in a career-high 39 points. It was the highest point total by a Rainbow Warrior in the Stan Sheriff Center and the fourth highest single-game total in program history. Flemings shot 15-of-30 from the field and added five rebounds.

 

Petras Balocka, meanwhile scored a career-high 23 points and added 16 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season and seventh of his career.

 

Lorenzo Keeler had a team-high 31 points for Cal Poly which had five players finish in double-figure scoring. The 102 points were the most by a UH opponent this year and the just the third time in the last nine years an opponent cracked the century mark.

 

The teams, paired together as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters pool, entered the game with identical records and both in dire need of a win. Cal Poly found the formula for success shooting 62 percent form the field and draining 11 3-pointers to earn just its second win in the last eight games. UH, meanwhile, dropped its eighth straight game, the team's longest losing skid since the 1987-88 season. 

 

In just the second all-time meeting between teams, the Mustangs jumped all over the 'Bows from the get-go and never trailed.  Cal Poly hit 7-of-10 to open the game, including five of its first six 3-point attempts to stake a double-digit lead in an ominous sign of things to come.

 

UH cut it to 23-18, but Cal Poly went on a 20-3 run, including 12 unanswered points, increased the margin to as many as 23 points and eventually took a 51-30 lead into the locker room. The Mustangs shot 67 percent in the first half and nailed 8-of-12 of their 3-point attempts.

 

The Rainbow Warriors wouldn't fold and gave a valiant effort after the break. UH cut the deficit in half just five minutes into the second half and moved within eight, 64-56, on a Flemings 3-point-play with 13:50 remaining. But that would be as close as it would get as the Mustangs regained their hot shooting touch.

 

Playing their first home game since the passing of Red Rocha, the UH coaches wore red shirts, while the players wore red socks in honor of the legendary UH coach.

 

UH will host its final two home games of the season next week beginning with a game versus Western Athletic Conference leader Utah State on Thursday, Feb. 25. Tipoff is 7:05 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.