Runnin' Utes drop game to Hawaii, 90-79, in Wooden Legacy quarterfinals

SALT LAKE CITY — The Runnin' Utes didn’t have much to be thankful for Thursday after dropping its second game of the season to the lowly Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.

In the quarterfinals of the Wooden Legacy Tournament, Utah shot a substandard 44 percent from the field en route to a 90-79 loss to Hawaii. The Rainbow Warriors shot 53 percent from the field and made nine 3-pointers to beat a rebuilding Utah program that was an eight-point favorite coming into the game.

Hawaii was led by Brocke Stepteau, who paced the Rainbow Warriors to a win with 24 points and five assists in 31 minutes of play. Stepteau shot 62.5 percent from the field, and was 2-of-3 shooting from behind the perimeter. But his 12-of-13 shooting at the free throw line helped the Rainbow Warriors to an upset win over the Utes.

Stepteau was one of five players in double figures for the Rainbow Warriors, who now improve to 4-1 on the season.

The Rainbow Warriors led by as much as 23 with just under 10 minutes left to play in the second half. But the Utes would close the gap to 7 with under a minute left to play in the game using some small-ball offense and a good effort from the bench.

Hawaii, though, would keep the Utes from ultimately closing the gap and came away with a win by making free throws down the stretch. Hawaii finished the night making 25-of-28 free throws for 89 percent shooting on the night from the charity stripe.

Utah’s starters combined for 30 points in the loss, and were led by sophomore Donnie Tillman’s 16 points and 9 rebounds. The bench, however, provided 49 points and gave the Utes a little more production in the second half on Riley Battin's 16 points and two rebounds. But a poor Utah effort on defense ultimately gave the Rainbow Warriors all they needed to slowly overwhelm Utah in the second half.

Despite the blowout win over the Utes, the Rainbow Warriors are rated a sub-200 team, according to kenpom.com, and will certainly hurt Utah’s non-conference resume.

Utah drops to .500 on the season with a 2-2 record and will face Grand Canyon in the next round of the tournament Friday at 7 p.m. MT. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3.

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