New-look Hawaii proved it could win in the open court in its season opener Friday. On Saturday night, the Rainbow Warriors showed they could do it with a grind-it-out style, too.

UH got the better of Western Michigan, 78-68, on Day 2 of the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Rainbow Classic on Saturday by capitalizing on plenty of time spent at the foul line.

Four ‘Bows scored in double figures and UH went 23-for-29 (79.3 percent) at the stripe and outrebounded the Broncos 36-22 in an often disjointed battle, improving to 2-0 heading into the ESPN-televised tournament finale early Tuesday morning against New Mexico State (1-1).

"We knew it was going to be a tough one today," said point guard Keith Shamburger, who tied Christian Standhardinger for game-high scoring honors with 17. "They were going to use the shot clock as much as they can. We just had to get up and play defense. And in the end, that’s what we did. We got our stops and came up with the victory."

A crowd of about 4,500 was anxious at first as the ‘Bows twice fell behind by six points in the first half, but they gradually had more to cheer about as UH uncorked a few highlight-reel-worthy plays after the break.

"It wasn’t really our style. Our style is more up-tempo," said reserve guard Quincy Smith, who scored all of his 13 points (4-for-4 shooting) in the final eight minutes of the game. "But we grinded it out, we outrebounded them, got some extra possessions on offense. Got to the free-throw line and knocked down our free throws. We just found a way to win."

Isaac Fotu’s alley-oop dunk with 37.8 seconds left was the exclamation point on the victory — few cared he was whistled for a technical foul for hanging on the rim a split-second too long.

Fotu, too, came up huge after the break. He had 12 of his 14 points in the second period on his way to a double-double.

WMU (1-1), a 22-win team a year ago that reached the CBI semifinals, played without its best player, center Shayne Wittington because of a two-game NCAA suspension for an infraction three years ago. But the Broncos, who looked to shoot late in the shot clock, topped 50 percent from the field for most of the game.

Smith scored eight points in a two-minute span to establish the game’s first double-digit lead, swinging things firmly in UH’s favor after 10 lead changes.

UH’s fullcourt press didn’t cause many turnovers (11) but UH coach Gib Arnold credited it with wearing out the Broncos’ legs late.

"We think about halfway through the second half, that’s the time where we start making our run and really extending our lead," Arnold said. "We did that, and the rebounds started falling our way."

"They were looking tired there at the end and weren’t hitting the shots they normally did."

The Broncos’ best remaining player, guard David Brown, was saddled with foul trouble most of the night. He fouled out with 14 points with 1:42 left after scoring 25 the night before in a 70-64 win over NMSU.

WMU finished at 42 percent shooting, making only one field goal in the final 11 minutes.

"Any time you do miss they’re very good at running the ball right back at you," WMU coach Steve Hawkins said. "(Shamburger) is a heck of a guard and he can make you pay if you don’t get back and if you do get back and give him some space he shoots the 3 well (3-for-7). Their bigs are very athletic, run the floor real well. And they just kept coming and kept coming and eventually we ran out of gas and missed some shots."

Shamburger went on a scoring tear to end the first half, scoring 13 of his 17 points in the final 3:36 of the period. He hit a 3-pointer to beat the halftime buzzer for a 39-36 lead.

Shamburger went 8-for-8 at the line. Last year’s starting point guard, Jace Tavita, attempted nine free throws all year, making three.

"How nice is it to have a point guard that at the end of the game wants the ball, and wants to get fouled," Arnold said. "As a coach, that makes me sleep a lot better at night, knowing he’s going to have that ball."

The loudest cheer of the night came when Shamburger slid an on-point bounce pass in fast-break traffic to a cutting Smith. Smith’s layup made it 63-56 with 7:18 left for UH’s largest lead to that point. 

New Mexico State 70, Tennessee State 55

Four Aggies scored in double figures and NMSU evened its record on the heels of a letdown on Friday night.

NMSU seized control after TSU drew to within 54-50 late in the game. Tshilidzi Nephawe led the way with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

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