Oh yes, Hawaii was ready to play at 7 p.m. The Rainbows are always ready at tip-off. Ready to run, and it’s great fun to watch.

But after halftime? That was a different story again Tuesday. Nearly the same as Friday’s sad tale of woe for UH, but with a much happier ending for UH.

The heartbreak of losing at the buzzer in overtime to Illinois four nights prior was overcome as the Rainbow Warriors led by 15 at intermission Tuesday. But another dose of the second-half blues nearly cost them again. This time they held on — barely.

North Dakota’s resistance against Hawaii in the first half was the same as its nickname: non-existent. With a couple of minutes left before the break it appeared it was over at the Stan Sheriff Center. The only drama remaining was how much the walk-ons would get to play.

As he often does, Vander Joaquim dominated early, the biggest reason UH led 42-27.

At the end, Joaquim played 27 minutes, but had a seat next to coach Gib Arnold as North Dakota closed to within three points twice in the final minutes. Was that due to an achy knee or did the center hoist one too many errant treys in the second half?

Arnold said it wasn’t a case of him being weary of his big man shooting from outside, but rather fatigue in Joaquim’s legs.

"I don’t mind him shooting four 3s. I thought they were all good shots. Probably the last one (was questionable due to) time and score," Arnold said. "I think at the end of games we need to go inside. (But) I’m going to give him that freedom. I thought he was tired. Isaac (Fotu) had a little better legs there at the end. We took him out to get a little break and we stayed with it. Vander’s not completely back in shape (from a preseason knee injury)."

The freshman Fotu played like a vet, despite four fouls. He put forth his best when it was most needed, with 10 of his 17 points coming in the second half and most of his teammates struggling. Same for Brandon Spearman, who had 10 of his 19 post-break, including two free throws to seal it.

The Rainbows have outscored their opponents by a total of 59 points in the first halves of their five games. In the second halves, the other guys have outscored UH by 2. It may seem picky to point this out for a team that is 4-1 … but not when they’d be 5-0 if not for the second-half blahs. And all these games were at home; give North Dakota credit for gumption, but it had no business being with a 20-footer of sending UH to overtime, just like Illinois did.

Is UH running too much in the early-going? Maybe that is costing them later in games. But who wants them to slow down? My hand’s not up and I bet yours isn’t either.

"We probably need to get these young guys, our freshmen, to grow up faster and play them some more. It’s hard to run that way for 40 minutes."

Arnold and Fotu said the Rainbows learned from the mistakes of the late-going against Illinois. The coach said his team was tired, and they looked it.

"But, darn it, we learned. It was almost the exact situation (as the late-going against Illinois). But we stayed home on the shooters, rebounded down and got stop after stop."

The next outing is a tough challenge at 18th-ranked UNLV.

And that is a game where Hawaii will definitely have to play its best … for both halves.

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Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783.