{"id":230956,"date":"2026-03-19T13:28:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T23:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=230956"},"modified":"2026-03-19T14:23:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T00:23:21","slug":"warrior-basketball-ncaa-tourney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/19\/warrior-basketball-ncaa-tourney\/","title":{"rendered":"Rainbow Warrior basketball magical run ends with loss in NCAA<\/abbr> Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Senior center Isaac Johnson contributed 15 points and five rebounds for the Rainbow Warriors against Arkansas.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The No<\/abbr>. 13 seed University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa<\/span> men\u2019s basketball team<\/a> (24–9) saw its 2026 season come to an end in the first round of the NCAA<\/abbr> Tournament, falling to No<\/abbr>. 4 seed Arkansas 97–78 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.<\/p>\n

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Senior guard Dre Bullock led the Rainbow Warriors with 21 points and eight rebounds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Senior guard Dre Bullock led the \u2018Bows with 21 points and eight rebounds. Senior center Isaac Johnson added 15 points, and junior forward Isaac Finlinson contributed 12.<\/p>\n

“It’s an honor to go through this battle with this group who represented our state, our university, athletic department, basketball, the NCAA<\/abbr>, the incredible Big West Conference,” Head Coach Eran Ganot said.<\/p>\n

The Rainbow Warriors earned the Big West\u2019s automatic bid after winning the conference championship<\/a> on March 14 over UC<\/abbr> Irvine in Henderson, Nevada, 71–64.<\/p>\n

Three players from UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> earned All-Big West conference honors<\/a> after a standout 2025–26 season. Johnson was named to the All-Big West First Team, while Bullock earned a spot on the Second Team and Hunter Erickson received honorable mention. The trio helped lead UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> to a major turnaround this season. After finishing ninth in the conference a year ago, the Rainbow Warriors posted their third 20-win season in the past four years and entered the Big West Tournament as a No<\/abbr>. 2 seed.<\/p>\n

“Shout out our fans. They showed up in Portland, they showed up in Vegas, they show up in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, Cali, wherever we’re going to,” Bullock said. “Our fans are always there supporting us—definitely meant a lot. I mean, didn’t get the job done what we wanted to, but I’m just happy to put on this uniform, play our hearts out there and leave it all out there on the floor.”<\/p>\n

Johnson added, “It’s been an amazing experience and we’re just so grateful for every opportunity that we’ve had to represent the state of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.”<\/p>\n

This season marked UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span>\u2019s first appearance in the NCAA<\/abbr> Tournament in 10 years. In 2016, the Rainbow Warriors upset the Cal Golden Bears in the opening round, marking the program\u2019s only victory in the NCAA<\/abbr> Tournament.<\/p>\n

For more on the Rainbow Warriors’ history in the NCAA<\/abbr> Tournament, visit the UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> athletics website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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This season marked the program’s 6th NCAA<\/abbr> Tournament berth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year marked the program’s 6th appearance into the NCAA<\/abbr> Tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":230959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1362],"tags":[58,82,714,9,550],"class_list":["post-230956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","tag-athletics","tag-basketball","tag-student-athlete","tag-uh-manoa","tag-manoa-athletics","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t