With three players suspended last week, the University of Hawaii men's basketball roster was down to nine scholarship players.
But the Rainbows held on to beat a tough UNLV team, 66-64, on Thursday and then blasted Air Force, 87-63, on Saturday.
Now, the Rainbows are an impressive 16-4 overall - and 8-2 in WAC play, tied for first place in the Pacific Division with Fresno State.
"I liked the way we got ready to play Air Force, especially with only one day to prepare for them," UH coach Riley Wallace said yesterday. "We played the best defense of the season in the first half."
The Rainbows embarrassed the Falcons in the opening 20 minutes and led, 41-19, at the intermission.
This was just what Wallace and the Rainbows needed - a rare chance to rest several players who have minor injuries.
Anthony Carter continues to be the catalyst for the Rainbows. He had 14 points and nine assists in 27 minutes against Air Force.
"He has a bruise on the side of his leg so I wanted to rest him," Wallace said.
Micah Kroeger had a game-high 18 points, while Alika Smith (14) and Eric Ambrozich (10) also were in double figures.
Seth Sundberg had 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.
"A.C. has been consistent for us all season," Wallace said. "But it's hard to pick out individual players on this team.
"Sundberg had two good games (UNLV and Air Force) for us in the middle. He could have had another double-double last night, but the tendinitis in his knees starts acting up this time of the season, so I took him out."
Ales Zivanovic, a 6-10, 220-pound junior forward, made his season debut against Air Force after recuperating from a knee injury. He scored six points in 10 minutes.
The Rainbows don't have much time to savor the victories, though. A tough two-game road trip looms - in the thin air of Wyoming on Thursday and Colorado State on Saturday.
"I challenged this team after the Air Force game to be something different, to try to win a couple on the road at those places," Wallace said. "Wyoming is playing their best basketball of the season right now."
Hawaii plays at 4:30 p.m. (HST) at Wyoming and at noon (HST) at Colorado State.