Men's Basketball Weekly
Hawai`i Hilo Overall Record: 3-5       Hawai`i Hilo PacWest Record: 1-3
 
UH Hilo Gets Back to Action with Bay Area Contests                                         
Monday, Dec. 31 @Dominican (5-6/1-4 PWC), 4 p.m. PT, San Rafael, CA, Conlan Center
Wednesday, Jan. 2 @Fresno Pacific (4-6/1-4 PWC), 4:30 p.m. PT, Fresno, CA, Special Events Center
Friday, Jan. 4, @Academy of Art (1-8/1-3 PWC), 7:30 p.m. PT, San Francisco, CA, Kezar Pavilion
Live Stream/Live Stats at www.hiloathletics.com

Hilo Headlines: Rested and ready after almost two weeks away from the court, the Hawai`i Hilo men's basketball team returns to action this week with three games in five days in northern California. After the mandated NCAA break (Dec. 20-26), the Vulcans gathered in the bay area for three days of practice before taking on Dominican on Monday (Dec. 31).
 
Ready to Rest: After a solid effort against one of the top teams in the region and a brilliant first half versus Holy Names, the Vulcans came undone in the second half against the Hawks on Dec. 18 to head into the break on a sour note. UH Hilo played well in a 80-69 loss to regional power Western Oregon the night before, and led 40-22 at halftime against Holy Names. But the second half was all Hawks as they rallied for an 85-77 comeback win. Contending with a number of injuries, the Vulcans limped into the break looking for healing.
 
Coach C Says: "If ever a team needed some rest it was us," said Vulcan head coach GE Coleman. "We will regroup, hopefully get healthier and get back at it. There is still a lot of season left and this can still be a very good basketball team."
 
Walking Wounded: The Vulcans are still far from 100%, although healthier than two weeks ago. Denhym Brooke, who missed the final 36 minutes of the Holy Names game, will return to action. Leading scorer James Griffin is still out, but closer to returning after getting injured in the Hawaii game. Cleo Cain is questionable, but the worst news is that freshman Damani Whitlock is now out for the year with a shoulder injury. "That hurts for sure," Coleman said. "Demani is a really good defender, maybe our best. He was a very important part of our early season rotation."
 
Projected Starters: The Vulcans will be without James Griffin, who was injured six minutes into the game with Hawaii. Here are the projected starters for this week.
 
*G—Jalen Thompson, 6-3, 170, Fr., West Linn, Ore. (West Linn HS)
*G—Larry Bush, 6-2, 175, Sr., Calabasas, Calif. (UNLV)
*G—Jordan Graves, 6-1, 180, Jr., Monterey, Calif. (Santa Rosa JC)
*F—Kupaa Harrison, 6-5, 185, Jr., Honolulu, Hawai`i (Orange Coast College)
*F—Denhym Brooke, 6-8, 210, Sr., Auckland, New Zealand (BYU-Hawaii)
 
Good Going Griffin: The Vulcans miss James Griffin, whose timetable for a return is not certain at this time. He has had more than solid numbers through UH Hilo's first six games. The 6-5 graduate-senior transfer has been in double figures for every contest, including twice hitting for 23 points (Alaska, Simpson). The former West Liberty standout is averaging 17.3 points a game, fourth best in the PacWest Conference. He leads the Vulcans in scoring and before the injury in three-pointers made (16), and was second in assists (15) and rebounds (5.5).
 
By the Numbers: Devin Johnson came off the bench to have big games against the Wolves and Hawks. The senior post led UHH against Western Oregon with 19 points and nine rebounds, and then had a double-double against Holy Names with ten points and 12 rebounds….Jordan Graves had 16 points versus the Hawks and 13 against WOU…Kupaa Harrison missed only three shots (7-10) in putting up 17 points versus HNU….Freshman Jalen Thompson had a career-high 15 points at home against the Hawks….Denhym Brooke is second in the PacWest with 1.6 blocked shots per game…Jordan Graves is fifth in the conference in steals (1.9)…Senior guard Larry Bush is second on the squad in scoring at 11 ppg.
 
PacWest Prognosticators: Point Loma was picked by the PacWest coaches as the favorites to win the league title this year. They collected 10 of the 12 first place votes, with the other two going to projected second-place finisher Azusa Pacific. The Vulcans are tabbed to finish ninth.
 
Around the Loop: Chaminade is the only unbeaten team in the PacWest (10-0/4-0). Two other teams are unbeaten in conference play—Point Loma and Concordia, both 6-0.
 
Regional Rankings: Monday's regional rankings (D2SIDA) looked like this on Dec. 24. (1) Chaminade 10-0, (2) UC San Diego 10-2, (3) St. Martin's 9-1 (4) Cal Poly Pomona 5-1, (5) Point Loma 9-2, (6) Western Oregon 8-2, (7) Northwest Nazarene 6-2, (8) Cal State East Bay 9-2, (9) Concordia CA 9-5, (10) Seattle Pacific 4-3. Nationally, Chaminade is No. 9, UC San Diego 12^th, and St. Martin's is 19^th.
 
Penguins, Sunbirds and Urban Knights: UH Hilo's first test on this road trip is at Dominican on Monday (Dec. 31) to close out 2018. The Penguins are 5-6 overall and 1-4 in the PacWest, looking to snap a three-game losing streak. Dominican opened the year at 4-1 with a foursome of impressive non-conference victories, but have since lost five of six. 6-6 senior Cedric Thompson lists third in the league in scoring at 17.5 points a game. The Vulcans and Penguins split games a year ago, and the all-time series is tied at 9-9. The Vulcans get a rematch with Fresno Pacific on Wednesday, a squad UHH defeated on Dec. 3 (72-57). The Sunbirds are now 4-6 and 1-4 in the PacWest, coming off a non-conference win over Cal State Monterey Bay. Elijah Hill leads the Sunbirds at 14.5 points a game. The Vulcans now lead the all-time series, 6-4. UH Hilo wraps up the road trip at Academy of Art, who is 1-8 overall and 1-3 in the PacWest, with their lone win coming over Notre Dame de Namur (48-47) on Dec. 8. Most recently, they almost pulled off the upset against Azusa Pacific, falling by just two points 71-69. The Urban Knights are second in the PacWest in defense, allowing just 65.8 points a game. AAU won the lone game played between the two teams last year, but the Vulcans lead the all-time series, 7-6.
 
Free, Free, Free!!: From here on and forever more, all UH Hilo and Hawaii Community College students will receive free admission to all Vulcan home events. Just show your student ID, and you are in!!
 
Watch, Listen: All Vulcan home men's basketball games will be available via video stream (and Live Stats). Improved coverage, which includes audio play-by-play, through Out of the Sea Media on the Vulcan website. Additionally, home games are on radio at AM 670 KPUA-Hilo, with the pre-game show beginning 10 minutes before tip-off.
 
The Coach: GE Coleman enters into his sixth season at UH Hilo in 2018-19. Prior to his arrival at UHH, he was the associate head coach for six seasons at Central Washington, and was an assistant for five season with CWU prior to that. He also was an assistant coach at Eastern Washington from 2005-07. GE's father Gil Coleman was the head coach at Central Washington from 1990-95.