Rainbow Roadkill

LAS CRUCES, N.M. » Nothing went right for Hawaii on Thursday.

Then again, it never does for the Rainbow Warriors when they venture to New Mexico State.

Hawaii remained winless in Las Cruces, N.M., falling 115-73 to the Aggies — Hawaii’s second-largest Western Athletic Conference loss.

"We got beat and got beat good," said Hawaii coach Gib Arnold, whose team fell to 15-12 this season and 6-5 in the WAC. "They played great. We have to go get one on Saturday."

The Rainbows are 0-7 at New Mexico State.

The Rainbows remain on the road, where they have been for the past seven days. Hawaii plays at Louisiana Tech at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

"You wish it wouldn’t but we looked tired tonight and I thought we played tired," Arnold said. "We have been playing good basketball on the road, so we know we can win on the road. But tonight, it just seemed like we were a step slow."

Hawaii trailed by as many as 44 points in the final minute, which would have tied its largest loss in the WAC. Thursday was the most points the Rainbows have given up since allowing 126 points to Texas Christian in 1998.

NMSU shot a sizzling 60.3 percent and scored 38 points off a season-high 24 Hawaii turnovers. The Aggies led 52-31 at halftime after a 12-2 NMSU run in the last 4:45 of the first half.

Hawaii outscored NMSU 7-0 to open the second half and pulled to within 14 on a Vander Joaquim jumper with 18:58 to play, but NMSU scored the next nine points.

The Rainbows finished the game shooting 43.1 percent from the field and 4-for-14 from 3-point range.

"I thought we came out and played with some passion for the first 4 minutes," Arnold said. "I think we fouled quite a bit and they were able to come back by hitting some free throws. It just went from there."

Much like the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 21, Joaquim found himself in foul trouble early.

"Against the Aggies, he has gotten into foul trouble early," Arnold said. "In the first game, it didn’t hurt us as bad. But it definitely hurt us tonight. We were in a lot of foul trouble tonight and playing different lineups against a really big, aggressive team and just didn’t have it."

Unlike Hawaii’s victory over NMSU at home, however, senior guard Zane Johnson couldn’t find the same shooting touch. Johnson made seven 3s in Hawaii’s 91-87 victory over the Aggies. He only attempted two triples on Thursday to finish with eight points on 2-for-8 shooting.

"We did a great job on Zane Johnson, especially (junior wing Bandja Sy)," said Aggies freshman guard Daniel Mullings, who finished with a triple-double. Hawaii also surrendered a triple-double in Saturday’s loss to Montana. "Zane Johnson couldn’t breathe at all."

Without Johnson on the perimeter, forward Joston Thomas led Hawaii with 13 points and Trevor Wiseman scored 12 points.

"I thought they came after (Johnson) and did a great job guarding him," Arnold said. "They switched off on him. He was struggling to find his shot."

NMSU outrebounded Hawaii 41-31, outscored Hawaii 42-22 in the paint and finished 28-for-43 (65.1 percent) from the foul line.

Four Hawaii players fouled out. Hawaii had three of the game’s five technical fouls and the Rainbows were 19-for-27 at the foul line.

"It’s hard to guard the foul line," Arnold said.

Both coaches took Thursday’s lopsided result as one game in the bigger picture.

"It’s good and bad when you have a game of this magnitude and play this way," Aggies coach Marvin Menzies said. "I want our fans to have high expectations, but the good is that our guys know they can do it."

The Aggies’ victory helped NMSU create separation from Hawaii. The teams split the season series, yet the Aggies (21-8, 8-3 WAC) are two games ahead of Hawaii in the win column for second place.

"You just tell them that it counts as one loss and you get back on the horse," Arnold said.