And then there were two atop the leaderboard.
In Thursday’s opener of a two-game road trip, the 91直播 basketball team held off UC Davis 77-73 before 1,821 at University Credit Union Center in Northern California. By improving to 20-7 overall and 12-5 in the Big West, the Rainbow Warriors maintained a share of first place with UC Irvine. In a battle of two of the tri-leaders, UCI rallied to defeat Cal State Northridge.
The top two teams receive double byes in next month’s Big West Tournament in Henderson, Nev. The third and fourth seeds receive a single bye. Cal Poly clinched the eighth — and final — slot in the tournament.
Thursday’s outcome also gave the ’Bows the fourth 20-win season in Eran Ganot’s 11 years as UH head coach.
“Ours, not mine,” Ganot said of the milestone.
Center Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson, who scored 16 points and hit two clutch free throws with 17.2 seconds to play, said: “It felt good, but we’ve got another one ahead of us. We can’t celebrate too early. We’ve got another one (against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday). We’re good. We’re happy we won this one and ruined (the Aggies’) senior night. We’ve got one more game to play.”
The ’Bows broke out of a deep-shooting slump by connecting on 10 of 22 shots from behind the arc. Johnson and point guard Hunter Erickson buried three 3s apiece.
“Just another game,” Johnson said. “My coaches have confidence in me to shoot. I just go into the game that if the shots are open, I’ll take it. If you have an open shot and you’re in rhythm, shoot it.”
The ’Bows led by as many as 14 in the second half when the Aggies chipped away on drives into the lane for layups or fouls. The Aggies drew 19 fouls that were converted into 21 free throws made in 26 attempts.
The ’Bows made 11 of 13 from the stripe.
The Aggies closed to 73-71 with 24.4 seconds to play. But then UH’s Johnson, who played sparingly in the second half after picking up his fourth foul, was fouled with 17.2 seconds to play. Johnson swished two free throws to extend the ’Bows’ lead to 75-71.
“That’s the goal,” Johnson said of his free throws. “You have to put them in. I was happy they fouled me. I have full confidence I’ll make ’em.”
UCD freshman point guard Marcus Wilson was fouled with 11.7 seconds to play, and his two free throws made it a one-possession game.
After UH used its final timeout, wing Isaac Finlinson was fouled. His two free throws completed the scoring.
Gytis Nemeiksa blocked Wilson’s meaningless layup attempt as time expired. It was the fourth time Wilson was blocked in the second half. Wilson led the the Aggies with 25 points.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” said Ganot, noting the Aggies also are “a good team, a good program, one we have a lot of respect for. They were playing at home on their senior night. When they made their run, we missed a couple layups. … It’s not supposed to be easy. You have to find different ways to get it done. I’m so proud of our entire team.”
Erickson, who has taken over the point following Aaron Hunkin-Claytor’s season-ending injury, contributed 15 points, six rebounds and six assists. Finlinson added 13 points. Isaiah Kerr and Dre Bullock held Connor Sevilla, who entered as a 42.6% 3-point shooter, to 2-for-9 from behind the arc. Sevilla missed his first six 3-point shots. Yacine Toumi provided post stability when Johnson was in foul trouble.
“How can I not be proud of our guys?” Ganot said. “They’re giving us maximum effort.”
