Hawaii forced the ball inside to Vander Joaquim, who dribbled, dribbled … into double coverage and a shot-clock violation.

It was a fitting end to a disjointed first half for the Rainbow Warriors, who never fully recovered in a 63-56 loss to Pepperdine before a crowd of about 4,500 on Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Patient Pepperdine (6-3) of the West Coast Conference dictated style and tempo while nailing a season-high 10 3-pointers. The Waves took control in the final 10 minutes of both halves. UH (4-3) couldn’t get the requisite stops or free-throw makes and got a nine-point deficit down to only five.

After giving up an 8-0 run going into halftime, UH clawed its way back to tie things up at 38 with 12:59 to play, but could not get over the hump in dropping its second straight game.

Gib Arnold’s team will have finals week to stew on the disappointing defeat before taking on Division II neighbor Chaminade on Molokai on Saturday.

"They (dictated things) the entire game," the UH coach said of Pepperdine. "They kept it in the 60s, we want it in the 70s. That was the game. Their guards were able to dictate the tempo and keep it where they liked it."

Pepperdine — which was picked last in the WCC — succeeded in turning it into a possession-by-possession grind, taking (and making) shots deep into the shot clock. That was key with its top scorer on the season, Lorne Jackson, saddled with foul trouble.

"They do it smart. They wait til 30 seconds, and take a shot, take a penetration, and you look bad playing defense after 30 seconds," said junior forward Christian Standhardinger, who had his third double-double of the season, 14 points and 10 rebounds, but shot 4-for-15 from the field, including a pair of late misses in the final minute that would have pulled UH within a possession.

"We gotta learn to lock them down after 30 seconds. That’s a big learning step for us as a team."

The visitors got timely 3-pointers, while UH hampered its own game-long comeback effort with 50 percent (13-for-26) shooting on free throws and a 33.3 percent (18-for-54) effort from the field.

The ‘Bows got 10 points and eight boards from center Vander Joaquim, but were again suspect on the wings, getting minimal production from senior Hauns Brereton and junior Brandon Spearman.

"We’ll struggle until we start getting more balanced offensively," Arnold said.

UH went with a zone defense and scrapped for second-chance points on offense to open the second half, getting within one on two occasions before finally tying it up.

Freshman Ozren Pavlovic hit the first 3-pointer of his young UH career to get UH back within 38-37 with less than 14 minutes to play.

UH tied it up at 38 on a free throw by Fotu, but Pepperdine came back with its ninth 3-pointer of the night.

That’s about the way it went the rest of the way. UH would get a bucket to briefly get the "Nerd Night" crowd into it, only to whiff on its subsequent shots.

"Personally, I think that we just couldn’t get it going," said senior point guard Jace Tavita, who had three of UH’s seven 3-pointers for all of his career-best nine points. "I don’t think they were pressuring us or making it too difficult. I just think we didn’t execute. Mentally we had too many lapses."

Coach Marty Wilson’s Waves won for the sixth time in seven games for their best start through nine games since the 2004-05 season.

With Jackson (11 points) held in check most of the way, guard Jordan Baker stepped up off the bench with 15 points and seven rebounds, and point guard Caleb Willis (11 points, four assists) got in on the 3-point act for the Waves’ 10th trey, a season best, for a 46-40 lead. Willis added a layup for an eight-point lead, tying the biggest margin of the game at that point with under 10 minutes left.

Standhardinger buried a right-wing 3-pointer to make it 55-50 Waves with 2:32 to play and UH freshman forward Isaac Fotu (12 points, nine boards) went baseline for a three-point play with 1:47 left to make it 58-53.

Joaquim hit a tough, spinning baseline shot in traffic to make it 60-55 with 1:01 left.

Coming out of its last timeout, UH forced a five-second inbounds violation on the Waves. Standhardinger’s corner 3 was off, but he got a steal on the rebounds. His runner lodged itself between the rim and the backboard, but UH had the possession arrow and again got the ball back. Joaquim took a contested shot in the paint, but he missed, ending the game.

UH shot 8-for-28 (28.6 percent) in the first half, while Pepperdine sizzled from long distance. The Waves made seven of 14 3-point attempts in the period and took a 31-23 lead into the locker rooms.

Hawaii’s top three scorers going into the game — Standhardinger, Joaquim and Spearman — were all off at the outset, going a combined 2-for-13 from the field in the first half.