Hawaii made a triumphant return to its old stomping ground.

The Rainbow Warriors lit up Chaminade for season-highs in points and margin of victory in a 94-63 decision at the Blaisdell Arena on Friday night.

Six ‘Bows scored in double figures in front of a split-allegiance crowd of 927 — the Division II Silverswords were technically the home team, though it was an exhibition for them. UH (8-3), which got an official victory, spent 27 full seasons at the Blaisdell and last played there in 1994, when it transitioned over to the on-campus Special Events Arena, later known as the Stan Sheriff Center.

For Chaminade, there would be no residual magic from its upsets of top-ranked Virginia, Louisville, SMU and Hawaii at the Blaisdell in the early 1980s, even with legendary coach Merv Lopes in the house Friday.

UH forward Aaron Valdes led the way with 23 points and nine rebounds. He had several baskets during a 30-4 first-half run which broke the game wide open.

"It was just my teammates finding me the whole time," Valdes said. "People can tell we’re a totally different team than last year. Everybody’s contributing. We had a good team effort tonight."

UH played without sophomore swingman Negus Webster-Chan, who sprained his right ankle in pregame warmups for BYU on Dec. 6 in Salt Lake City. Freshman Isaac Fleming got the start instead and had 13 points.

Point guard Roderick Bobbitt had a season-best 13 rebounds to go with 15 points and six assists. Forward Mike Thomas and shooting guard Garrett Nevels added 11 points apiece, completing double-figure scoring for the entire starting lineup.

UH now prepares for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, starting with Nebraska (6-3) of the Big Ten on Monday.

Behind reserve center Stefan Jovanovic’s first career double-double and Bobbitt’s effort, UH dominated the battle of the backboards 56-34 in what amounted to a Diamond Head tune-up.

"We just played with huge energy and tried to for every single rebound," Jovanovic said.

UH’s athleticism and ball pressure were decisive factors, as well, negating poor (4-for-24) 3-point shooting.

Unlike contests on Molokai and Kauai over the last two years, Chaminade could not make it a game late. The Silverswords led 17-12 after hitting a few early 3s, but their shots dried up and they finished 6-for-25 from deep.

"Whether’s its Maui, the Blaisdell, or the parking lot, we just want to come out and play good basketball," UH coach Benjy Taylor said.

"We’ve defended the 3 well all year, and we didn’t panic. We stayed within what we were gonna do … we just wanted to pack our defense in and deny passing lanes. If they hit a 3 outside 27 feet, then so be it."

Taylor was ill on Thursday, battling a 102-degree temperature and a double ear infection, he said, but was able to coach when his fever broke Friday.

Chaminade (4-5) took an emotional home loss to Hawaii Pacific on Wednesday, while UH had a 13-day break after a 20-point loss to BYU.

Chaminade coach Eric Bovaird said he’d hoped UH would be down this year after losing star forward Isaac Fotu to the pros in the preseason.

"Hey, I give them credit. They developed, they brought in a couple key pieces," Bovaird said. "Bobbitt, I would love to have him on my team. He’s a really good, really smart player.

"They’re a tough matchup for us because we’re a guard-oriented team, and their guards are better than our guards. The last couple years … was a battle of their biggest guys trying to guard our guards."

After the first few minutes, there would be little threat of an upset this time.

UH drained most of the drama out of it by halftime, when the Rainbow Warriors led 55-32, highlighted by a steal and slam by Valdes. He had 19 in the period.

Play was sloppy in the second half on both sides, with numerous turnovers. UH finished with 21 giveaways to Chaminade’s 20.

UH had only 10 players suited up. Forward Stefan Jankovic, who is redshirting the fall semester, was still ineligible to play. UH hopes to have him available for Nebraska.

HAWAII 94, CHAMINADE 63

RAINBOW WARRIORS (8-3)

SILVERSWORDS (4-5)

Halftime — Hawaii 55, Chaminade 32

3-point goals — Hawaii 4-24 (Nevels 3-7, Bobbitt 1-5, Filipovich 0-1, Jawato 0-1, Enos 0-2, Valdes 0-2, Fleming 0-3, Smith 0-3). Chaminade 6-25 (Kuany 2-4, Bailey 1-1, Mathew 1-2, Harper 1-3, Hu 1-4, Boyd 0-1, Pedroso 0-1, Pu’ulei-Auld 0-2, Rosen 0-2, Shastri 0-5). Steals — Hawaii 7 (Bobbitt 2, Smith 2, Enos, Thomas, Valdes). Chaminade 3 (Harper, Louder, Pu’ulei-Auld). Turnovers — Hawaii 21 (Fleming 5, Valdes 4, Bobbitt 3, Thomas 3, Nevels 2, Smith 2, Filipovich, Jovanovic). Chaminade 20 (Bailey 5, Ware 3, Kuany 2, Hu 2, Pu’ulei-Auld 2, Harper, Louder, Mathew, Pedroso, Shastri, TEAM). Assists — Hawaii 9 (Bobbitt 6, Valdes 2, Nevels). Chaminade 10 (Hu 2, Kuany 2, Bailey, Harper, Pu’ulei-Auld, Rosen, Shastri, Ware). Blocked shots — Hawaii 9 (Valdes 3, Jovanovic 2, Nevels 2, Fleming, Nevels). Chaminade 1 (Shastri). Technical fouls — Hawaii none, Chaminade none. Officials — Ryan Wells, Todd Apo, Tony Collazo. A — 927