Far from ideal, but close to home.

At the midpoint of the Big West Conference schedule, the Hawaii men’s basketball team elected to halve four consecutive road games with a two-day stopover back in the islands. UH (11-9, 5-4 BWC) split the first trip with an 88-59 blowout loss at Cal Poly on Thursday, followed on Saturday by a 78-73 win at UC Santa Barbara that marked the Rainbow Warriors’ first road success of the season.

Games at UC Riverside (5-15, 2-6) and Cal State Fullerton (11-9, 4-4) await Thursday and Saturday. The ‘Bows fly back out for Los Angeles this evening.

UH coach Gib Arnold previously voiced displeasure about being one of only three BWC teams asked to play four consecutive on the road. Still, coming back for even this short window — practices and classes on Monday and today — was worth it, he said.

"Academically, it was extremely important," Arnold said. "I don’t like the fact that we gotta miss six classes in the first two weeks (of the semester). Basketball-wise, you probably want to stay (on the mainland) and just work out. But academically, it was real important that we came back."

Senior swingman Hauns Brereton, who had a breakout game at UCSB with 16 points, appreciated the gesture.

"It’s good to know the coaching staff wants us to do well academically and gives us as much chance as possible," he said. "A couple days here is taking advantage of that. … It puts things in perspective."

Road wins have a way of doing that, too. An aura of confidence permeated Monday’s practice. The UCSB win was UH’s first victory on the mainland in five tries this season.

"It’s good to be back home for a little bit," said senior Jace Tavita, who reclaimed ownership of the starting point guard job with eight assists and three turnovers against the Gauchos. "Get re-energized, get our minds right being back here at home."

Arnold challenged his captains — Tavita, Brereton and Vander Joaquim — to take ownership of the team prior to the win, and each played well. But it was the play of junior Christian Standhardinger that allowed UH to claim the victory with his team season highs of 31 points and 16 rebounds.

He became just the fourth player in program history to record a 30-point, 15-rebound game. Tommy Barker (32 points, 18 rebounds) was the last to accomplish the feat, on Feb. 22, 1975. Fabulous Fivers Bob Nash (36-15, 1972) and Al Davis (35-17, 1971) were the others.

"It’s an honor to be in that group," Standhardinger said. "But I can’t take too much credit … it’s easier when you have amazing (teammates), especially Jace."

Brereton returned to the starting lineup for the first time in five games and responded with his highest scoring output since going for a career-high 24 in the season opener.

And Joaquim returned to form with 17 points and 11 rebounds after a virtual no-show at Cal Poly. He passed Bobby Nash (1,022 points) for 13th on the program’s career scoring list and now sits at 1,025 — 45 points behind No. 12 Anthony Carter.