The Hawaii men’s basketball team fell behind at the start of the second half and never recovered in a 73-67 loss at Pepperdine today.

UH cut it to 45-44 on a jumper by junior center Vander Joaquim with 10:52 left, but the Rainbow Warriors (2-3) would never retake the lead they enjoyed in the game’s opening minutes.

Freshman point guard Shaquille Stokes led UH with 18 points on 6-for-13 shooting.  Junior forward Joston Thomas added 15 on 6-for-8 shooting, and junior swingman Hauns Brereton scored all of his 14 points in the second half for UH.

With 5:05 to play and UH down 57-51, junior center Vander Joaquim was assessed a personal foul, followed by back-to-back technical fouls, resulting in his ejection.

Pepperdine’s Corbin Moore made five of the ensuing six free throws for a 62-51 lead and the Waves held on from there.

Four UH players were disqualified (Zane Johnson, Trevor Wiseman and Thomas fouled out) and Pepperdine made 27 of its 35 free-throw attempts. 

Moore led the Waves (4-3) with 17 points. Forward Taylor Darby added 16.

The game was tied at 31 at halftime.

UH’s two-game road trip continues on Tuesday at Pacific.