HONOLULU, Hawai'i – Hawai'i outscored visiting UC Santa Barbara 11-2 to open the second half and never looked back, in a 70-63 Big West Conference win on Saturday night. 

The Rainbow Warriors (12-6 overall, 3-1 Big West) handed the Gauchos (12-6, 1-2) their second consecutive loss.

By jumping out of the gates in the second half, UH turned a 35-33 disadvantage into a 44-37 lead on a three-pointer by Zigmars Raimo at the 16:00 mark. UCSB was able to pull within five on several occasions, the last time on a pair of free throws by JaQuori McLaughlin with 7:57 to play, but could not get any closer. 

The Warriors took a 64-54 lead with 57 seconds left when Dawson Carper rebounded his own miss and made a lay-up. After Max Heidegger cruised in for a nifty lay-up to cut the gap to 64-56 with 48 seconds remaining. A long pass to Justin Webster for an easy basket pushed the advantage back to 66-56. 

A lay-up by McLaughlin made it 66-58, but Webster made 1-of-2 free throws, UH forced a Gaucho miss and Drew Buggs also made one out of two free throws to make it a 68-58 game. 

It was still a 10-point game, 70-60, when Heidegger's first three-point basket of the game and the Gauchos' second came with 1.6 seconds left and made the final score 70-63. 

After a sizzling start that saw them take a 26-18 lead with 7:54 left in the first half, the Rainbow Warriors cooled off, making just 3-of-9 from the field the rest of the way. The Gauchos ended the half with a 17-7 run that gave them a 35-33 halftime lead. McLaughlin scored 10 of his points in the first 20 minutes.

"We weren't good tonight," said UCSB head coach Joe Pasternack. "We had three assists and got out rebounded by 10 (33-23). You can't win on the road when you play like that." 

In addition to being outrebounded by 10, Santa Barbara made just 2-for-15 from three-point range, 13.3%. A 19-for-22 performance from the free throw line kept the team in the game, but it wasn't enough.

Heidegger equaled his season-high with 21 points, making 8-for-15 from the field overall and all four of his free throws. McLaughlin added 14 points, while Amadou Sow had nine. Sow was limited to 18:06 because of foul trouble. 

UH made 49.1% of its shots overall, including a 7-for-20 performance from three-point range, 35.0%. Buggs had 12 points and 12 assists to lead four players in double-figures for the Rainbow Warriors. UCSB did a good job on their leading scorer Eddie Stansberry, who came in averaging 17.0 points per game and finished with just six.

On Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Gauchos return to the hardwood when they host Cal State Northridge (CSUN) at the Thunderdome. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. They will also welcome UC Riverside to Santa Barbara on Saturday, Jan. 25 for a 7:00 p.m. game.