Isaac Fotu could have blamed a few factors on a slow start. He preferred to just keep playing.

The Hawaii star put in solid work during his first extended fullcourt action of the preseason — 40 minutes worth of officiated intrasquad scrimmages on Saturday.

He scored just a point in the first of four 10-minute scrimmage periods. But in the last, Fotu scored 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting. He finished with 28 points on 11-for-19 shooting overall.

Though UH is a few weeks out from wins and losses going in the books, Saturday was a victory of sorts for the All-Big West Conference power forward. Fotu has been recovering from a disc injury in his back incurred while playing for New Zealand in the FIBA World Cup in September, and at the start of the day he’d barely seen the court since returning to Manoa for his third season.

"It felt really good (to get back on the floor)," said Fotu, who acknowledged he was a little winded in the early going. "I haven’t really played with our new teammates, so it was good to get out with them, and just good to get out there and playing basketball again. It felt good to go up and down, and it was a bit of a rocky start, but I think I got my legs toward the end."

Fotu, UH’s top returning scorer (14.9) and rebounder (6.1), said his back felt fine afterward.

He took the opportunity to stretch the defense with his expanded shooting range, something he has said he will incorporate this season. Fotu went 3-for-8 on 3-pointers and canned several deep 2s.

UH coach Gib Arnold gave him high marks in his preseason debut.

"He’s probably quite a bit out of shape … but it was just good to see him out there," Arnold said. "Offensively he was really good. And I think as he gets in better shape you’ll see better rebounding and better defense out of him."

High humidity in UH’s auxiliary Gym 2 added a degree of difficulty; players were occasionally slipping and sliding around the hardwood. But play was otherwise fluid as the officials let the Rainbow Warriors play through contact.

Arnold called for a new combination of teammates for the "Green" and "White" squads during each new period, meaning players were continuously inverting their reversible jerseys.

Senior shooting guard Garrett Nevels had the most points Saturday with 29 on 11-for-17 shooting, including 7-for-10 on 3-pointers. He and sophomore forward Mike Thomas (16 points) were the only players to be on the winning squad in all four periods.

"My shot’s feeling pretty good. I liked the looks I was getting, and I was knocking ‘em down," Nevels said. "I’ve been trying to get to the basket more. … Coach told me he wants me to go all the way instead of shooting that floater (and) try to get fouled. I didn’t shoot any free throws today, so I have to work on that."

UH now has Fotu and Missouri transfer Stefan Jankovic back from injuries, but fourth-year junior Brandon Jawato (head), redshirt sophomore Negus Webster-Chan (ribs) and true freshman Sammis Reyes (toe) are still out.

"We’d love to have all three back by next week, but Sammis is probably the furthest away," Arnold said.

Point guard duties were handled by Roderick Bobbitt, Niko Filipovich, Isaac Fleming and Dyrbe Enos. Some of the best passing of the day came on the interior, as Thomas and center Stefan Jovanovic found each other in the paint near the day’s finish.

"I was pleased with the effort and execution," Arnold said. "At times it was actually pretty good. You don’t expect it to be pretty this early, and it wasn’t. But, I loved the effort. I love the fact that the guys competed. And I saw a lot of good things."

UH will likely scrimmage again on Saturday as the ‘Bows inch closer to their preseason exhibition vs. Hawaii Pacific on Nov. 6.