Hawaii men's basketball upsets Pittsburgh, 74-70

It might not have been Chaminade versus Ralph Sampson's Virginia Cavaliers, but the University of Hawaii men's basketball team nevertheless sent some shockwaves of its own through the NCAA, upsetting the Pittsburgh Panthers, 74-70, Friday night at the War Memorial Gym in Wailuku, Maui.

Hawaii (4-1) beat Pitt with a balanced offense as five Rainbow Warriors posted double figures led by Isaac Fleming’s 15 off the bench. Garrett Nevels had a near double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Chris Jones led Pitt (2-1) with a game-high 19 points on 7-13 shooting (5-8 from beyond the arc).

The ‘Bows fed off the home crowd's energy early, with Negus Webster-Chan's (11 points) three-pointer helping Hawaii to a 7-2 lead.

Pitt rallied and went on a 10-2 run, but the ‘Bows returned the favor with a 12-2 run of their own.  Hawaii would end the half with a 40-36 lead.

In the second half, Roderick Bobbitt hit a three-pointer and a layup to provide Hawaii a boost, but Pitt's 5-0 spurt midway through the second half would give the Panthers a three-point lead.

Once more, Hawaii battled back, as Mike Thomas had an impressive tomahawk dunk and Fleming nailed a straight away trey with under six minutes left to give UH a five point lead and propel them to victory.

Hawaii now heads to Florida to play in the Gulf Coast Showcase hosted by Florida Gulf Coast.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services