# 2018–19 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball team

The 2018–19 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball team represented the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rainbow Warriors, led by fourth-year head coach Eran Ganot, played their home games at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Hawaii was a member of the Big West Conference, and participated in their 7th season in that league. They finished the season 18-13, 9-7 in Big West play. They placed fourth in the conference, losing to Long Beach State in the quarterfinals of the Big West tournament. It was the second straight year Hawaii blew a double digit lead in the tournament en route to being eliminated in the quarterfinals for the third straight year. Despite being eligible, citing health and season length, the team declined an invitation to the CIT for the second consecutive year.

## Previous season

The Rainbow Warriors finished the 2017–18 season 17–13, 8–8 in Big West play to finish in sixth place. As the No. 6 seed in the Big West tournament, they were defeated by UC Irvine in the quarterfinals.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Jaaron Stallworth | 5 | G | 6'1" | 180 | Sophomore | Elk Grove, CA | Departed Program |
| Mike Thomas | 13 | G | 6'7" | 225 | Senior | Woodland Hills, California | Graduated |
| Ido Flaisher | 15 | C | 6'10" | 235 | Sophomore | Herzliya, Israel | Departed Program |
| Gibson Johnson | 21 | F | 6'8" | 220 | Senior | Centerville, Utah | Graduated |
| Zach Buscher | 24 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Junior | Kailua, Hawaii | Graduated |
| Trevor LaCount | 35 | F | 6'7" | 185 | Junior | Ventura, California | Departed Program |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Eddie Stansberry | 3 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Junior | San Francisco, CA | Junior college transferred from City College of San Francisco |
| Hutifah Abdeljawad | 24 | G | 6'0" | 160 | Sophomore | Honolulu, Hawaii | Transferred from San Diego Mesa College |

## 2018 Commitments

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Dawson Carper C | Colorado Springs, Colorado | Rampart High School | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | 250 lb (110 kg) | Oct 20, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Zoar Nedd SF | Kapolei, Hawaii | Kapolei High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Jul 3, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Owen Hulland PF | Adelaide, Australia | UCSSC Lake Ginninderra | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Oct 18, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 20, 2018. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 2, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Hawaii Pacific | W 81–45 | | Stan Sheriff Center (4,771) Honolulu, HI |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2018* 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Portland Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic | W 82–64 | 1–0 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,401) Honolulu, HI |
| November 10, 2018* 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Humboldt State Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic | W 90–54 | 2–0 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,111) Honolulu, HI |
| November 11, 2018* 6:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | North Texas Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic | L 51–68 | 2–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,037) Honolulu, HI |
| November 18, 2018* 5:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Northern Arizona | W 85–68 | 3–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,553) Honolulu, HI |
| November 22, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Utah Wooden Legacy | W 90–79 | 4–1 | Titan Gym (2,132) Fullerton, CA |
| November 23, 2018* 5:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Seton Hall Wooden Legacy | L 54–64 | 4–2 | Titan Gym (2,089) Fullerton, CA |
| November 25, 2018* 11:00 am, ESPNU | | vs. Fresno State Wooden Legacy | L 64–79 | 4–3 | Titan Gym (n/a) Fullerton, CA |
| November 28, 2018* 4:00pm, P12N | | at UCLA | L 61–80 | 4–4 | Pauley Pavilion (6,062) Los Angeles, CA |
| December 8, 2018* 7:00 pm, Big West.TV | | Hawaii–Hilo | W 82–75 | 5–4 | Stan Sheriff Center (4,744) Honolulu, HI |
| December 16, 2018* 5:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Mississippi Valley State | W 76–51 | 6–4 | Stan Sheriff Center (4,890) Honolulu, HI |
| December 22, 2018* 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | UNLV Diamond Head Classic Quarterfinals | L 59–73 | 6–5 | Stan Sheriff Center (6,049) Honolulu, HI |
| December 23, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPNU | | Colorado Diamond Head Classic consolation round | W 70–62 $^{OT}$ | 7–5 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,470) Honolulu, HI |
| December 25, 2018* 10:00 am, ESPNU | | Rhode Island Diamond Head Classic 5th Place Game | W 68–60 | 8–5 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,696) Honolulu, HI |
| December 29, 2018* 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Alabama A&M | W 71–63 | 9–5 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,043) Honolulu, HI |
| Big West regular season ||||||
| January 9, 2019 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Cal State Fullerton | W 79–68 | 10–5 (1–0) | Stan Sheriff Center (4,971) Honolulu, HI |
| January 17, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cal State Northridge | W 84–79 | 11–5 (2–0) | Matadome (815) Northridge, CA |
| January 19, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UC Riverside | L 71–75 | 11–6 (2–1) | SRC Arena (453) Riverside, CA |
| January 23, 2019 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | UC Irvine | L 74–75 | 11–7 (2–2) | Stan Sheriff Center (5,602) Honolulu, HI |
| January 26, 2019 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | UC Davis | W 80–60 | 12–7 (3–2) | Stan Sheriff Center (6,265) Honolulu, HI |
| January 31, 2018 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Long Beach State | W 74–57 | 13–7 (4–2) | Stan Sheriff Center (5,293) Honolulu, HI |
| February 2, 2019 8:00 pm | | UC Santa Barbara | L 54–75 | 13–8 (4–3) | Stan Sheriff Center (6,060) Honolulu, HI |
| February 7, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Long Beach State | W 77–70 | 14–8 (5–3) | Walter Pyramid (2,177) Long Beach, CA |
| February 9, 2019 5:00pm, ESPN3 | | at UC Irvine | L 56–67 | 14–9 (5–4) | Bren Events Center (1,483) Irvine, CA |
| February 14, 2019 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Cal Poly | W 75–54 | 15–9 (6–4) | Stan Sheriff Center (4,995) Honolulu, HI |
| February 16, 2019 8:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | UC Riverside | W 87–64 | 16–9 (7–4) | Stan Sheriff Center (6,636) Honolulu, HI |
| February 21, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPNU | | at UC Santa Barbara | L 61–79 | 16–11 (7–5) | The Thunderdome (1,877) Santa Barbara, CA |
| February 23, 2019 5:00 pm, Big West.TV | | at Cal Poly | W 88–80 | 16–11 (7–6) | Mott Gym (2,310) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| March 2, 2019 8:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | Cal State Northridge | L 73–84 | 16–12 (7–7) | Stan Sheriff Center (6,673) Honolulu, HI |
| March 7, 2019 5:00 pm | | at UC Davis | W 76–69 | 17–12 (8–7) | The Pavilion (1,721) Davis, CA |
| March 9, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cal State Fullerton | W 71–59 | 18–12 (9–7) | Titan Gym (1,369) Fullerton, CA |
| Big West tournament ||||||
| March 14, 2019 5:30pm, ESPN3 | (4) | vs. (5) Long Beach State Quarterfinals | L 66–68 | 18–13 | Honda Center (3,656) Anaheim, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Hawaii–Aleutian Time.. ||||||
Source: