Rainbow Warriors end regular season with lopsided loss

The University of Hawaii men’s basketball team concluded Big West Conference play Saturday with its largest defeat this season, an 81-61 loss at UC Santa Barbara.

The Rainbow Warriors (22-10, 13-7) entered the game with a chance to earn a share of the Big West title, but those hopes were quickly dashed by the Gauchos (24-17, 15-5), who got off to a fast start and finished as co-champions with UC Irvine.

With the loss, UH slipped to fifth in the Big West standings and will face Cal State Fullerton in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament Thursday in Henderson, Nev.

Against Hawaii, UCSB shot 63 percent in the first half in taking a 46-26 lead into the break. The Rainbow Warriors never got closer than 15 points in the second half.

Noel Coleman led UH with 15 points. JoVon McClanahan added 11 points and five assists, and Mor

Seck had a team-high nine rebounds.

Miles Norris led five Gauchos in double-figure scoring with 18 points. He also had 10 rebounds.

On Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, the Hawaii women’s team celebrated Senior Night with a 68-58 victory over UCSB.

Lily Wahinekapu scored 13 of her team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Rainbow Wahine (15-14, 13-7) held off the Gauchos (19-11, 12-8) and earned the No. 3 seed for the Big West tournament. They’ll face Cal State Fullerton in the quarterfinals on Wednesday in Henderson.

Wahinekapu also had seven rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes.

UH also benefited from strong post play as graduate center Kallin Spiller recorded 12 points and six rebounds, and freshman forward Imani Perez added 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

Anya Choice led the Gauchos with 23 points.