'Fire and ice' set to close the show on Hawaii's senior night

Feb. 25—Avea and Hepa—fire and ice—are set to play their final home game of their Hawaii basketball careers today in front of a capacity crowd at Stan Sheriff Center and before a national television audience.

Samuta Avea, the son of a fireknife legend, grew up playing basketball in gyms and on blacktops along Oahu's North Shore.

Kamaka Hepa, whose blood includes a blend of Native Hawaiian and Native Alaskan, worked on his basketball craft in pickup games with his cousins in the 49th State.

Avea and Hepa—fire and ice—are set to play their final home game of their Hawaii basketball careers today in front of a capacity crowd at Stan Sheriff Center and before a national television audience. Tip-off against UC Irvine, the Big West leader, is at 5 p.m.

"I couldn't ask for anything more, " 6-foot-6 wing Avea said of senior night, which also will include injured point guard Juan Munoz. "It's a huge game on a big stage. Something that is my ultimate goal is really putting basketball on the map for Hawaii."

It took a friendship and timely circumstances for these two'Bows to take their bows on the same evening. Hepa is a former 4-star prospect who played his first three seasons with Texas. A coaching change and an opportunity to develop elsewhere led Hepa, a 6-10 center, to enter the transfer portal following the 2020-21 season.

At the time, Avea was rejoining the'Bows after opting out of that season because of the pandemic. Avea's texts were influential in Hepa's decision to transfer to UH in July 2022. But Avea suffered a back injury that forced him to miss the 2021-22 season and postpone his senior year.

During offseason training last summer, Avea and Hepa were named co-captains. They have been instrumental in the'Bows becoming the 10th UH team to win 20 games and clinching a winning Big West record.

"It surprises me still, " Avea said of being teammates with Hepa. "I'll see him walking around, and I'll look at him for a second, and I'm like, 'Damn, I really got Kamaka here. I tried my best in recruiting him here. So did the staff. Him coming here and getting to spend our last years here together has been really special. And getting closer as time has gone is something I think will last a lifetime."

Hepa said : "It's far exceeded any expectations I had, for sure. Both the basketball aspect of it and the lifestyle of being able to live out here, and the friends I've made—it's hard to put into words."

UC Irvine is preparing for the emotions and energy surrounding the'Bows' home finale.

"We're going to be highly motivated, just like we know Hawaii will be on senior night, " UCI coach Russell Turner said. "Great crowd. We're in for a tough challenge. We know that. But that's what you get in college basketball late in February and turning the calendar to March. We've got some experience in tough road environments. We always have, based on our preseason schedule. We gear up to this time of year, when we know the games are going to be tough and they're going to be emotional and they're going to be games with high stakes. This has all those elements."

While the Anteaters maintain their tradition of a forceful frontcourt and solid defensive posture, Pacific transfer Pierre Crockrell II and DJ Davis provide a different vibe. In the past seven games, Crockrell is averaging 7.6 assists against 2.3 turnovers.

"We now have a point guard, Pierre Crockrell, who is a different kind of player that we've had, " Turner said. "That's been a great change for us—his ability to make other players better, especially some of our better players. ... I say this all the time, I'd love to play with that guy because he works really hard to help everybody else. There aren't many guys who have the combination of competitive mentality and desire to make others better."

Turner said Davis is a deep shooter (39.1 % on 3s ) "who changes the way we look and some of the speed we can play at."