HONOLULU — The University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team began its quest for a second straight Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic title with a 69-56 win over Portland Thursday night at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
With the win, UH (8-2) advances to the tournament semifinals where they will meet Georgia Tech on Friday at 6:00 p.m. The ‘Bows will look to avenge a 2019 loss to the Yellow Jackets in the Diamond Head Classic’s third-place game.
All of UH’s starters scored at least eight points and guard Matthue Cotton led the balanced attack with 15 points with all but two of those points coming in the decisive second half. Cotton hit three 3-pointers in the second half, two coming on back-to-back possessions to thwart a Portland rally and UH won its fifth straight in the all-time series with the Pilots.
Forward Bernardo da Silva notched his second straight double-double and third in his last four games with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Da Silva went 7-for-10 from the field and is shooting 70.2% (26 for 37) over the last four games.
Guard Noel Coleman added 14 points and JoVon McClanahan, the reigning Diamond Head Classic MVP, dished out a season-high seven assists with no turnovers and made two 3-pointers and finished with eight points.
UH used a 16-5 run bridging the first and second half to shake off a slow start and take control of the game.
UH got out to a 2 for 13 start from the field and trailed 9-5 before Coleman hit his first 3-pointer.
Five of UH’s first six field goals came from behind the 3-point line and the ‘Bows led 19-16 when Juan Munoz connected on a 3 from the left corner. In all, UH took 18 of its 29 field-goal attempts in the first half from 3-point range and made six and led 34-27 at halftime.
McClanahan hit a 3-pointer in the opening minute of the second half as UH took its first double-digit lead of the game, 37-27.
Coleman’s 3 from the right corner gave UH a 16-point cushion and UH led 50-32 when Cotton found da Silva slashing to the basket for a layup in UH’s 7-for-11 start from the field in the second half.
The Pilots made one last run, cutting the deficit to seven points, 57-50 with 5:40 left. But Cotton hit a 3-pointer from the right corner and another from the left side to extend UH’s lead back to double-digits at 63-50 and slam the door on the Pilots.
UH forced 17 Portland turnovers and scored 19 points off of takeaways.
Vukasin Masic led Portland (6-7) with a game-high 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting with three 3-pointers. The Pilots will ace UMass in a consolation game at 8 p.m. on Friday.
Dec. 21 Results
Nevada 80, Temple 54
TCU 111, Old Dominion 87
Georgia Tech 73, UMass 70
Hawai’i 69. Portland 56
Dec. 22 Schedule
Nevada vs. TCU, 12:00 p.m.
Temple vs. Old Dominion, 2:30 p.m.
Georgia Tech vs. Hawai’i, 6:00 p.m.
UMass vs. Portland, 8:00 p.m.
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