And then, there was life.

A Hawaii team left for dead suddenly, magically, resurrected itself on senior night with a memorable 74-63 defeat of Nevada before a crowd of 6,025 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Maybe it took a bizarre day like yesterday, when a tsunami warning forced UH to cancel—and un-cancel—the game. But the Western Athletic Conference tournament hopes of the Rainbows were brought back just as quickly, as all five seniors contributed to UH's best game of the season and secured happy final memories of the Sheriff.

A nine-game losing streak came to an end, as did an eight-game skid vs. Nevada. Now UH must only beat Boise State on Thursday in Boise, Idaho—something that seems much more likely now with some positive momentum—and the Rainbows are in the tournament.

“;This is the team we've been waiting for to show up, and tonight they showed up,”; UH coach Bob Nash said. “;This was a great team effort.”;

Point guard Hiram Thompson helped send the upperclassmen off the right way with a career-high 19 points. Roderick Flemings (20 points, 12 rebounds, four assists), Adhar Mayen (career-high 17 points), Petras Balocka (eight points, six rebounds, four assists), Brandon Adams (eight points, six rebounds), and Paul Campbell (tough defense) all had hands in snapping the Wolf Pack's four-game WAC winning streak.

“;This feels great,”; said Mayen, who played the game of his life, pulling up for jumpers regularly and confidently. He shot 7-for-10 overall. “;A lot of passion, a lot of heart. We put it all out there. No fear. We always knew we could play with anyone in the WAC, top to bottom. We just have to go out there and compete, play with heart like this.”;

UNR did make them work for it. UH went up by 17 in the second half at 58-41, then sweated out a furious rally by the WAC's highest-scoring team. The Pack (17-11, 9-5) got to within 62-59 on a spin move by Luke Babbitt, as Flemings came back with a three-point play to spur a 12-5 run to close out the game.

Most of the crowd hung around to watch the seniors throw down their senior night dunks. With 11 family members from Dallas in the crowd, Flemings fittingly threw down a vicious one-hander as the finale to a night full of spectacular plays.

“;We should have brought (his family) here a long time ago, because he played well here tonight,”; Nash said. “;He played unselfish, he played tremendous basketball. It was a great performance, probably his best performance, not necessarily in the number of points, but how he did things.”;

Hawaii frustrated Nevada the same way it did in a 66-60 loss in Reno last month. UH milked the shot clock religiously and stubbornly stuck to its zone defense, despite 9-for-21 shooting on 3-pointers from UNR.

At the other end, UH, the worst 3-point shooting team in the WAC, couldn't miss. The Rainbows drained eight of 13 long-range attempts—including three each by Mayen and Thompson.

UH got conservative with about 7 minutes left, and Nevada made its run. But Flemings, who recorded his 11th career double-double, wouldn't allow the Pack to come all the way back.

“;I was in the post, and we had to get a bucket, and that's all it was,”; Flemings said. “;(Having my family there) is special. I had to boost my game.”;

UH fans got several highlight-reel, high-elevation plays from Flemings in his final college game in the building. In a 14-point, five-rebound first half, he climbed over several players to slam home a tip-dunk, powered through an alley-oop two-hander, and completed a nifty up-and-under three-point play.

The Rainbows did an admirable job of defending the Pack's two NBA prospects, Babbitt and guard Armon Johnson. Johnson was held to 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting and Babbitt couldn't maintain a hot start after 10 points in the first 10 minutes.

UNR coach David Carter tipped his hat to the Rainbows, but conceded his team might have been a bit thrown off by the rescheduling and tsunami worries. He said it was the first time his team went without a game-day shootaround.

“;We didn't have our normal routine. At about 2 (p.m.) we realized we're going to play, so we just had a short prep. That's no excuse, and not to take away from Hawaii, but I was worried about getting a little lethargic.

“;They played hard, they made shots with the shot clock running down and stepped up like seniors.”;

The Rainbows shot 6-for-7 from the field coming out of halftime, going up 48-38 on a Mayen 3-pointer with 14:15 left.

Babbitt heated up after his team fell behind 8-0, to put UNR up 18-12 behind his shooting touch. But UH didn't relent from its stubborn zone. The hosts drew to within four, then pushed ahead with a 12-2 spurt that roused the crowd from its month-long, much-deserved slumber.

Johnson was held scoreless until he converted a three-point play with 32.1 seconds left in the first half. The Rainbows still took a 35-32 lead into the break—their first halftime advantage in 10 games.