MOSCOW, Idaho » Vander Joaquim proved to the Idaho Vandals he can do more than score.

The imposing University of Hawaii post player found teammate Joston Thomas with a hot-potato scoop pass for a key three-point play Saturday night in a satisfying 76-70 Western Athletic Conference win.

Joaquim scored 18 points to lead four Rainbow Warriors in double figures as UH (12-9, 4-3) bounced back from a loss at Utah State two nights earlier to gain a road split and sustain its hope for a high WAC finish.

"In the locker room, I said it’s not a must win, but it’s pretty close," UH coach Gib Arnold said.

With the ‘Bows leading 67-65, Miah Ostrowski sent a pass inside to Joaquim, who immediately drew his customary double-team. He had scarcely touched the ball before he relayed it to Thomas, whose lay-in and ensuing free throw made it a five-point game with 1:37 left.

"We just tried to make plays for each other — the 5 and 4 connection down there," Joaquim said. "If he’s open, I’m going to pass it."

A couple of minutes earlier, Thomas had told Joaquim that Idaho would continue to collapse on him.

"I was letting him know, ‘They’re going to keep coming, keep coming,’ " Thomas said. "And somehow he saw me dig in. That’s what our bigs are taught to do. When they double down, we’ve got to get low, lower than the basket, and sometimes we’ve got to be out of bounds, because we’ve got to get that position for the offensive rebound."

Arnold called it a "great interior pass."

"The play was designed to Vander," the coach said. "They doubled him, like we thought, and he made a great pass. It wasn’t an easy pass."

Joaquim shot 7-for-9 and collected nine rebounds and three assists as the ‘Bows broke a four-game losing streak in the UH-Idaho series.

"He’s improved a lot since last year," Idaho forward Djim Bandoumel said of Joaquim. "Last year, he was not capable of doing all those things. We doubled him last year and it worked pretty well for us. But this year he looks to pass a little bit more when he gets doubled, and he found his buddy, No. 5, a couple of times for dunks."

Thomas snagged nine rebounds and made his presence known at several key moments, blocking a dunk attempt by Kyle Barone — all ball — with less than 6 minutes left and later taking a charge from Stephen Madison to protect a 72-67 lead.

"Coach Gib said from day one, we’ve got to have a grinder attitude," Thomas said. "Waking up early and taking those 6-hour flights over here is nothing. We have to make a living, everybody — coaching staff, the program, the team. We have to make a living at it."

Landon Tatum hit a 3-pointer to cut Idaho’s deficit to 74-70 with 3.4 seconds remaining, but Zane Johnson of UH went 4-for-4 at the foul line in the final 14 seconds.

Johnson and Thomas finished with 16 points each, and Hauns Brereton added 15, knocking down a 3-pointer that gave the ‘Bows a 59-54 advantage with 11:03 to play.

Earlier, Ostrowski’s second 3-pointer of the season and two Joaquim free throws had given UH a 56-51 edge with 12:04 left.

Bandoumel scored 24 points for the Vandals (11-10, 4-3), and Madison added 15. With front-liners playing efficiently for both sides, UH shot 56 percent and Idaho 48 percent.

"We couldn’t get them stopped," Idaho coach Don Verlin said. "They had a great game plan coming in, and we couldn’t get the stops when we needed them."

The ‘Bows won the early inside battles, with an alert Joaquim scoring three buckets in the first 4 minutes to key an 8-2 lead. UH later had advantages of 13-8 and 24-18 before the Vandals settled down defensively and even weathered the setback of Barone’s third foul with 7:10 left in the half.

Madison hit a transition 3-pointer and an inside jumper to counter the continued strong work of Joaquim, who shot 6-for-6 in the first half. The Vandals led 36-35 at halftime, paced by Bandoumel’s 12 points.

"It was a big win for us," Arnold said. "We had to grind out a win on the road against a very good team. It was offense, it was defense, it was bench. I really felt this team stepped up in that second half and did what it takes to win on the road."