This Week in Vulcan Men's Basketball
Record: 2-4 (1-3 PWC)

D2 Power Invitational Sets Vulcans versus GNAC Teams                                          
(games played at Hawai`i Convention Center)
Friday, Dec. 20 vs. Saint Martins (4-4 / 2-0 GNAC), 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 21 vs. Alaska Anchorage (8-2 / 2-0 GNAC), 3:30 p.m.

Finals Tests, Final Tune-ups: The UH Hilo men's basketball team will take final exams and then play their final non-conference games of the season this week. The Vulcans will play in the Hoops in Hawai`i D2 Power Invitational at the Hawai`i Convention Center in Honolulu on Friday and Saturday, taking on two teams from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). In Saint Martin's (Friday), they get the school that reached the NCAA West Region final last year, and in Alaska Anchorage (Saturday), they play the squad that is currently ranked No. 4 in the west region.

Let's Review: After a huge upset over Azusa Pacific (82-79) to tip off the Pacific West Conference season (Dec. 2), the Vulcans ran into the three other top teams in the conference in southern California. The Vulcans lost to Concordia (96-85), Biola (74-56) and Point Loma (82-68), a trio of teams that are 22-8 on the year—and would all be unbeaten in conference play if Point Loma and Biola hadn't played each other this past Saturday (Point Loma won). In PacWest play, that group is 8-1.

Defending the Week: The Vulcans claimed the last two Pacific West Conference Defender of the Week awards. Jordan Graves earned the honor on Dec. 9 (APU win, CUI loss). He had six steals and the game winning three-pointer against the Cougars, and had three steals versus the Eagles. Kupaa Harrison was the winner on Dec. 16, recording eight total steals in losses to Biola and Point Loma. He also had 15 rebounds in the two games, most of them on the defensive end of the court.

No One is Comfortable: Playing the Vulcans takes you out of your comfort zone. UH Hilo's defense averages 8.8 steals a game (39^th in the NCAA), and forces their opponents into 16.7 turnovers per contest. Their turnover differential is +3.2 per game.

Balanced Attack: UH Hilo's two returning starters and senior leaders Kupaa Harrison (18.2 ppg) and Jordan Graves (16.5) are the team's scoring leaders after six games, with Vuksanovic (15.2) right behind them. Harrison leads with 7.3 rebounds a game (Vuksanovic has 7.0), Graves leads with 16 steals and Harrison has 14 assists. 

PacWest Numbers: The Vulcans have a number of players in the top half of the PacWest stat columns.
Scoring: Kupaa Harrison (18.2) 3^rd, Jordan Graves (16.0) 6^th.
Rebounding: Kupaa Harrison (7.3) 6^th, Sasa Vuksanovic (7.0) 8^th
Field Goal %: Kupaa Harrison (.500) 10^th.
Free Throw %: Kupaa Harrison (.750) 10^th.
3's Per Game: Jordan Graves (2.1), 10^th
Steals: Jordan Graves (2.7) 1^st, Kupaa Harrison (1.7) 5th

Saints and Seawolves: After a slow start, Saint Martin's is now 4-4 on the season (2-0 GNAC) heading into a Thursday game in Honolulu against Colorado School of Mines. The Saints, who won two games at the NCAA West Region tournament last year before falling to eventual national runner-up Point Loma, lost this fall to nationally ranked Dixie State and UC San Diego before catching fire. They now have three wins in a row (Evergreen State, Northwest Nazarene, Central Washington). SMU has four players in double figures, led by Demonte Malloy (16.1 ppg, 7.9 rebounds), a 6-3 transfer from South Puget Sound CC. Marky Adams adds 11.4 points, 9.4 boards and 17 blocks (6-9, 250 pounds). The Vulcans and Saints last met in 2017-18, with SMU winning, but UHH leads the all-time series, 9-7.
Alaska Anchorage is off to a hot start at 8-2 and have won three in a row heading into D2 Power Invitational games against Arkansas-Monticello (Thursday) and Southeastern Oklahoma State (Friday). The Seawolves have impressive non-conference victories over Hawaii Pacific (77-48), San Francisco State (81-69), Sonoma State (81-69) and Northern Michigan (84-76), along with GNAC wins over Concordia (81-74) and Western Oregon (88-86 ot). UAA has balance with four players in double figure scoring totals, led by Niko Bevens (13.8). Bevens, a 6-foot-6 guard that played his first two seasons at Montana, is averaging almost four three-pointers a game and shooting 50% from behind the arch. The Vulcans and Seawolves used to play frequently when UAA was in the PacWest Conference, and the Seawolves lead the all-time series, 19-12.

What's Next: The Vulcans will take the mandatory seven days off (NCAA D-II) and then return to Hilo to kick off a string of PacWest games at home. UH Hilo will play five straight games at the Civic Auditorium, beginning with a January 2 clash versus Fresno Pacific.

Around the PacWest: Defending champ Point Loma is the early leader after four games in the PacWest (4-0). Holy Names (2-0) and Concordia (1-0) are also unbeaten.

Rating the West: In the D2SIDA West Region poll released on Tuesday (Dec. 17), the PacWest had three of the top ten teams (records are through last weekend). (1) UC San Diego (8-1), (2) Point Loma (8-2), (3) Cal Poly Pomona (7-2), (4) Alaska Anchorage (8-2), (5) Simon Fraser (7-1), (6) Concordia-Irvine (7-3), (7) Cal State East Bay (9-3), (8) Azusa Pacific (7-3), (9) Chico State (8-3), (10) Cal State Dominguez Hills (7-3). Nationally, UCSD is No. 4 and Point Loma is No. 24.
 
PacWest Poll: The Pacific West Conference Preseason poll looked like this: (1) Concordia, (2) Azusa Pacific, (3) Chaminade, (4) defending PWC champ and NCAA runner-up Point Loma, (5) Biola, (6) Fresno Pacific, (7) Academy of Art, (8) Hawai`i Hilo, (9) Holy Names, (10) Hawaii Pacific, (11) Dominican, (12) Notre Dame de Namur.

Last Year: The Vulcans finished 12-14 overall and 10-12 in the PacWest. They were in postseason contention (PacWest tournament) up until the final day of the season. They lost a buzzer-beater to Chaminade in their final game, and all the other domino pieces that needed to happen didn't. Nonetheless, it was UH Hilo's best record since 2014-15 (also 12-14) and their best PacWest mark since 2010-11 (8-8). Senior transfers James Griffin (15.8 ppg) and Larry Bush (15.5) were key cogs for a team that was one of the top ball-hawking teams in the country. The Vulcans had a turnover differential of 4.5, 14^th best in NCAA Division II.

The Coach: Vulcan head coach GE Coleman  is heading into his seventh season 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 also an assistant for two seasons at Eastern Washington.