The Hawaii men's basketball team is trying to bust whatever notions its opponents have of the Rainbow Warriors' ability to crack a zone defense.

In their overtime win against Idaho State Tuesday morning, the Rainbows (1-2) faced 45 minutes of a match-up zone from the Bengals, who dared their hosts to shoot from outside. ISU coach Joe O'Brien said afterward his team wasn't used to playing that format, but felt it gave an advantage against Hawaii's personnel.

Hawaii emerged victorious, but didn't appear comfortable until late in the game; UH shot 33.3 percent with 21 turnovers.

Guard Lasha Parghalava didn't start for the first time in three games, but ended up playing 37 minutes and hit a crucial 3-pointer in the final minute of regulation.

He realizes it's up to him to hit open shots to shake teams out of the zone.

“;I'm a shooter and it's my job to shoot good shots, but right now I'm working on it,”; said Parghalava, who is 4-for-19 (21.1 percent) from long range. “;I'm not (where) I'm supposed to be, I should make all open shots. I'm working on it every morning, and after practice.”;

Hawaii found success against ISU late in regulation and in overtime against the zone by moving swingman Roderick Flemings to power forward.

He worked there again yesterday at practice when the Rainbows focused primarily on shooting and penetrating in their zone offense.

“;We moved Rod to the 4 and his quickness and leaping ability really opened up the zone from the inside out,”; said forward Bill Amis, who moved over to the 5 and benefited from the shift against the Bengals.

But the versatile Flemings will also be counted on to step out and knock down shots. So far, he is second to Parghalava in 3-point attempts with eight.

“;Me and Lasha, that's all we talk about,”; Flemings said. “;I always talk to Lasha about being the guys to shoot the ball because nobody else wants to shoot the ball. So, me and Lasha came in and worked on our 3-point shot earlier. We gotta be the ones to break the zone.”;

After playing three games in four days—capped by an 11 p.m. start against the Bengals—Hawaii has several days to prepare for its contest against unbeaten Iowa State (3-0) on Monday.