Maybe it's a good thing that Hawaii and BYU don't cross paths often these days.

The Rainbow Warriors' former conference rival doled out an 83-65 beatdown in a 10-year reunion last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

A season-high crowd of 4,307 had reason to be optimistic when Hawaii (2-2) cut BYU's 10-point halftime lead to five just moments into the second half, but that just put the talented Cougars (3-0) of the Mountain West Conference on upset alert.

BYU stepped up its hustle and anticipation of passes in UH's flex offense and went on a 15-2 run fueled by turnovers to keep its lead near 20 points for the final 10 minutes.

There would be no Tes Whitlock or Trevor Ruffin buzzer-beating magic, because the Cougars wouldn't allow the hosts to seep back in. The closest it got from that point was 71-56 with 4:12 left, and BYU never panicked, with several more baskets to close it out.

In the end, this meeting was more akin to the annually lopsided affairs in Provo, Utah, before BYU left the Western Athletic Conference to found the Mountain West in 1999. UH's top scorer entering the game, Dwain Williams, was held scoreless, and the Rainbows' other primary sources of offense, Roderick Flemings (12 points, five turnovers) and Jeremy Lay (eight points) were limited most of the night.

For a sense of the Cougars' control from tip-off to final horn, reserve forward Ji Xiang's garbage-time putback elicited one of the loudest cheers of the night.

“;Not one of our better performances,”; UH coach Bob Nash said. “;We came out a little sluggish in our effort. Loose balls, hustle plays. They outhustled us. They played with a little bit more sense of urgency than we did. I thought going in we were ready to play.”;

Point guard Hiram Thompson led UH with 15 points and five assists, but had six turnovers. Petras Balocka added 12 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double of the season, and Adhar Mayen chipped in 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting.

That was about it for bright spots, as the Rainbows shot 39.6 percent for the game, including 31 percent in the second half.

The Cougars, meanwhile, shot 55.7 percent from the field and scored 32 points on 20 Rainbows turnovers. BYU was outrebounded 37-27, but came up with several timely boards to keep possessions alive when nearby 'Bows stood and watched.

“;They always kind of got those rebounds that we play defense for 30, 32 seconds, they take a shot, then they get this cheap rebound and they take air out of us on the defensive end,”; Balocka said. “;Those were kind of costly.”;

BYU showed why it's been to three straight NCAA Tournaments and is the preseason pick to win the Mountain West. The Cougars' play-making guard, Jimmer Fredette, left his prints on each square foot of the Sheriff court.

During scouting, Fredette drew comparisons to Utah Jazz point guard Deron Williams from the UH coaching staff. He backed up that analogy with 20 points (9-for-14 shooting) on a series of twisting drives and spin moves, but more importantly hit open teammates with timely passes for eight assists against just two turnovers. BYU forward Jonathan Tavernari snapped a shooting slump with 17 points, Tyler Haws added 12 and Jackson Emery 11.

“;We were doing exactly what we wanted to do,”; Fredette said. “;We were getting open shots, getting penetration and making extra passes.”;

BYU coach Dave Rose, who got his 100th career win, emphasized team defense to discourage Williams, who shot 0-for-5.

“;I thought that was a big part of the game,”; Rose said. “;We wanted (Williams) to really work for shots.”;

The Rainbows didn't force 1-on-1 play in the halfcourt as they did in their previous loss to Northern Colorado, but still seek comfort in the flex offense. Now UH has a two-game losing streak heading into a matchup with another of the MWC's elite, New Mexico, on Friday.