Hawkins dropping 40 in Hawaii sent shock waves around the island
Editor’s Note:
Throughout the last decade, sports fans enjoyed memorable moments and unforgettable experiences involving UC Davis’ winter sports teams. Ucdavisaggies.com will highlight 10 of those events in a weekly series that began in the fall, and continues this quarter called “10 for the 10s.”
As the only Division I program in the state, fans of Hawaii athletics are known for creating a home-court advantage inside Simplifi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center — an environment with a reputation for rattling visiting teams who are not mentally prepared for the constant noise, and volume, that fills the facility each game.
When UC Davis squared off against the Rainbow Warriors on January 19, 2013, the entire team kept their poise throughout the noise, from the opening tip to the final buzzer, and turned its halftime advantage into a 93-82 victory.
Included in that game was a rare occurrence at a Hawaii home event: a standing ovation from the locals for an opposing player or team. And in this instance, it was welldeserved since basketball fans in attendance witnessed a historic performance by UC Davis sophomore guard Corey Hawkins.
Competing in front of UH fans for the first time in his career — he redshirted the previous season after transferring from Arizona State to UC Davis — no Rainbow Warrior could stop, or even hamper Hawkins’ effort at any point of that Big West matchup since he finished with a game-high 40 points.
When he walked off the court that night, he set a new all-time singlegame scoring record for the Aggies and matched another program mark by hitting eight shots from three. As a team, the Aggies set an all-time school record for the most three-point shots made in a regulation game (16), and matched the singlegame three-point school record originally set in a double-ot contest that took place in 2003 — the team’s final season at the Division II level.
But it was the way Hawkins scored his record-setting 40 points that left an indelible imprint on fans and basketball pundits alike.
“How often do you see someone score 40 points off 14 shots? He was unbelievably efficient tonight, “said head coach Jim Les in a news release. “He spends time in the gym before practice, after practice and before games constantly working on his jumper … this is as good as it gets.”
In addition to finishing with a double-double by collecting 12 rebounds, Hawkins hit 10 of 14 shots, including 8 of 9 from beyond the arc, and connected on all
12 free throw attempts. By earning each one of those trips to the line throughout the game’s final minutes, he thwarted Hawaii’s comeback attempt and ensured the Aggies’ maintained their comfortable lead until the game ended.
“There is nothing more discouraging to an opposing team that is trying to catch up than someone who makes his free throws,” said Les. “We want the ball in his hands, especially late in the game.”
That night, the Goodyear, Arizona native broke the program’s previous all-time scoring record set by Mike Lien when he finished with 39 in a 1979 home game versus Stanislaus State. Hawkins’ 40 still stands as the highest road total in program history, topping Randy Debortoli’s 38 points at Chico State, which took place in 1988.
“This was a fun night for me and my teammates playing in front of a hostile crowd. All we tried to do was focus on what we needed to accomplish to win the game,” replied Hawkins when asked about his record-setting evening in a postgame interview with UC Davis radio broadcaster Scott Marsh.
Hawkins’ lights-out shooting performance marked the second occasion that a player scored 40 or more points inside Simplifi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, which opened in October of
1994, and the third-highest single-game opponent points total in Hawaii’s history. That jaw-dropping performance not only helped the Aggies return to the mainland with a win, it also led to Player of the Week Honors from the Big West Conference and numerous college basketball outlets.
Leading up to that night, UC Davis was known as a talented team that would soon reach its potential under Coach Les’ tutelage. From that point on, basketball fans and pundits across the nation witnessed firsthand a program on the rise and a group of selfless players who embraced
Les’ defensive philosophy and became one of the toughest units to face on a consistent basis.
By winning three Big West titles, earning multiple trips to the postseason and posting two perfect home records in the seasons that followed that recordsetting night in Honolulu, UC Davis quickly became a championship-caliber team and earned its spot on college basketball’s national map — program highlights this weekly series will feature in future weeks.