As recurring problems go, this is one Hawaii coach Gib Arnold would settle for every time.

Keeping a large lead. Or rather, an inability to keep one.

"I guess that’s a good problem to have, if you’re going to have a problem," Arnold said after Tuesday’s closed-door team practice. "It’s a problem we want to have every game."

It’s sure been one for the Rainbow Warriors (4-1) in their last two outings, and it’s been a point of emphasis going into the team’s first road game on Saturday at No. 24 UNLV.

In UH’s last contest against North Dakota last Tuesday, the ‘Bows led by 23 with six minutes left in the first half. It was still a 15-point game at halftime.

But UH got outscored by 10 in the second half, with UND getting off a 3-pointer to tie with eight seconds remaining. The attempt was off and the Rainbows held on, 71-66.

In the agonizing game before, against now-No. 22 Illinois, a late lapse proved fatal; UH coughed up a 16-point lead it enjoyed at the start of the second half. The Fighting Illini prevailed with a 3-pointer at the overtime buzzer, 78-77, and went on to win the EA Sports Maui Invitational last week.

"We’re working on finishing out games and making sure the right guys are in and know time and score and things like that," Arnold said. "That’s a learning process."

The coach pointed out that senior center Vander Joaquim is the only Rainbow who had consistent end-of-game experience here last season. Senior wing Hauns Brereton was a part-time starter and finisher.

Untimely missed free throws and turnovers, to go with some questionable shot selection, helped North Dakota and Illinois get back in it.

To help remedy the situation, UH has practiced pressure free throws — a relative weakness among the team’s top scorers so far — where misses cause the entire team to run sprints going into a water break. As a team, UH is shooting 65.5 percent at the line.

"That’s a lot of pressure for us," said freshman forward Isaac Fotu, who is 7-for-9 at the stripe through five games. "If we miss the first one, we go down and back twice. If we miss the second, it’s just down and back once."

Recent practices have also been heavy on late-game situations where the first group — up six with eight minutes left, for example — must hold off the hard-charging scout team.

"We just didn’t want a repeat of the Illinois game," Fotu said. "We’ve gotta work on that, finishing strong. And we gotta take that into the next game as well."

Should the ‘Bows get a lead in the desert on Saturday, the talented Runnin’ Rebels don’t figure to make it any easier down the stretch.

"I just think the more games we get under our belt, the better the team’s going to adapt to any situation, whether it’s up, and hopefully that’s the only problem we have all year," Arnold said. "But we’re going to work on all of those, being up and being down."

Team bitten by flu bug

Senior point guard Jace Tavita missed practices on Monday and Tuesday for flu-like symptoms, Arnold said. It put the onus on junior Garrett Jefferson and freshman Manroop Clair to run the offense.

Tavita is fifth in the country in assists per game at 8.0.

"Obviously Jace does a really good job of running offense and getting them into that," Arnold said. "I think he understands that position better than anybody we got. So a little bit ragged at times, but (Clair and Jefferson) did their best."

Freshman guard Brandon Jawato was also out for the same reason on Monday, but returned Tuesday.