For the first time this season, the play of Hawaii wasn't the ugliest thing on the Stan Sheriff Center court.

That would be the Idaho State coaches' shirts. But it was close at times. Very close.

This made-for-insomniacs venture appeared to be a waste of good sack time for the Rainbows faithful late Monday night. And across the country, Every Sleepless Person's Nirvana.

Of course, some had no choice but to watch. “;I got some text messages from my mom,”; UH's Roderick Flemings said. “;She wanted to know why I missed so many free throws.”;

It was about 4 a.m. her time.

You can't pay for this kind of exposure. Nor would you want to.

“;I'm tired of this already,”; shouted a frustrated voice from the crowd, bemoaning the plethora of UH bricks and turnovers—reminders of how the Rainbows lost their first two games to b-ball behemoths San Francisco (nice history) and Cal State Fullerton (nice baseball program). Now more struggles against the Bengals, a lock for the Elite Eight (of the Big Sky Conference, that is).

For once, the students were out in force, in good seats ... very cool. And the best shooting was done by two young contestants for the trip to Vegas.

But I guess the Rainbows are morning people—they played a lot better after midnight than in the first half that started at 11 p.m., gutting out a hard-earned win. Nice way to start the day.

Especially after a first half of playing oops instead of hoops, like they did in the first two games, with plenty of passes to the wrong guys. But the 'Bows earned back their H with gritty defense and offensive patience late (or should I say early?) and by grabbing the momentum in OT and keeping hold of it.

I liked the new starting lineup, with Flemings at the two spot and Brandon Adams at forward. Adams scored nine of UH's first 11 points, but played sparingly late. Coach Bob Nash said second-half objectives called for more minutes from perimeter-type players, but an entry in the night watchman's log book notes Adams getting his back worked on at 12:47 a.m.

With Adams on the bench I nodded off and fell into dreamland.

“;This is great point guard play.”; gushes ESPN's Joe Tessitore, in my REM world where Kareem Nitoto finds Flemings low for a big bucket.

Brian McInnis shakes me awake, insisting it really did happen.

The maligned Nitoto played like a polished point down the stretch, driving and dishing, controlling the clock, hitting jumpers and free throws. Maybe the fire the (insert sport) coach, bench the (insert visible position) crowd will move on to the next victim.

Forward Bill Amis said it best—every point was earned, and it took five guys to score.

But you know what? There's nothing wrong with easy buckets and offensive flow.

It takes a village to score a basket is OK for now, but if it's still this way a month from now, this will be a very long season ... and not because it extends past the WAC tournament.

Flemings showed signs of easing into taking over, making it his team.

Now, if the next game can start at midnight instead of 11 ...

No, sadly, this will be the only time you see the players eating eggs, pancakes and sausages in the postgame meal.

In the final analysis, a hearty breakfast well deserved.