Associated Press
Charles Smith of New Mexico lit up Alika Smith and
the Rainbows for a career-high 37 points Saturday
night in The Pit in Albuquerque.

Then he glanced over at the nearby commotion.

Ironically, it was senior guard Charles Smith of New Mexico who was surrounded by reporters after the Lobos bid the Rainbows adios in the second half of their 89-69 victory Saturday night in front of 18,018 fans at The Pit.

Hawaii looked as if it might pull off yet another upset after running out to a 21-11 lead and a 37-31 advantage at halftime.

"We ran out of gas in the second half and didn't execute the offense," Alika Smith said softly. "But we'll put it behind us and get ready for a big week."

A showdown with Fresno State looms Thursday night at the Special Events Arena. Then the regular-season finale is Saturday at home against San Jose State.

As for last Saturday, New Mexico guard Charles Smith couldn't have written a better script for himself. He scored a career-high 37 points on Senior Night, the final home game of the year for the Lobos.

But teammate Kenny Thomas was just as big of a factor in the second half.

"We wanted to get the ball into Kenny on every possession (in the second half)," New Mexico head coach Dave Bliss said. "And that gave us some good looks on the perimeter."

No kidding.

New Mexico shot a smoking 82 percent (18 of 22) from the floor - 12 for 12 from inside the three-point arc, six for 10 from beyond - to put the shorthanded Rainbows away.

"Twenty-six straight teams have lost there," Hawaii head coach Riley Wallace said. "We played a good first half, but we didn't have any legs in the second half.

"Then we tried helping out on Thomas and that opened their other guys up."

Thomas finished with 25 points and Clayton Shields was also in double figures with 13 for New Mexico (21-5 overall, 10-4 in the WAC).

The Rainbows played mostly man-to-man defense, which was somewhat of a surprise.

"That's what we played when we beat them (in Hawaii)," Wallace said. "And the times we went into it in the game weren't effective.

"We really missed (Seth) Sundberg a lot this time - we needed him to lean on (260-pound) Thomas. And (Michael) Robinson had a terrible game."

Hawaii fell to 19-5 overall and 11-3 in the WAC. The Rainbows still hold a one-game lead over UNLV and Fresno State in the Pacific Division with two regular-season games to play.

UH guard Anthony Carter put on a dazzling show in front of the stunned Pit crowd in the first half, but struggled in the second half.

Carter scored 29 points, while Micah Kroeger (15) and Alika Smith (12) were also in double figures for the Rainbows, who shot 43 percent in the first half, but only 36 percent in the final 20 minutes.

"We played a good first half, but got tired in the second half," Carter said. "Now we just have to forget about it and move on."

Wallace said last night that the defeat is already behind them.

"I told the guys to get it out of their minds and concentrate on the week ahead," he said. "You could already tell today - we'll be ready."