First came the work, then the play.

The Hawaii men’s basketball team got in its first full practice of the 2012-13 season — a three-hour, closed-door affair in the auxiliary Gym 2 — then introduced itself to fans with gusto at the Ohana Hoopfest along with the Rainbow Wahine hoops team.

UH’s version of the nationwide "Midnight Madness" at the Stan Sheriff Center featured a dunk contest won by junior guard Garrett Jefferson and an intrasquad scrimmage, in which the Rainbow Warriors’ upperclassmen schooled the team’s eight freshmen.

Only four active players from last season’s 16-16 campaign remain; that left a lot of fresh faces for the crowd to learn. The players introduced themselves with a "Gangnam Style" dance rendition.

"I hope we can play a lot better than we can dance," third-year coach Gib Arnold quipped to the crowd, about two-thirds of which stuck around after the UH volleyball win over Cal State Northridge.

Jefferson outdid newcomers Aaron Valdes, Brandon Spearman and Ozren Pavlovic in the dunk contest, the first at UH since the 2007-08 Twilight Ohana under Bob Nash. Jefferson jumped over assistant coach Benjy Taylor’s son in the final to beat the high-flying Valdes.

"Human beings should not be able to jump that high," gushed junior center Davis Rozitis.

Soon afterward, the upperclassmen beat the team’s freshmen 30-21 in eight minutes of free-flowing play. But before they could get to any of that, the ‘Bows had to sweat out an onslaught of defensive drills.

"Out of the three hours, we probably spent two hours and 30 minutes on defense," Arnold said. "I was joking with some of the freshmen that this is probably the most defense they’ve ever played, ever."

It might not have been a joke.

"The intensity. The speed. How physical it is," were the impressions of Valdes, the newest of UH’s freshmen. He had to get a two-week NCAA waiver earlier in the day to participate. "Coming from prep school, I thought it would be like (prep school). But it’s nothing like that; it’s more physical and fast-paced."

Senior Jace Tavita projects as the team’s starting point guard after redshirting the last season and a half.

"All throughout the summer, and the first few weeks of school (in workouts), everything was offense," Tavita said. "Working on your shooting game, your physical body. Now, it’s getting in our defense. Coach has said he’s going to give us a lot of freedom, offensively. Defensively it’s pretty strict."

First-year coach Laura Beeman and her Wahine — who started full practices at the beginning of the month — introduced themselves with a group rap, earning laughs from the crowd for some creative lyrics.