Men's Basketball Weekly
Hawai`i Hilo Overall Record: 6-5       Hawai`i Hilo PacWest Record: 4-3
 
Rolling Vulcans to Get Big Tests vs. Sharks, Eagles and Sea Lions                          
Saturday, Jan. 12 vs. Hawaii Pacific (4-8/1-6 PWC), 3 p.m., Afook-Chinen Civic
Tuesday, Jan. 15 vs. Concordia (11-6/7-1 PWC), 7:30 p.m., Afook-Chinen Civic
Saturday, Jan. 19, vs. Point Loma (13-2/9-0 PWC), 7:30 p.m., Afook-Chinen Civic
Live Stream/Live Stats at www.hiloathletics.com
Radio broadcast at AM 670 KPUA-Hilo, pre-game show ten minutes prior to tip (no radio on 1/12 due to NFL commitments).

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 are 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 UH Hilo's Russ Blunck on the call.
 
Hilo Headlines: Coming off their best road trip in over a decade, the Vulcans return home to face a team that beat them earlier this year (Hawaii Pacific) and the top two teams in the PacWest (Point Loma and Concordia).
 
Road Warriors: Despite missing players for each of the three games with injuries, the valiant Vulcans won a trio of games on the road in besting Dominican (75-54), Fresno Pacific (77-72) and Academy of Art (83-72). Not only was that the best road trip for a UHH program in many years, it gives them three road wins (3-2), which is the most that they have had since the 2008-09 squad went 4-5 for the entire season.
 
Making Things Uncomfortable: In all three victories, the Vulcans used a template that they are getting better and better at—in fact they are now one of the best in the country in this category. The Vulcans rank sixth in the NCAA in turnovers forced at just under 20 a game (19.91). That also puts head coach GE Coleman's team at the top of the PacWest forced turnover ladder and they are also best in the west.
 
Turnovers in Droves: The Vulcans forced Dominican into an unfathomable 38 turnovers, likely a school record if such stats had been kept over the years. They helped Fresno Pacific turn the ball over 27 times, and where they did have a school record to stand on was in the steals category. UH Hilo had 20 steals against the Penguins and 19 versus the Sunbirds, either equaling or breaking the previous mark of 19 against BYU-Hawaii set in 1993-94.
 
The Margins: UH Hilo is +4.55 in turnover margin, second best in the PacWest. The Vulcans average 15.4 turnovers a game.
 
Coach C: "I am really happy with our effort right now," said Vulcan head coach GE Coleman. "With the style that we play, effort is going to win us ball games. We had one of our best efforts physically in the final 20 minutes of that three games in five days, so that tells you something about the character and work ethic of this team."
 
Welcome Back!!: In the second game of the trip at Fresno Pacific, the Vulcans welcomed back senior James Griffin, who had missed the previous three games. Griffin, UH Hilo's leading scorer, checked into the game early in the first half and it didn't take long for him to nail a long three-pointer. He would have a trio of treys in the first half and finished with 11 points in 24 minutes.
 
Here is the Other Shoe Dropping: While the return of Griffin was good news, the Vulcans lost the services of senior post Devin Johnson and are still without promising freshman defender Damani Whitlock. Johnson was injured early in the second half of the Dominican game after dunking his 19^th point of the night, and is expected to be out for the immediate future. The 6-7 post hit 8-of-9 shots in just 14 minutes to collect a season-high 19 points in the win.
 
Projected Starters: With Griffin back and Johnson out, here are the projected starters for this week.
*G—James Griffin, 6-5, 220, Sr., Brisbane, Australia (West Liberty)
*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)
 
By the Numbers: Senior post Denhym Brooke broke out with 19 points against Fresno Pacific, his career-best as a Vulcan. He also had nine rebounds in that contest. As a sophomore at BYU-Hawaii, he had a collegiate-best 23 points against Academy of Art…Larry Bush led the Vulcans in scoring during games at Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade, hitting for 23 against the Silverswords. The UNLV transfer is averaging 12 points a game…In mostly a sixth-man role, sophomore Cleo Cain averages 8.3 points a game. He has hit 15-of-32 three-point attempts (47%)…Kupaa Harrison is UHH's second leading rebounder with 5.3 a game, second in assists (30) and third in steals (18). He is fourth in scoring at 9.5.
 
Gravely Good: Junior transfer guard Jordan Graves had a big week on the road. The Vulcans went 3-0 in northern California, with the junior from Monterey scoring a total of 35 points with 14 assists and 10 steals. Against Academy of Art alone, the Santa Rosa JC transfer had 18 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals. On the season, Graves leads the Vulcans in assists (35) and is tied for the team lead in steals (25).
 
Here We Go Again: For the second week in a row, Vulcan guard Jalen Thompson was named the PacWest Freshman of the Week. The left-handed shooter played a big role in three wins for the Vulcans over the break--all on the road. In a 75-54 victory over Dominican, the West Linn, Ore. native had 13 points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals. Versus Academy of Art, Thompson had 12 points, hitting all five of his free throw attempts. On the season, Thompson is converting 36 percent of his three-point shots (16-of-44) and is 16-of-20 (80 percent) at the free throw line. He is averaging almost seven points a game.
 
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: Point Loma sits at the top of the standings at 9-0 in PacWest play, 13-2 overall. Concordia is next at 7-1, with Chaminade (who dropped two of three games in NoCal) follows at 7-2.
 
Regional Rankings: Monday's regional rankings (D2SIDA) looked like this on Jan. 8. (1) Point Loma 12-2, (2) St. Martin's 10-2, (3) UC San Diego 13-3, (4) Northwest Nazarene 8-2, (5) Chaminade 11-2, (6) Cal State East Bay 12-2, (7) Western Oregon 10-3, (8) Cal State LA 9-5, (9) Seattle Pacific 6-3, (10) Humboldt State 11-5. Nationally, Point Loma is 13^th, St. Martin's 18^th and UC San Diego is 23^rd.
 
Shark Bites: Hawaii Pacific gets back to action on Saturday after dropping three games in northern California last week, including a double-overtime setback to Dominican (85-80). The Sharks are dealing with more than basketball, having lost beloved teammate Emil Isovic in a tragic accident last month. HPU topped the Vulcans to tip off the PacWest season in Honolulu, but the Vulcans lead the all-time series, 59-53.
 
Concordia Clippings: The Eagles are 11-6 on the year and 7-1 in PacWest, having just lost to Azusa Pacific for their first conference loss of the year (85-68). 6-2 senior guard Brian Chambers leads Concordia with 16.6 points a game, fifth in the conference. He makes a lot of his money at the free throw line (63-for-72), where he is third in the PacWest at .875. He is also fourth in the PCW in three's made (2.1) and first in steals (2.4). Last year, the Vulcans beat the Eagles in Hilo but Concordia won at home, to give the Eagles the all-time edge in the series, 4-2.
 
Point Loma Prognosis: The No. 1 team in the region visits on Saturday, Jan. 19. The Sea Lions will play at Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade before arriving on the Big Island, taking a 13-2 overall mark and 9-0 PacWest record to Oahu. Point Loma relies on NBA prospect Daulton Hommes, a 6-8 forward, who leads the PacWest in scoring at 19.5 points a game. Senior point guard Josh Rodriguez leads the league in assists (4.5). The Sea Lions have the top defense in the conference, allowing only 65 points a game, and they have the best scoring margin as well at 12.9. PLNU won both games between the two schools last year and they lead the all-time series, 8-5.
 
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.