# 2015–16 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball team

The 2015–16 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball team represented the University of Hawaii at Manoa during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rainbow Warriors, led by first year head coach Eran Ganot, played their home games at the Stan Sheriff Center, and were members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 28–6, 13–3 in Big West play to tie for the Big West regular season championship. They beat Cal State Fullerton, UC Santa Barbara, and Long Beach State to become champions of the Big West tournament and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As a #13 seed, they defeated #4 seeded California in the first round for the school's first ever victory in the NCAA Tournament. They fell to Maryland in the second round.
In December, the NCAA placed a postseason ban on Hawaii for the 2017 season and reduced scholarships through 2018 for improper benefits and actions by the school.
It was also the first time since 1997-98 that there were two sellouts in the same season.

## Previous season

The Rainbow Warriors finished the 2014–15 season 22–13, 8–8 in Big West play to finish in fifth place. They lost to UC Irvine in the finals of the Big West tournament.

## Schedule and Results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/05/2015* 7:00 pm | | Chaminade | W 101–96 $^{OT}$ | | Stan Sheriff Center (4,680) Honolulu, HI |
| Non-conference games ||||||
| 11/13/2015* 7:30 pm, OC Sports | | Montana State Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic | W 87–76 | 1–0 | Stan Sheriff Center (6,259) Honolulu, HI |
| 11/15/2015* 4:30 pm, OC Sports | | Coastal Carolina Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic | W 74–63 | 2–0 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,271) Honolulu, HI |
| 11/16/2015* 11:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Nevada Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic | W 76–75 | 3–0 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,471) Honolulu, HI |
| 11/22/2015* 7:30 pm, OC Sports | | Nicholls State | W 99–74 | 4–0 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,576) Honolulu, HI |
| 11/28/2015* 3:07 pm, FSSW+ | | at Texas Tech | L 74–82 | 4–1 | United Supermarkets Arena (7,132) Lubbock, TX |
| 12/02/2015* 7:00 pm, OC Sports | | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | W 75–47 | 5–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,182) Honolulu, HI |
| 12/05/2015* 7:00 pm, OC Sports | | UH–Hilo | W 86–67 | 6–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (4,725) Honolulu, HI |
| 12/12/2015* 7:00 pm, OC Sports | | Hawai'i Pacific | W 83–71 | 7–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,042) Honolulu, HI |
| 12/22/2015* 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | Northern Iowa Diamond Head Classic quarterfinals | W 68–52 | 8–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (8,436) Honolulu, HI |
| 12/23/2015* 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 3 Oklahoma Diamond Head Classic semifinals | L 81–84 | 8–2 | Stan Sheriff Center (7,365) Honolulu, HI |
| 12/25/2015* 1:30 pm, ESPN2 | | Auburn Diamond Head Classic 3rd place game | W 79–67 | 9–2 | Stan Sheriff Center (7,251) Honolulu, HI |
| 12/29/2015* 7:00 pm, OC Sports | | Mississippi Valley State | W 77–48 | 10–2 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,431) Honolulu, HI |
| 01/02/2016* 5:30 pm, OC Sports | | Howard | W 94–59 | 11–2 | Stan Sheriff Center (6,043) Honolulu, HI |
| Big West Conference games ||||||
| 01/06/2016 7:00 pm, OC Sports | | Cal Poly | W 86–73 | 12–2 (1–0) | Stan Sheriff Center (5,885) Honolulu, HI |
| 01/09/2016 7:00 pm, OC Sports | | UC Santa Barbara | W 65–57 | 13–2 (2–0) | Stan Sheriff Center (7,627) Honolulu, HI |
| 01/14/2016 9:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UC Riverside | W 80–71 | 14–2 (3–0) | UC Riverside Student Recreation Center (1,596) Riverside, CA |
| 01/16/2016 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cal State Fullerton | W 86–79 $^{OT}$ | 15–2 (4–0) | Titan Gym (993) Fullerton, CA |
| 01/23/2016 7:00 pm, OC Sports | | UC Davis | W 78–62 | 16–2 (5–0) | Stan Sheriff Center (9,289) Honolulu, HI |
| 01/30/2016 8:00 pm, OC Sports | | Long Beach State | L 64–78 | 16–3 (5–1) | Stan Sheriff Center (10,300) Honolulu, HI |
| 02/04/2016 9:00 pm | | at UC Santa Barbara | W 76–64 | 17–3 (6–1) | The Thunderdome (1,722) Santa Barbara, CA |
| 02/06/2016 5:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Cal Poly | W 75–60 | 18–3 (7–1) | Mott Athletic Center (3,032) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| 02/11/2016 8:00 pm, OC Sports | | UC Irvine | W 74–52 | 19–3 (8–1) | Stan Sheriff Center (9,826) Honolulu, HI |
| 02/13/2016 7:00 pm, OC Sports | | Cal State Fullerton | W 76–59 | 20–3 (9–1) | Stan Sheriff Center (8,401) Honolulu, HI |
| 02/18/2016 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cal State Northridge | W 69–63 | 21–3 (10–1) | Matadome (1,683) Northridge, CA |
| 02/20/2016 6:30 pm, ESPNU | | at UC Irvine | W 75–71 | 22–3 (11–1) | Bren Events Center (4,312) Irvine, CA |
| 02/25/2016 7:00 pm, OC Sports | | UC Riverside | L 71–77 | 22–4 (11–2) | Stan Sheriff Center (7,957) Honolulu, HI |
| 02/27/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Cal State Northridge | W 89–78 | 23–4 (12–2) | Stan Sheriff Center (10,300) Honolulu, HI |
| 03/03/2016 5:00 pm | | at UC Davis | W 67–65 | 24–4 (13–2) | The Pavilion (2,247) Davis, CA |
| 03/05/2016 2:00 pm, Prime Ticket | | at Long Beach State | L 72–74 | 24–5 (13–3) | Walter Pyramid (3,722) Long Beach, CA |
| Big West tournament ||||||
| 03/10/2016 12:00 pm, Prime Ticket | (1) | vs. (8) Cal State Fullerton Quarterfinals | W 75–44 | 25–5 | Honda Center Anaheim, CA |
| 03/11/2016 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (4) UC Santa Barbara Semifinals | W 88–76 | 26–5 | Honda Center Anaheim, CA |
| 03/12/2016 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | (1) | vs. (3) Long Beach State Championship | W 64–60 | 27–5 | Honda Center (5,610) Anaheim, CA |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 3/18/2016 8:00 am, TBS | (13 S) | vs. (4 S) No. 23 California First Round | W 77–66 | 28–5 | Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena (11,736) Spokane, WA |
| 3/20/2016 1:10 pm, TBS | (13 S) | vs. (5 S) No. 18 Maryland Second Round | L 60–73 | 28–6 | Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena (11,296) Spokane, WA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South Region. All times are in Hawaii Aleutian. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. (RV) Received votes but unranked. (NR) Not ranked. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Final |
| AP | | | | | | | | | | | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | | | | *N/A |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | | | | | | RV | RV | RV | | | | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings