Beat up Vulcans face off against Sunbirds, Penguins
 
Hawai`i Hilo (4-13/3-7 PWC) vs. Fresno Pacific (5-17/3-11 PWC), Thursday, Feb. 1, 7:30 p.m.,
Hawai`i Hilo vs. Dominican (5-14/4-8 PWC), Saturday, Feb. 3, 7:30 p.m.,
Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, Hilo, Hawai`i.
Live Stream/Live Stats at www.hiloathletics.com
Radio broadcast available at AM 670 KPUA-Hilo.
Live TV broadcast on Na Leo TV (Hilo)
 
Hilo Headlines: The short-handed Vulcans will play games two and three of a three-game homestand this weekend against Fresno Pacific (Thursday) and Dominican on Saturday. The Vuls ran into a red-hot Point Loma team last Saturday (Jan. 27), falling 85-62.
 
Grocery Bags and Breast Cancer: The first 100 fans through the door on Thursday will receive free Vulcan grocery bags on Sack the Sunbirds night. On Saturday, it's Play for Kay—all fans wearing pink will gain free admission as NCAA basketball teams all across the country draw attention to the fight against breast cancer.
 
When it Rains, it Pours: The Vulcans and head coach GE Coleman have had a hard-luck year like no other in terms of injuries and just plain bad luck. Their top four scorers on the season have missed time at one point or another this year because of injury or illness. Make that five players when you add in Brian Ishola, (hamstring) last year's second leading scorer (15.5) and leading rebounder (8.9). Senior guard Ryley Callaghan (ribs) missed games in December, Eric Wattree (illness) sat out last Saturday's game and is questionable this week, Devin Johnson (ankle) missed two games in January, and post Arnold Silva (illness) like Ishola, is sitting out the entire season as a red-shirt. And now the ultimate blow arrives as Trey Ingram will be sidelined with a broken wrist. Additionally, Coleman lost Denhym Brooke at the break (grades), who was averaging 10.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and was second in the PacWest in blocked shots (25), along with seventh man Cameron Howell and shooter Mike Golden.
 
Coleman's Quotes: "I have been around basketball a long time, going back to hanging out with my Dad's teams when I was a little kid at Central Washington. I have never experienced anything like this in terms of injuries. There are life lessons to learn from this of course, that is what we are trying to focus on. You have to just keep getting up every morning and bring your lunch bucket to work. Our guys are really mentally tough."
 
Trey's Treys: Senior guard Trey Ingram had a final game to remember when he busted out for a career-high 33 points against Holy Names on January 18, hitting 6-of-11 three-point attempts. He also had seven rebounds, three steals and four assists in the monster effort. A three-year starter at St. Martin's University (Lacey, Wash.), Ingram's previous career-best came during his sophomore season against Concordia (Ore.), 28 points. He had tallied 25 points twice as a Vulcan against Fresno Pacific and Tampa.
 
Nine Strong: After beginning the season with 17 players, the Vulcans were down to nine during the loss to Point Loma. Devin Johnson (14 points) and Randan Berinobis (13) led the Vulcans and both had six rebounds. Freshman Cleo Cain had a career-high 11 points and Jared Roffler had a collegiate-best seven rebounds. Rookie Will Burghardt hit a pair of three's and Phillip Beck notched his first college points with a trey.
 
Stat Story: Senior guard Trey Ingram leads the Vulcans in scoring at 16.8 points per game, with Ryley Callaghan right behind him (13.4). Post Devin Johnson is also in double figures (10.4) and is second on the Vulcans in rebounds (5.8). He also has 18 blocked shots. Randan Berinobis paces the Vulcans in rebounds at 6.6 per game, while Ingram and Callaghan are virtually even in two categories: three-pointers made and assists. Ingram has 38 treys and 54 assists. Callaghan has 37 three's and 55 dimes.
 
PacWest Listings: The Vulcans will truly miss Trey Ingram, and the PacWest statistics bear that out. The guard leads the conference in minutes played (34.7), is third in three-point percentage (.376), fourth in scoring (16.8), sixth in three-pointers made (38), seventh in free throw percentage (.836) and eighth in assists (54). Ryley Callaghan is second in free throw accuracy (.880) and the Vulcans are fourth as a team in that category.
 
Top 25 Love: Two of UH Hilo's four wins have come against teams in the Top 25. The Vulcans are 2-0 in such games this season, having topped Western Washington earlier this year (then ranked No. 19) and No. 22 Concordia. For sure, it is the first time in recent memory that UH Hilo would have two wins over Top 25 teams.
 
Sunbird Sentences: The Sunbirds defeated the Vulcans in Fresno, 105-92, but have since lost four straight games. FPU is third in the PacWest in field goal percentage (.446) and are third in assists (15.23). Sam Burt leads his team in both scoring (13.3) and rebounding (7.7). With FPU's win last month, the all-time series between the two teams is now tied at 4-4.
 
Penguin Power: Dominican defeated the Vulcans 83-67 in January. Jeremiah Gray is one of the top scorers in the PacWest at 19.4 points and 6.1 rebounds a game. The Penguins have won two of their last three games (including the UHH contest) to improve to 4-8 in conference action. With the win in San Rafael, Dominican now leads the all-time series at 9-8.
 
A Look Back: UH Hilo finished 10-16 last season and were 8-12 in the PacWest. Senior guard Parker Farris averaged 23.3 points a game and was a Second Team All-PacWest pick. The Vulcans played most of the season with just eight players.
 
Around the Loop: Dixie State (11-2) holds a half-game lead over Azusa Pacific (10-2) in the PacWest standings, with California Baptist in third (8-3). Western Oregon leads the west region and is ranked fourth nationally, with Cal Poly Pomona second and Dixie State (14-6 overall) third in the poll. CBU (15-4) is fourth and APU (11-3) is ninth.
 
Looking ahead: The Vulcans play at Hawaii Pacific on Feb. 6, and will next hit the road for their southern California trip, playing five games in eight days (Feb. 10-17).
 
Head Coach Vulcan head coach GE Coleman begins his fifth season in 2017-18 as the leader of the program. Prior to arriving on the Big Island, Coleman was the associate head coach at Central Washington for six seasons, and an assistant with the Wildcats for another five years prior to that. He was an assistant for two seasons at Eastern Washington.
 
For more information, contact sports information director Russ Blunck at blunckr@hawaii.edu.