Remember the old joke about the only guy who could stop Michael Jordan from scoring was his college coach, Dean Smith? On Sunday, coach Eran Ganot might have been the only barrier between his Rainbow Warriors and triple-digits as UH romped over Nicholls State, 99-74.

Reserve guard Niko Filipovich grabbed a rebound with 25 seconds left. As he dribbled across mid-court, Ganot made certain he and the rest of the ‘Bows knew there was to be no shot taken … not with a lead of more points than ticks remaining on the clock.

“I would’ve gone on the court and taken a charge,” Ganot said. “You have to respect your opponents.”

That had to have athletic director David Matlin smiling; it definitely fit in with his tenet of winning with integrity.

The anti-climactic ending was quite the contrast to the ’Bows’ previous game, when a frantic finish against Nevada culminated with Roderick Bobbitt’s last-second layup giving UH a 76-75 decision.

With few hiccups, the Rainbows have passed every test in the early going of Ganot’s first season. So far they’ve successfully combined the swagger of last season with discipline that manifests itself in less jawing at refs and more good shot choices.

But the next challenge is a big one. The road awaits, and UH leaves tonight to play at Texas Tech on Saturday.

“We’re appreciative to be 4-0 heading into our road trip,” Ganot said after Sunday’s win. “This was another step in the right direction. We’ve got a few things to clean up, but we’re encouraged by the contributions of everybody.”

One of those things to improve on is free-throw shooting. So far, they’ve gotten away with making just under 60 percent. It’s worse in the second half; UH has outscored its foes 183-116 in the first 20 minutes, but it’s 153-172 after the break — due largely to the free-throw difficulties.

Against Nicholls State, Hawaii shot eight percentage points better from the field (66) than the line (58). Focus, fatigue … regardless of the reason, if the charity shots don’t go in more often the Rainbows will eventually give away a game.

There’s nothing at all wrong with UH’s shooting while opponents try to defend against them; Sunday’s spectacular effort put the ‘Bows at over 50 percent from the floor for the season.

“I think it starts with shot selection,” Ganot said. “There weren’t that many bad shots in the game. It’s part of being a team, not settling.”

Indeed, these same players who shot first and answered questions later on the way to 22 wins last season have become more picky. Making one 3-pointer used to suffice for “feeling it” and going into launch mode. On Sunday, Aaron Valdes passed up an open trey in the second half despite having hit three of four, electing to pass to a teammate instead.

“I felt like I was rushing (shots) the last couple games,” said Valdes, who scored a season-high 20 against Nicholls State and leads UH with 17.0 per game.

“To Aaron’s credit he had his best day,” Ganot said. “He took good shots today and that’s how you build confidence in yourself and your team.”

Now we’ll get a look at how well UH’s confidence and discipline travels.