BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team made its 2023-24 home opener Tuesday on WECU Court in Carver Gym, falling to Hawai'i Pacific University 83-67.
The Vikings slipped to 4-2 on the young season, coming off a pair of solid road wins over Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal Poly Humboldt.
WWU was led by a game-high 23 points from reigning GNAC Player of the Week Kai Johnson, who poured in 23 points on 6-for-14 shooting (8-for-10 FT) for his fourth 20-point performance in six games this season.
Senior forward Jonathan Ned added 15 points and six rebounds and junior guard Will Wilson had 10 points and six boards.
HPU got off to a quick start scoring the first seven points of the game and never trailed in the 16-point road victory to improve to 1-2 on the season. The Sharks were led by 16 points from Josh Niusulu and 15 from Dominique Winbush. HPU combined to shoot 50.8-percent from the floor (31-for-61) and 9-for-21 from 3-point range (.429). The Sharks also held a 40-31 advantage in rebounds.
The Vikings (4-2) are back on the road this weekend taking a short trip to Seattle to play in the GNAC/PacWest Challenge with games against Concordia Irvine (Friday, 5 pm) and Azusa Pacific (Saturday, 5 pm) in Royal Brougham Pavilion. The complete season schedule, complete with links on how to watch the games, can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/MBB.
Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and Hawai'i Pacific:
|
COMPARISON
|
WWU
|
HPU
|
|
Points
|
67
|
83
|
|
Field Goal Pct.
|
.393 (24-61)
|
.508 (31-61)
|
|
3 Point FG Pct.
|
.333 (10-30)
|
.429 (9-21)
|
|
Free Throw Pct.
|
.692 (9-13)
|
.632 (12-19)
|
|
Rebounds
|
31
|
40
|
|
Offensive Rebounds
|
8
|
9
|
|
Assists
|
9
|
16
|
|
Turnovers
|
13
|
11
|
|
Steals
|
5
|
5
|
|
Blocked Shots
|
5
|
5
|
|
Time Led
|
0:00
|
39:20
|
|
Points off Turnovers
|
17
|
13
|
|
Points in the Paint
|
22
|
34
|
|
Bench Points
|
9
|
16
|
|
Fouls
|
18
|
13
|
|
Biggest Lead
|
0
|
23
|
|
Lead Changes: 0 Times Tied: 1
|
Here is a look at the Vikings record breakdown for the 2023-24 season:
|
RECORD BREAKDOWN
|
|
Overall
|
4-2
|
|
GNAC
|
0-0
|
|
Non-Conference
|
4-2
|
|
Streak
|
L1
|
|
Home
|
0-1
|
|
Away
|
1-0
|
|
Neutral
|
3-1
|
|
vs. Ranked Teams
|
0-0
|
|
Leading at Half
|
4-0
|
|
Trailing at Half
|
0-2
|
|
Tied at Half
|
0-0
|
|
Overtime
|
0-0
|
|
BY UNIFORM
|
|
White
|
3-1
|
|
Black
|
0-0
|
|
Navy
|
1-1
|
|
Light Blue
|
0-0
|
The win by HPU tied the all-time series record at 8-8, with the head-to-head meetings dating back to the 1987-88 season. The Vikings entered Tuesday's game having won three of the last four games against the Sharks, including a 70-69 victory last December in the Hoops in Hawai'i Holiday Classic. Tuesday's game marked HPU's first trip to Bellingham since November 29, 2005 (105-80 WWU victory).
One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, WWU has recorded a 20-win season in eight of the last 12 seasons. WWU is a six-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion and has appeared in the NCAA II Elite 8 three times. The Vikings won the 2012 NCAA Division II National Championship and advanced the following season to the NCAA II Final Four. Western has 20-win seasons in three of the last five years (and seven of 10) and won the 2020 GNAC Championships Tournament. WWU is amongst the top 15 winningest Division II programs with its 1,547 all-time victories.
