ASSOCIATED PRESS The Rainbows' Ahmet Gueye blocked a shot by Boise State's Coby Karl during the first half of last night's loss to Boise State. Gueye finished with 16 points and six rebounds but he fouled out after playing just 27 minutes.

Rainbows lose sixth road game

A sellout crowd helps Boise State send Hawaii to its third straight WAC defeat

BOISE » Hawaii picked a bad night to try to end its road struggles.

Boise State, behind its biggest home crowd in nearly seven years, stopped the Rainbows Warriors 73-62 at Taco Bell Arena, extending Hawaii's road losing streak to six.

"Tough atmosphere," guard Bobby Nash said of the crowd of 10,190, most of whom were on hand to celebrate the Broncos' Fiesta Bowl victory and unbeaten football season. "They were all juiced up and ready to go."

The Rainbows, who dropped a last-second decision at Idaho on Thursday night, fell to 0-6 on the road this season and 5-27 in their last 32 road contests. But it wasn't just the crowd. Hawaii (10-9, 1-5 Western Athletic Conference) had other problems -- Boise State freshman guard Anthony Thomas, most notably.

Thomas scored a career-high 21 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and 11-for-11 shooting from the free-throw line. Hawaii's guards struggled to stay in front of the quick 6-foot, 199-pounder, and the Rainbows' big men were often slow to rotate in the paint.

"He had a career night," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said. "We locked up, especially late in the game, we locked up on our guy and didn't get over to help."

It didn't help that forward Ahmet Gueye spent a good portion of the second half on the bench after injuring his left ankle. Gueye, who tore ligaments in his right knee late last season, went down at the 19:03 mark of the second half. He did not return until 11:50 remained in the game.

Without Gueye on the floor, Boise State center Matt Nelson took control. Nelson scored nine of his season-high 25 points during the 7-minute span that Gueye spent on the bench.

"That was one of the stretches where we got hurt," Wallace said.

Gueye finished with 16 points and six rebounds, but all but four points came in the first half. He fouled out after playing 27 minutes.

"When he went out, we were able to get some things going," Nelson said.

Nash scored 16 points and Matt Lojeski added 14 in the loss. Hawaii got very little production out of its bench. Five reserves combined for five points on 2-for-13 shooting .

Thomas, however, was able to make up for subpar performances from the Broncos' senior backcourt starters. Coby Karl scored a season-low four points on a season-low four field-goal attempts. Eric Lane chipped in five points on three field-goal attempts. Karl entered the game averaging a team-high 16.1 points; Lane 9.5.

"Somebody stepped up. Karl didn't have a good night and somebody else had to step up and (Thomas) did," Wallace said.

Thomas, who matched his career high with 26 minutes, also created problems for Hawaii's offense. A pesky defender, Thomas had two steals and contributed to the Warriors' 19 turnovers.

"He changed the game when he came into the game. His speed and the tempo of his play, they had trouble handling," Broncos coach Greg Graham said.

Boise State took its first lead at 17-16 with 8:37 left in the first half and never trailed again. Hawaii cut an 11-point second-half deficit to five at 61-56 on a layup by Matt Lojeski with 5:19 remaining.

But the Broncos, who squandered a 13-point second-half lead Thursday night at Utah State, scored the game's next seven points to secure the victory. The Broncos (9-8, 3-3) improved to 8-1 at home.