Little Mac had all the right punches this time.

Idaho's lithe point guard Mac Hopson knocked out Hawaii with a season-high 24 points on 8-for-11 shooting as the Vandals dispatched the Rainbow Warriors 59-52 last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

In the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams, a crowd of 3,609 saw the Rainbows (7-7, 0-1 WAC) rally to get back off the mat after looking down for the count at the 28-minute mark.

Idaho (8-4, 1-0) led 43-31 with 12 minutes, 15 seconds left, but UH went on a 15-6 run to pull within 49-46 with 3:19 to go. That was as close as it got, though, as Hopson and company countered with consecutive baskets. Five-for-11 shooting at the foul line in the final minute-plus was enough to fend off UH as the Vandals held the Rainbows to 36.7 percent shooting from the field and a season low in points.

Hawaii senior center Paul Campbell tied a career high with 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, but 12 of those points came in the first half and the Rainbows had no player to feed with the hot hand for most of the night. UH went 2-for-16 on 3-pointers, including five desperate misses in the final minute.

UH next takes on Boise State tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. to end a nine-game homestand.

“;We have to let this one go,”; UH coach Bob Nash said. “;This is one that got away from us, so we have to let it go and put all our attention at how we can get Boise on Monday. We certainly can't afford to have two losses here at home to start conference, to be in it at the end.”;

Hopson, one of the top playmakers in the WAC, went to a scoring role against UH. He poured in 14 in the first half on 6-for-7 shooting, and made few costly mistakes. Last season, UH guard Kareem Nitoto harassed Hopson into one of his worst nights of the season: five points on 2-for-8 shooting with three assists against six turnovers in a 71-49 loss at Hawaii. Idaho improved to 2-3 at UH.

“;It's a very big win for us,”; Hopson said. “;The vets in the locker room know from experience that if you don't come here ready to play, you will get blown out. That happened to us last year. Tonight we came out aggressive on offense and rebounded well enough to win.”;

Nitoto is with the Rainbows no longer, and Hopson made shots when it counted this time. He went 3-for-4 on 3-pointers.

“;He's a good player,”; said UH point guard Hiram Thompson, who was charged with guarding Hopson most of the game. “;They ran a lot of plays to get him open. I ran through a lot of screens. We were switching, and sometimes I got lost on the switches.”;

Defense wasn't really the problem, though. Hawaii was sluggish for the first 5 minutes of both halves and trailed by 11 at halftime. UH went the first 5 minutes after halftime without a field goal, until Adhar Mayen hit two baskets to pull UH within 40-31 with 12:40 to play. Idaho went back up by double figures on a Marcus Lawrence 3-pointer.

Guard Dwain Williams was the go-to player for UH with Roderick Flemings out injured the previous two games. But the transfer guard had his string of three straight 20-point games broken with a 1-for-10 night, and Flemings went 3-for-7 for 10 points in quietly returning off the bench from a sore knee.

Forward Petras Balocka was also a nonfactor with no points and one rebound in 7 minutes.

Idaho came out with purpose. The Vandals rejected Hawaii's first two shots and scored quickly in transition to take a 6-0 lead, forcing a quick UH timeout.

UH came back to tie the game at 11 on a Thompson 3-pointer, and Campbell kept the Rainbows in it—for a while—on a 6-for-6 shooting start on dunks and putbacks.

The Vandals looked to pressure the UH guards up high in the halfcourt, forcing the ball out of the hands of Thompson in the physical game. Sometimes it worked to the Rainbows' advantage, as UH found Campbell for several dunks in the halfcourt.

Not often enough. Idaho stayed ahead, helped in part by three Rainbows misses on the front end of 1-and-1s. The Vandals outscored the Rainbows 23-8 over the final 10 minutes of the first half, capped off with a huge play. With time winding down, Williams turned it over at one end, Idaho scooped up the loose ball and Steffan Johnson hit a running 3-pointer from 5 feet behind the arc—off the glass—at the other end to beat the buzzer for a 36-25 lead.

“;Kashif Watson and Mac Hopson both played great defense,”; Vandals coach Don Verlin said. “;Mac Hopson played like the player he is, and that was the difference. That's as good as we've played defensively since I've been here. Our guys battled.”;

The Rainbows travel to Fresno State for their first conference road game on Saturday.