LOGAN, Utah >> On the plus side, Hawaii held Utah State under 100 points and managed to avoid falling behind by 50.

But everything else went horribly wrong for the visiting team last night, as the Aggies pummeled the Rainbow Warriors 98-54 to leave Hawaii with its worst Western Athletic Conference loss ever.

“;Utah State certainly didn't disappoint their fans tonight. They came out, played inspired and took us out behind the wood shed and spanked us pretty good,”; UH head coach Bob Nash said after the 44-point setback, Hawaii's most lopsided loss in conference play, surpassing the 126-84 rout (42 points) at the hands of TCU in 1998. It tied a WAC record for margin in a league game, set three other times, most recently by TCU over San Diego State in '98.

Hawaii (8-9, 1-3) returns to Oahu today to prepare for a Sunday game against San Jose State. The Rainbows, who are 0-3 on the road, play their next three games at the Stan Sheriff Center.

“;We just have to learn from it, grow from it and move on,”; Nash said.

Guard Dwain Williams led Hawaii with 12 points, and forward Brandon Adams added 10 points and eight rebounds in starting for Petras Balocka, who was out after hurting his surgically repaired left shoulder in Saturday's 78-64 loss at Fresno State. But while the Aggies shot 61.8 percent from the field and knocked down 11 of 16 3-point attempts, the Rainbows converted less than 33 percent of their shots, and leading scorer Roderick Flemings connected on just three of 14 attempts and finished with eight points.

“;I don't know what to say; we just didn't come to play tonight on all parts of the game and they hit like every shot they took,”; said UH guard Hiram Thompson, who finished with only two points after scoring 16 in Hawaii's 82-62 loss at USU last season. “;That combination isn't a good one.”;

The Warriors clearly caught the Aggies (11-6, 1-2) at the worst possible time. The defending WAC champions lost both games on their first conference road trip of the season at New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech and had a whole week to prepare for Hawaii. USU was playing on its home court, where the Aggies have now won 43 of their last 44 games.

“;We were very hungry to get a win and very aggressive,”; USU head coach Stew Morrill said. “;Hawaii was very tired and worn out because they are certainly better than that. We just came out and fired on all cylinders. We were aggressive shooting the ball, aggressive on the break and were playing hard defensively. It was nice to see coming off a tough road trip.”;

Utah State's starting big men Tai Wesley (15 points, nine rebounds) and Nate Bendall (15 points, four rebounds) put up good numbers despite playing just 22 and 19 minutes, respectively. Junior swingman Tyler Newbold also scored 15 points, thanks to a 5-for-5 performance from 3-point range, and senior point guard Jared Quayle finished with 11 points, five assists and two steals.

The Aggies shot 73 percent in the first half, including a 7-for-8 effort from beyond the arc, and led 54-26 at halftime. Utah State's largest lead of 49 points came with 11:16 left in the game, and the Aggies had a chance to break the century mark, but after an offensive rebound by Hawaii, Williams dribbled out the final 20 seconds as the crowd of 9,888 expressed its displeasure.

“;It certainly helps if you have a week to just work on your game and only think about what you have to do in the next game,”; Nash noted. “;But (the Aggies) were working on all cylinders tonight, especially in the first half, shooting well over 70 percent. But we had something to do with it because we didn't get a hand up. They just did what they needed to do, and you have to tip your hat to them. They played an extraordinary game tonight.”;

Utah State's 98 points were the most ever scored by the Aggies in a WAC game and their most in a league contest since beating North Texas 102-76 on Feb. 28, 1997, while a member of the Big West Conference. It was also USU's largest winning margin since beating Loyola Marymount by 45 points in 2004, and its biggest margin of victory ever in a WAC game.

After intermission, the Aggies stayed in a zone defense the remainder of the game, and while the Rainbows turned the ball over only two times in the second half, they only converted 32 percent of their shot attempts. A frustrated Flemings was called for a technical foul with 13:15 to go and sat on the bench the remainder of the game.

“;The referees thought (Flemings) may have used inappropriate language, and so they called the appropriate call,”; Nash explained. “;We don't condone our guys doing things like that, and we'll certainly address it with Rod because we don't have that kind of image.”;

UH played the entire game without leading rebounder Balocka. Nash said he didn't want to “;run the risk of further injury”; to Balocka, but that the big man's range of motion is getting better.

WAC MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS

Yesterday
Utah State 98, Hawaii 54
Fresno State 80, San Jose State 70
New Mexico State 75, Idaho 72
Louisiana Tech 79, Boise State 64
Tomorrow
Utah State at Nevada
Thursday
Boise State at San Jose State
Freno State at Louisiana Tech

UTAH STATE 98, HAWAII 54

RAINBOW WARRIORS (8-9, 1-3 WAC)

AGGIES (11-6, 1-2 WAC)

Key — fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.
Halftime — Utah State 54, Hawaii 26
3-point goals — Hawaii 8-24 (Williams 4-9, Mayen 2-4, Flemings 2-6, Thompson 0-2, Lay 0-3), Utah St. 11-16 (Newbold 5-5, Green 3-3, Quayle 1-2, Myaer 1-2, Medlin 1-3, Williams 0-1).
Steals — Hawaii 5 (Mayen, Campbell, Thompson, Williams, Xiang), Utah St. 9 (Williams 2, Quayle 2, Jardine 2, Newbold, Niang, Myaer). Blocked shots — Hawaii 3 (Campbell, Thompson, Xiang). Utah St. 7 (Jardine 4, Welsey 2, Newbold)
Officials — David Hall, John Higgins, Michael Irving.
A— 9,888.