SPOKANE, Wash. — Hawaii won its first NCAA Tournament game in school history, when the 13th-seeded Warriors ended No. 4 California’s tumultuous week with a 77-66 upset victory Friday in the first round of the South Regional.
The Golden Bears’ played without popular assistant coach Yann Hufnagel, dismissed amid allegations of sexual harassment, and the loss of leading scorer Tyrone Wallace, who broke his hand Wednesday in practice. As if the Bears (23-11) needed more obstacles, guard Jabari Bird had back spasms during warmups and never played.
The Warriors were 0-4 in their previous NCAA appearances, the last coming in 2002.