BOISE, Idaho » The Hawaii men's basketball team no longer controls its own postseason destiny.

The Rainbow Warriors hung with host Boise State for about 24 minutes last night, then succumbed to the Broncos' sizzling shooting in an 82-63 loss at Taco Bell Arena that has UH coach Bob Nash's WAC tournament hopes on life support.

The loss prevented last-place UH (10-19, 3-12) from clinching a tourney berth.

For Hawaii to make the WAC tournament, the Rainbows need to beat Idaho tomorrow and get some help. For starters, San Jose State must beat Boise State. Then the Rainbows would need Nevada to finish ahead of Louisiana Tech in the conference standings.

LaTech plays at Nevada tomorrow, with the winner of that game gaining the edge.

“;We're just trying to stay optimistic because we know we still have a chance, even though it's small,”; said UH senior center Paul Campbell, who had nine points and nine rebounds. “;We've just got to pray, really, and hope for the best. We'd really prefer to have it in our own hands, but we don't, so we have to play hard and hope for the best.”;

“;We've just got to go and try to get a win at Idaho because that's all we've got left,”; Nash said. “;It could possibly be the last game for our seniors, so we've just got to go out and play with a lot of energy and a lot of determination and confidence.”;

That summed up Hawaii's effort in the first half against Boise State (14-16, 4-11 WAC). The Rainbow Warriors twice had three-point leads in the opening half and trailed only 33-30 at the break, something Nash viewed as a positive.

“;I thought we had a good game plan and in the first half we did a decent job even though we were not playing well,”; Nash said. “;We kept their scorers down and kept their shooters in front of us.”;

Hawaii also got a dose of offense from an unlikely source in sophomore guard Leroy Lutu Jr., who finished with a career-high 12 points to lead his team in the scoring column.

“;I just wanted to come off the bench and give us energy,”; said Lutu, who hadn't scored more than four points in a game this season. “;I was lucky to get some fast-break layups to get us going offensively.”;

Lutu's production was needed, as senior Roderick Flemings wasn't at full strength. Nash said the high-scoring forward missed the team's shootaround practice before yesterday's game with some sort of stomach flu. Flemings finished with just six points—his second-lowest total of the season.

“;He didn't have much energy and was sick all day (Thursday),”; Nash said. “;I don't think it was anything (Boise State) did on him as it was his inability to bounce back from the sickness.”;

Flemings made just two of six shots but had seven assists and four rebounds in 32 minutes of action.

Without its top weapon in form, Hawaii struggled in the second half to keep up with the Broncos. BSU made 17 of 29 shots in the second half, including eight of 15 from 3-point range.

“;We got stops in the first half and were taking advantage of them and making plays,”; Campbell said. “;In the second half, we couldn't get any stops.”;

Boise State put four players in double figures, led by Robert Arnold's 19 points and seven rebounds. The Broncos made 11 of 26 shots from 3-point range, getting treys from six different players.

“;Give Boise State credit—they did what they needed to do,”; Nash said. “;We knew they were capable of shooting the ball from the perimeter. To their credit, they shared the basketball really well and made shots when they needed to.”;

Hawaii hit 52 percent of its shots in the second half but were hurt by 10 turnovers in the final 20 minutes.

“;Boise's a good team,”; Campbell said. “;Their record doesn't really show how good a team they are. I give them a lot of credit.”;

Adhar Mayen scored 10 points and had three steals for Hawaii, while Hiram Thompson, Brandon Adams and Petras Balocka had eight points apiece for the Rainbow Warriors, who beat Boise State in the first meeting of the season.

“;They beat us the first time, so we knew they were capable of beating us again,”; said Arnold, who made seven of 11 shots from the field. “;We just knew we had to play hard and come out focused.”;

WAC STANDINGS

Yesterday

Boise State 82, Hawaii 63

Fresno State 66, Louisiana Tech59

Nevada 100, New Mexico State 92

Idaho 86, San Jose State 76

Tomorrow

Hawaii at Idaho, 3 p.m.

San Jose State at Boise State

New Mexico State at Utah State

Louisiana Tech at Nevada

End of WAC season

Boise State 82, Hawaii 63

Rainbow Warriors (10-19, 3-12 WAC)

Broncos (14-16, 4-11 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— Boise State 33, Hawaii 30

3-point goals— Hawaii 4-16 (Mayen 2-6, Thompson 2-7, Balocka 0-2, Lutu 0-1), Boise State 11-26 (Arnold 3-5, Noonan 3-9, Thomas 2-5, Anderson 1-2, Salzwedel 1-3, Cunningham 1-1, Montreal 0-1).

Steals— Hawaii 9 (Mayen 3, Campbell 2, Thompson 2, Lutu, Flemings), Boise State 9 (Thomas 4, Anderson 2, Arnold, Noonan, Okoye). Blocked shots— Hawaii none, Boise State (Montreal l2, Okoye 2).

Officials— Verne Harris, Mark Reischling, Bobby Vetkoetter. A—2,183.