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Introducing Cinderella: Meet the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors

Nick Faust, Stefan Jankovic

Hawaii forward Stefan Jankovic is tied by Long Beach State guard Nick Faust during the first half of an NCAA college basketball championship game of the Big West conference tournament Saturday March 12, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

AP

Conference: Big West

Coach: Eran Ganot

Record: 26-5, 13-3

Ratings and Rankings

Kenpom: 62
RPI: 87
AP/USA Today: N/A

Seeding: Hawaii will likely find itself as a No. 13 or No. 14 seed.

Names you need to know: Junior forward Stefan Jankovic is he team’s leading scorer at 15.9 points per game. Junior forward Aaron Valdes (14.7 ppg) and senior guard Roderick Bobbitt (13.5 ppg, 5.6 apg) are also key contributors for the Rainbow Warriors.

Stats you need to know: Hawaii has some talented scorers but their defense is what wins them games. The Rainbow Warriors have the No. 44 defense on Kenpom.

Big wins, bad losses: Hawaii doesn’t have any top-50 wins but has a win over Northern Iowa. The Rainbow Warriors are also remembered for their close loss to Oklahoma on Dec. 23.

How’d they get here?: Hawaii opened the Big West tournament with a win over Cal State Fullerton in the quarterfinals, before beating UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals. In the championship, Hawaii beat Long Beach State.

Outlook: Hawaii better hope for a seed on the higher side, but they have a team with a good enough defense to create some problems.

How do I know you?: Jankovic started his career at Missouri while Sai Tummala began his career at Arizona State.