You want to zero in on why Hawaii lost its basketball season opener to USF last night, that's it, zero.

Zero assists by the starting guards, who each played 36 minutes, compared to a combined eight turnovers.

“;That stuck out in our minds, too,”; coach Bob Nash said in the postmortem.

And zero bench points in 43 minutes played by five subs.

The fact that the Rainbows were still in it at the end despite such glaring deficiencies means there is hope.

But not if the backcourt play doesn't improve, and coach Bob Nash knows he needs to develop some depth there. Starting point guard Kareem Nitoto wears zero on his jersey, and in addition to his total assists, that's about how much gas he had left at the end.

“;Probably too many minutes,”; Nash said. “;He got worn down.”;

As for Roderick Flemings, a mixed review. He had a couple of chances to be Superman down the stretch, but the cape didn't quite fit this time. The whistle didn't go his way on a possible USF charge, and his only 3-point try of the night—that would've tied it with 7 seconds left—fell short.

It's hard to judge a talent like Flemings in a knockdown, drag out like this was.

The crowd, however, did get a taste of what it'd been waiting for since UH got Christmas last spring when Flemings chose Hawaii over Kentucky and others of that elite circle. With 15 minutes left last night, he got a running start and threw down an uncontested left-handed power dunk.

But most of this was trench warfare, an ugly, dirty scrap that neither side can control very long, and the type of game in which a team with four new starters can be expected to struggle.

No hot shooter, no explosive slasher, no slick point guard, no genius of a coach dominates.

Defense and experience generally rule, and it happens a lot in season openers.

It often comes down to who can stop giving up the ball, and who can make some free throws at the end. Sometimes it's whether a call goes your way or not at a crucial point. Often it's all about veteran savvy, and that was definitely in the Dons' favor.

Last night it was all of the above.

Of course, the Rainbows had their moments, like jumping out to a 7-0 lead.

And there was the eight-point run after a timeout 2 minutes into the second half, including two baskets by Bill Amis off the offensive glass.

But the crucial sequence was keyed by UH not getting back in good order in transition, allowing USF's Blake Wallace to hit back-to-back treys.

“;It's not typical of how we will play,”; Nash said. “;I'm not pushing the panic button.”;

It could've been worse for the Rainbows.

It could've opened at North Carolina, like the football team starting out at Florida.

USF at the Stan Sheriff Center was more than enough of a test.

“;We let them stay in too long,”; Amis said. “;You have to put teams like that away and we didn't do that.”;