Illinois State beats Hawaii 71-47 in Diamond Head Classic (Dec 22, 2016)

By AP
Published

HONOLULU (AP) Deontae Hawkins had 16 points and Illinois State scored 18 straight points in the second half to beat Hawaii 71-45 in the quarterfinals of the Diamond Head Classic on Thursday night.

Phil Fayne scored 14 Madison Williams added 11 points for the Redbirds (7-3), who advanced to the semifinals to face San Francisco on Friday night. The Rainbow Warriors (4-6) will host Utah in the consolation bracket.

Illinois State scored the first 10 points of the game and led the entire way. The Redbirds held Hawaii to 25.5 percent shooting and had their largest lead at 69-36.

The Rainbow Warriors closed within 14 on Brocke Stepteau's 3-pointer with 15:10 left in the second half. That was Hawaii's last field goal until Matthew Owies' putback with 1:54 left ended a streak of 15 missed shots from the field.

Stepteau, Noah Allen and Gibson Johnson had 10 points each for Hawaii.