UH at Oregon (11/4/25)

A win was in the bag, until it wasn't.

The University of Hawaiʻi Men's Basketball team opened their 2025-26 season in heartbreaking fashion with a 60-59 loss to the Oregon Ducks in the waning seconds at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon on Tuesday. Just days after it was announced Tanner Cuff would miss most of the 2025-26 season due to a knee injury, UH suffered the worst double whammy of all when Oregon's Takai Simpkins made a layup with four seconds left, and UH's Hunter Erickson's layup fell off the rim on the final possession.​​​ Isaac Johnson led UH with 13 points and eight rebounds before he fouled out, and Isaac Finlinson had a career night as a Rainbow Warrior with nine points and three rebounds. Simpkins' 18 points led the way for Oregon while Nate Bittle poured in a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds. Harry Rouhliadeff drew first blood under a minute in, and that led to UH scoring seven of the first nine points of the game. UH held the lead until the 15:04 mark when Oregon's Kwame Evans Jr. hit a triple to put the Ducks in front. Despite that, the 'Bows did not show any mercy.

UH and Oregon traded the lead several times, but Oregon uncorked a 7-2 run with 7:49 remaining and gave themselves some space.

At halftime, Oregon led UH, 33-26, with Simpkins leading all scorers with 11. As for UH, Finlinson came off the bench to score eight of his nine points total in that first half.

UH spared Oregon the first bucket of the second half, but Aaron Hunkin-Claytor, in his season debut, led an 11-1 UH run to get the 'Bows back in the Ducks' neighborhood, 36-35. The run was punctuated on a Dre Bullock triple with 16:01 to go.

The Ducks responded and went on a 14-1 run themselves to go up, 50-36, with 11:05 to go.

UH showed they were twice as stingy and took control after that. Gytis Nemeikša banked a triple off a Bullock steal which began a 20-8 UH run, including 14 unanswered. The 'Bows tied the score at 50 with 7:53 remaining off of two Johnson free throws.​ UH and Oregon traded the lead several times until two Bittle free throws tied the score at 54 with 5:14 remaining. The 'Bows battled hard despite Johnson and Nemeikša fouled out with under five minutes left. Yacine Toumi made the next layup with 4:17 left to put UH in front, 56-54, but that Toumi layup was ultimately UH's final made field goal of the game.

With 1:49 left, Oregon tied the score again at 58 on a Sean Stewart tip-in layup; however, 15 seconds later, a Bittle shooting foul put UH's Toumi at the line for two free throws.

Toumi went 1-of-2 at the line, and Oregon had one more chance. Oregon tried sinking a triple twice and failed. Rouhliadeff got the rebound off the second missed triple, but Simpkins picked up the ball and made the second-chance layup with three seconds left to ultimately turn back UH. What looked like UH's first win over Oregon since 1999 was not meant to be after Erickson's last gasp did not hit the rim. Despite logging 12 steals and forcing 21 total Oregon turnovers, it was still not enough for UH.

UH drops to 0-1 in the 2025-26 season and will return home for its first of 11 straight home games beginning with a non-conference matchup against the East Texas A&M Lions on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. Tipoff at the Stan Sheriff Center is scheduled for 8 p.m. HST, and you can listen to the game on ESPN Honolulu or watch the game on Spectrum Sports.