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GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Matt Gibson of Hawaii drove to the hoop against Boise State last night. Gibson scored a game-high 21 points as the Rainbow Warriors earned a league win against the Broncos.

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Rainbows gear up

Revitalized by the return home,
UH starts off its stretch with
a big WAC win over Boise State

A fresh start and a strong finishing kick got the Hawaii basketball team back on track last night.

With the Rainbow Warriors dragging back into town following an 11-day road trip, the coaching staff took a new approach in practice this week, opening up the competition for starting jobs.

"This is like the dog days for us," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "We're coming off an 11-day trip, we're tired and we have to make a stretch run. That's why we changed it up and said whoever hustles, whoever works is going to get it."

The team responded by holding Boise State without a field goal in the final 4 minutes to pull away to an 81-67 Western Athletic Conference victory last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

UH (14-7, 6-7 WAC) outscored the Broncos 20-7 down the stretch to turn a one-point lead into a comfortable margin at the buzzer and end a two-game skid.

"All week coach has been preaching defense to us," UH guard Bobby Nash said. "We tend to get lackadaisical the latter part of the game. I just think guys wanted to step it up. We're brothers on this team. You don't let your brother get beat up. So all we did was help out, get the gaps, contest shots."

Guard Matt Gibson led the Rainbows with 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field, while forward Vaidotas Peciukas enjoyed another productive night against Boise State.

Peciukas hit six of nine shots in 27 minutes to finish with a career-high 15 points off the bench. He eclipsed his previous best of 14 points set last season against the Broncos.

He's scored in double figures in all three of his games against Boise State in his career.

"I don't know what it is, but I'll take it," Peciukas said. "They run up and down all the time, that's what I like to do."

The Rainbows' execution in their half-court offense produced numerous layups and led to 55.8 percent shooting from the field. They made 17 of 24 attempts (70.8 percent) after halftime and 24 of their 29 field goals came off assists.

"They overplay a lot, they like to get up in the passing lane and try to deny the ball," Gibson said. "They switch a lot and when they do that (Peciukas) is really good about cutting backdoor. His off-the-ball movement is why he gets a lot of points."

The Rainbows got a scare as forward Julian Sensley had to be helped from the floor late in the game with a sprained right knee.

The Rainbows' leading scorer hit the floor hard after throwing down a thunderous dunk while being fouled to put UH up 76-66 with 1:33 left. X-rays taken after the game were negative and an MRI is scheduled for today. Sensley finished with nine points and five rebounds.

Nash scored 12 points, while guard Jake Sottos had 11 points and seven assists. Forward Jeff Blackett posted eight points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Boise State (10-15, 4-10) hit 11 3-pointers, the most given up by the Rainbows this season, to stay close for much of the game. But UH's late run left the Broncos winless on the road in conference play.

"They played very well in the second half," BSU coach Greg Graham said. "They have six or seven guys who can all shoot the ball -- when they're on it's hard to play them. We had some breakdowns defensively and we gave some easy baskets."

Wallace shook up the starting lineup by inserting Nash, normally a shooting guard, at the small-forward spot, with center Chris Botez coming off the bench.

Botez was one of just two UH players who had started each of the first 20 games. Sensley, now the only Rainbow to start every game, shifted to power forward.

The new rotation seemed to spark the Rainbows early as they used a 12-3 run to open a 29-17 lead.

Peciukas entered the game at the 12:37 mark and hit four of his five shots from the field to score 11 points.

But the Rainbows went without a field goal for the final 4:47 of the half and the lead vanished as Boise State closed the period on a 14-1 run and took a 31-30 lead into the break.

Coby Karl hit two 3-pointers in the run, while guard Jermaine Blackburn slashed to the basket for two layups.

Hawaii made its first eight shots from the field to open the second half and claimed a 48-43 lead on Gibson's breakaway layup off a feed from Sottos.

Boise State stayed close throughout, but UH inched away with points from the free-throw line and went up 72-62 with 2:02 left on a layup by Nash off an assist from Jeff Blackett.

Karl led Boise State with 19 points, while Blackburn added 16.

The Rainbows next face Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the ESPN Bracket Busters game at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Sheriff Center.

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Hawaii 81, Boise State 67

Broncos (10-15, 4-10 WAC)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Lane	1	6	0	0	26	2	0	3
Karl	6	15	3	4	34	3	5	19
Blackburn	6	14	2	2	31	5	5	16
Banks	2	4	0	2	24	4	0	4
Ellis	2	7	0	0	29	5	1	4
Robinson	2	4	2	4	22	4	0	7
Thompson	1	2	0	0	4	0	0	3
Lloyd	1	1	1	2	4	1	0	3
Harris	2	6	2	3	25	3	2	8
Green	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
TEAM						6
Totals	23	59	10	17	200	33	13	67

Rainbow Warriors (14-7, 6-7 WAC)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Gibson	7	9	4	5	32	5	3	21
Sottos	3	9	3	4	36	3	7	11
Nash	3	7	5	6	24	5	1	12
Blackett	4	7	0	0	33	8	8	8
Sensley	4	8	1	3	34	5	3	9
Peciukas	6	9	3	5	27	2	2	15
Tatum	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
Botez	2	3	1	2	11	1	0	5
TEAM						4
Totals	29	52	17	25	200	33	24	81

Key -- fg: field goals made; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws made; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes played; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime -- Boise State 31, Hawaii 30
3-point goals -- BSU 11-29 (Karl 4-11, Blackburn 2-3, Harris 2-5, Thompson 1-2, Robinson 1-3, Lane 1-5), Hawaii 6-16 (Gibson 3-5, Sottos 2-7, Nash 1-2, Sensley 0-1, Peciukas 0-1). Personal fouls -- BSU 21, Hawaii 16. Fouled out -- None.
Steals -- BSU 2 (Karl, Lloyd), Hawaii 4 (Gibson, Nash, Peciukas, Tatum). Blocked shots -- BSU 2 (Karl, Lane), Hawaii 0. Turnovers -- BSU 12 (Blackburn 3, Karl 2, Ellis 2, Banks, Robinson, Thompson, Harris, TEAM), Hawaii 10 (Blackett 3, Gibson 2, Sottos, Nash, Sensley, Tatum, Botez). Officials -- Kaster, Giarratano, Hernandez. A -- 6,394.

WAC standings

	WAC				Overall
	W	L	Pct.	GB	W	L
Nevada	12	2	.857	--	19	5
UTEP	10	4	.714	2	20	6
Louisiana Tech	8	6	.571	4	13	10
Fresno State	8	6	.571	4	14	9
Rice	7	6	.538	4 1/2	13	9
SMU	7	7	.500	5	12	10
Hawaii	6	7	.462	5 1/2	14	7
Boise State	4	10	.286	8	10	15
San Jose State	3	10	.231	8 1/2	6	16
Tulsa	3	10	.231	8 1/2	6	16

Yesterday's games
Hawaii 81, Boise State 67
SMU 73, Louisiana Tech 70
Fresno State 71, Tulsa 69
UTEP 70, San Jose State 62
Nevada 73, Rice 58