Four days, three wins, 2 a.m., one tournament title.

That was the situation early Tuesday morning at the Stan Sheriff Center for the Hawaii men’s basketball team, which likes where it’s at — but is by no means satisfied — after its first barrage of action of the 2012-13 season.

UH defeated Houston Baptist 73-60 in a late-night contest bridging Monday to Tuesday, improving to 3-0. It was both the de facto title game of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic and an ESPN-televised event as part of the College Hoops Tip-off Marathon.

Behind double-doubles from Vander Joaquim and Christian Standhardinger, the ‘Bows overpowered the Huskies (2-1) with skilled size, an attribute expected to be UH’s strength. Joaquim had 20 points and 10 rebounds in his first start of the season, earning him tournament MVP honors, and Standhardinger had 14 points, 11 boards and five steals.

"I’m taller than them, I felt like I was a little stronger than them," said the 6-10 senior center Joaquim, who looked his best yet coming off a preseason knee injury. "So, we’re big and strong, all stronger than them, and that’s about it. We had to go inside, inside more."

Junior guard Brandon Spearman had 10 of his 15 points in the first eight minutes, helping the ‘Bows get off to a quick lead and ultimately claim their 13th title of the longtime event — and second since it went to a four-team round-robin format. Hauns Brereton was off the mark from outside (2-for-8 shooting) but still scored 11.

Standhardinger, Spearman and Brereton were named to the all-tournament team alongside Joaquim.

"I’m really proud of these guys and the effort that they gave," UH coach Gib Arnold said. "And I’m thankful for what they did and just realize that we’ve gotta get better. We gotta keep coming. We’ve got a long ways to go, but I’m pleased with the first tournament. It was fun."

UH applied effective defense in all three tourney games, holding each opponent under 40 percent shooting from the field. It led to double-digit victories over Maryland-Eastern Shore (76-64), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (81-54) and HBU.

The challenge is expected to ramp up considerably in Friday’s contest against Illinois (2-0) of the Big Ten. UH needs two more wins to match its best start under Arnold.

"It’s just the push that we needed," Spearman said of the 3-0 start. "We’re really looking forward to Friday."

UH’s big men — Joaquim, Standhardinger and talented freshman Isaac Fotu — have been consistently good thus far. They all played together, albeit briefly, for the first time this season at the end of the first half, when UH led 38-23 vs. the smaller Huskies.

"When Vander’s on the court, we’ve always got an advantage down low," said Standhardinger, UH’s leader (17.3 points per game) among four double-digit scorers. "I felt pretty comfortable (all together). We were a big team. It was fun."

Turnovers (17) were a problem, especially once the Huskies pressed and cut Hawaii’s 21-point lead to 11 in the final two minutes.

Starting point guard Jace Tavita had eight assists against six turnovers.

"That’s something we gotta work on, is our press break and finishing out games," Arnold said. "We’ll hit it hard this week and continue to work on that."

HBU of the Great West Conference fought through some jitters in its first ESPN game in program history.

"We came out early and played to the situation," Huskies coach Ron Cottrell said. "Our guys played as if they were in their first game on national TV and against a very good opponent."

Forward Art Bernardi led the Huskies with 22 points and eight boards. He and teammate Marcus Davis rounded out the all-tourney team.

Enos will redshirt

Arnold confirmed after the game that freshman guard Dyrbe Enos will redshirt.

The walk-on from Kamehameha joins center Caleb Dressler and wing Aaron Valdes as redshirts for 2012-13, along with San Jose State transfer Keith Shamburger.