Hawaii men’s basketball falls to UC Davis

HONOLULU, HI – DECEMBER 25: JoVon McClanahan #3 of the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors attempts to drive around Stefan Todorovic #3 of the SMU Mustangs during…

HONOLULU, HI – DECEMBER 25: JoVon McClanahan #3 of the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors attempts to drive around Stefan Todorovic #3 of the SMU Mustangs during the second half of the championship game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic at the SimpliFi Arena on December 25, 2022 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)

by: Christian Shimabuku

Posted: Feb 2, 2023 / 06:24 PM HST

Updated: Feb 2, 2023 / 06:24 PM HST

The University of Hawaii men’s basketball team ran out of gas in a 75-63 road loss to UC Davis on Thursday evening.

Hawaii falls to 16-7 overall and 7-4 in Big West play, while UC Davis improves to 14-9 overall and 7-4 in conference games to pull into a tie for fourth place in the conference standings.

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Hawaii, which led 28-19 with 7:33 left in the first half, was outscored 18-3 to end the first 20 minutes. Although the ‘Bows cut the UC Davis lead to eight with less than nine minutes remaining, the Aggies pulled away and led by as much as 16 with 1:39 remaining.

UC Davis shot an efficient 28-of-44 from the field on Thursday, including 7-for-12 from 3. Elijah Pepper had a game-high 29 points, while Ty Johnson added 22 points.

For Hawaii, which shot just 4-for-17 from 3, JoVon McClanahan had a team-high 17 points.

The Rainbow Warriors will close out their road trip on Saturday at Cal Poly. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. HST.