SAN JOSE, Calif. » The road continues to be unfriendly to the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.

Four trips to the mainland this season and four losses, three by huge numbers, including last night's 83-60 spanking at the hands of San Jose State before a crowd of 2,651 at the Event Center.

In those four losses, Hawaii (9-12 overall, 2-6 in conference) has lost by a total of 91 points, including a 44-point loss at Utah State on Jan. 11. And it doesn't get any easier tomorrow when UH visits the University of Nevada at Lawlor Events Center.

“;You can't make excuses about playing on the road,”; Hawaii coach Bob Nash said. “;It's all about preparation and being committed to playing fundamental basketball all the way through the game.

“;We didn't have great energy defensively tonight. We have to (get better). This game is not indicative of how we play.”;

Hawaii only made one trip to the mainland (UC Irvine) before conference play started, and Roderick Flemings, who led UH with 19 points, thinks it would help the team to play road games earlier in the schedule. He also said it's all about being focused when you play away from home and admitted the team didn't play well at the defensive end, allowing San Jose State to shoot 51 percent (30-for-59).

Some of the defensive problems stemmed from playing against three and sometimes four guards, and other times it was the lack of energy Nash alluded to.

“;It forces our bigger guys to guard smaller, quicker guys,”; Flemings said. “;We just had an off night defensively.”;

The Rainbow Warriors played a solid first half offensively, though, using their height advantage on the offensive glass for three putbacks, two by Paul Campbell and one by Brandon Adams, and going backdoor for several easy layups which forced San Jose State out of its man-to-man defense early on.

“;Coach (Nash) told us to do that,”; Flemings said. “;It was something we learned from the scouting report.”;

And, it's something the Rainbow Warriors do very well, according to SJSU coach George Nessman, who went primarily zone the rest of the game.

“;They are good at that,”; Nessman said. “;They do a great job on the help side of the floor throwing the ball over the top. They have some big athletic guys like Brandon Adams, Flemings and (Adhar) Mayen.”;

Hawaii trailed 22-18 with 8:55 left after Adams followed his own miss, but that was the closest the 'Bows would get the rest of the way.

San Jose answered with a 17-7 run for a 39-25 lead with 2:32 left. Hawaii went 0-for-8 and turned the ball over twice in that span. Chris Oakes led the SJSU barrage with six points, while Adrian Oliver contributed five more points on two baskets.

Oliver led all scorers with 33 points, his sixth 30-plus game of the season. Oakes added 18 and nine boards. The two came close to outscoring the entire UH team.

“;Oliver came out on fire,”; Nash said. “;He was dialed in. He hit some big shots. He's one of the best guards in the league.

“;We took some quick shots against their zone. When you take long shots and miss long there are going to be long rebounds. That led to run-outs and some easy baskets for them.”;

Even while Oliver was torching the 'Bows, he got his teammates involved. Oliver had only four assists, but would have had several more if some of his passes didn't go off the hands of teammates.

“;He can score,”; Nessman said. “;If they commit extra troops to guard we have guys who can hurt you.”;

Oakes obviously is one of those guys and so is Robert Owens, who contributed 12 points, all on 3-pointers.

Hawaii did cut the lead to single digits at the half, 41-32, but the Spartans used a 12-2 run over a 4-minute span to build a 59-40 lead with 12:32 left in the game.

Oliver was right in the middle of that run, too, scoring eight on five free throws and a 3-pointer from the corner.

“;He's a good player; a good scorer,”; Flemings said. “;We didn't do a good job of containing him as a team.”;

Hawaii never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.

NOTES: Junior guard Dwain Williams missed his fourth consecutive game. He hasn't played since the loss at Utah State when he scored 12 points ... Hawaii has now lost three straight and five of its last six ...Campbell, who went 4-for-5 from the floor, is now 25-for-32 in conference play ... Adams' streak of double-digit scoring games ended at four as he finished with nine points ... Jeremy Lay was the only other UH player in double figures with 12.

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 — San Jose State 41, Hawaii 32
3-point goals — Hawaii 1-10 (Mayen 1-3, Thompson 0-1, Flemings 0-2, Lay 0-2, Enos 0-2), San Jose State 7-16 (Owens 4-9, Oliver 3-3, Peterson 0-4).
Steals — Hawaii 8 (Flemings 3, Thompson 3, Lay, Kurtz), San Jose State 6 (Peterson 2, Owens, Oakes, Oliver, Webster). Blocked shots — Hawaii 2 (Adams, Campbell), San Jose State 2 (Oakes 2).
Officials — Dave Hall, Kelly Self, Winston Stith. A—2,651.

Yesterday
San Jose State 83, Hawaii 60
Idaho 74, Fresno State 59
Tomorrow
Hawaii at Nevada, 5 p.m. San Jose State at Utah State Fresno State at Boise State New Mexico State at Louisiana Tech Idaho at Seattle University