It came from the wings.

UC Santa Barbara, lifted by stellar efforts from perimeter players Gabe Vincent and Michael Bryson, spoiled Hawaii’s senior night by exploding for a 98-90 road victory at the Stan Sheriff Center on Wednesday.

Center Alan Williams, the reigning Big West Player of the Year, was the Gauchos biggest threat on paper, but the freshman guard Vincent burned the ‘Bows again and again with a mixture of 3-point shots (5-for-8) and takes to the hoop for the best game of his young career — 25 points and five assists. The athletic Bryson had three dunks among his 22 points.

"We had to try to control what we could control, and we didn’t do that tonight," UH coach Benjy Taylor said. "I hope we have a chance to see them again. They’re a good team, and we’re a good team as well. They made more plays than we did tonight. Alan Williams is very good and their perimeter players made shots. … He demands so much attention down there, you’re late on your close-outs, late on your rotations. And he still gets a double-double."

Williams fouled out with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and three steals.

Third-place UCSB (17-12, 10-5) shot 56.4 percent from the field and swept sixth-place UH (19-12, 7-8) home-and-home for the second straight season. UH dropped into sixth place with just the regular-season finale at Cal State Fullerton remaining before the Big West tournament in Anaheim, Calif., starting March 12.

Much of the "White-out" crowd of 5,879 hung around for senior night ceremonies to send off guards Garrett Nevels and Brandon Jawato. Nevels, a two-year player at UH and a co-captain this season, scored seven points on 3-for-9 shooting.

Nevels was appreciative.

"I almost started crying earlier, but I was able to keep it together," he said. "Just all these leis the fans gave me, it’s a great feeling. I feel special right now. … We lost, so we still got work to do. But I just want to thank everybody for coming out tonight, on a Wednesday. I know people have work or whatever. We had a great crowd; I’m just sorry we couldn’t get the win for them."

Jawato, a junior, was sidelined for the game; his career came to an end a season early because of a severe back injury he suffered at midseason.

"I couldn’t have made a better decision (coming to UH)," Jawato said. "Met so many people and I’ve been coached by really great coaches, with great teammates."

Taylor, an interim coach with an uncertain future at UH, received a chant of "Benjy" from fans who hung around for the postgame festivities.

Taylor thanked the fans for the support and spoke at length about his future, and the program’s.

"There’s no place like Hawaii, man. I’ve worked at a lot of schools," he said. "This place is unbelievable. Some great people here. Tonight, the chants, the support we’ve been getting all year, I just want to thank everybody. There’s no senior night like Hawaii and there’s no fans or people like the ones who live here in Hawaii. I love you guys, and I just want to say that regardless of what happens to me, I’ll make sure that these (remaining players) stay here."

UH was denied in its first bid at a second straight 20-win season, though it will try again at Fullerton.

The Gauchos came out white-hot, sinking their first five 3-point attempts in building an early lead. Vincent had three of the bombs.

"I try to be confident when I shoot," Vincent said. "After that first one went in, nobody was really guarding me and it happened again. The third time, I felt a little disrespected on that, then they started to close out. It was just a good night."

UH was in catch-up mode the rest of the way.

UCSB’s point total was the most scored by the Gauchos in 11 years. It was also the most allowed by the Rainbow Warriors since a 115-73 loss at New Mexico State on Feb. 23, 2012.

UH trailed by 10 at halftime as the Gauchos shot 57.6 percent over the first 20 minutes.

UH tried to play the foul game in the drawn-out final minute, but was unable to catch up. Point guard Roderick Bobbitt made his foul shots en route to a new career-high 26 points.

Forward Stefan Jankovic scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half.

UCSB did a much improved job of solving UH’s pressure compared to the Gauchos’ 75-74 win at home on Feb. 7. Williams, who did not play in the first matchup because of a shoulder injury, anchored the middle of the floor against the press this time and proved an effective release valve to counter the Rainbows’ traps. UH had only six steals and UCSB committed just 11 turnovers.

"We handled their pressure much better than we did the first time around," UCSB coach Bob Williams said. "And I think part of it is due to having Al on the floor. He’s a good pressure release, he’s good with the ball and he also demands that people have to honor him down low."

Freshman guard Isaac Fleming made his first appearance in four games, but he appeared to re-injure his sprained right ankle on a hard screen set by Williams with 13:15 to play. He limped off the court.

Taylor said he thought Fleming would be OK going forward.

Wednesday

UC Santa Barbara 98, Hawaii 90

Thursday

CS Fullerton at UC Irvine

CSUN at Long Beach State

UC Riverside at UC Davis

Saturday

Hawaii at CS Fullerton, 3 p.m. HT

Cal Poly at UC Santa Barbara

Long Beach State at UC Riverside

UC Irvine at UC Davis

End of regular season

Halftime — UCSB 49, Hawaii 39 

3-point goals — UC Santa Barbara 7-14 (Vincent 5-8, Harmon 1-1, Bryson 1-4, Green 0-1). Hawaii 8-23 (Bobbitt 3-4, Webster-Chan 2-5, Fleming 1-2, Valdes 1-2, Nevels 1-4, Enos 0-1, Filipovich 0-1, Jankovic 0-2, Smith 0-2). Steals — UC Santa Barbara 7 (Bryson, Williams 3, Smith). Hawaii 6 (Smith 2, Bobbitt, Jankovic, Nevels, Valdes). Turnovers — UC Santa Barbara 11 (Smith 3, Childress 2, Green 2, Beeler, Brewe, Bryson, Harmon). Hawaii 12 (Bobbitt 5, Jankovic 2, Nevels 2, Thomas 2, Valdes). Assists — UC Santa Barbara 18 (Vincent 5, Bryson 3, Green 3, Harmon 3, Williams 2, Childress, Smith). Hawaii 9 (Bobbitt 4, Fleming 2, Smith, Valdes, Webster-Chan). Blocked shots — UC Santa Barbara none. Hawaii 1 (Jovanovic). Technical fouls — UC Santa Barbara 1 (Childress). Hawaii 1 (Bobbitt). Officials — Michael Greenstein, Rick Batsell, Jeff Wooten. A — 5,879.