Before lightsabers illuminated the student section, the University of Hawaii basketball team ignited a lights-out shooting performance in a 99-74 blowout of Nicholls State on Sunday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

On "Star Wars night," the Rainbow Warriors took the floor wearing black Darth Vader warm-up shirts and wielded green lightsabers during introductions. They then opened the game with a 7-0 run and stayed near 70-percent pace deep into the second half, threatening the school record of .708 set against UTEP in 1989.

UH ended up shooting a season-best 66.1 percent and a festive crowd of 4,388 watched the Rainbow Warriors improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2010 with their highest scoring game of the young season.

The win closed a perfect season-opening homestand under first-year coach Eran Ganot. They depart on their first road trip of the season this week and face Texas Tech on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.

"You’re hoping we have breakthrough shooting the ball from 3, today was obviously that," Ganot said. "A lot of it overall was a by-product of really unselfish play. When you play unselfishly, you get great shots, you get great shots you shoot a good percentage."

UH center Stefan Jankovic hit the first two of UH’s season-high 10 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 22 points on 9-for-11 shooting. Guard Aaron Valdes finished with 20 on 8-for-9 shooting and hit two from long range.

Point guard Roderick Bobbitt posted his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 assists. Forward Mike Thomas also set season highs with 11 points and seven rebounds. Stefan Jovanovic was 6-for-6 from the field and finished with 13 points.

"I think honestly we just took good shots. We definitely started off hot," Jankovic said. "Down in the paint I think we were plus (22) in the paint. We made that an emphasis. Not just the bigs, but the guards attacking and getting down there."

The UH barrage was more than enough to maintain a comfortable cushion despite Nicholls State’s 11 3-pointers with guard T.J. Carpenter hitting five in a 25-point performance. Ja’Dante’ Frye hit three from long range in a game-high 27 point night.

Jankovic hit two 3-pointers in the first 3:10 to ignite a UH offense that connected on 70 percent of its shots (23 of 33) in its highest scoring half of the season and the Rainbows ran away to a 54-28 lead at the break.

"They’re all encouraging me, to shoot the ball and take open 3s when they’re there," Jankovic said. "It’s just having the confidence from the guys, when they’re telling you to shoot the ball, you gotta shoot it and tonight I felt really comfortable."

UH opened the game with a 7-0 spurt and the lead never dipped under five during the remainder of the half.

After Luka Kamber drained Nicholls State’s fourth 3-pointer, UH broke away with a 21-4 run and led 38-16 when Quincy Smith converted a steal into a layup.

After forcing the Colonels to extend their defense, Jankovic did most of his work in the paint, scoring on a spin move in the post and a fadeway during the UH run.

"He showed the full package today in terms of the balance, he was good inside and he was good on the perimeter," Ganot said. "Obviously he hit two 3s early, but after that it was his inside attack that created separation."

Valdes opened the second half by knocking down two more 3-pointers and the UH lead swelled to 29. The Rainbows outrebounded the Colonels 40-21 and finished the night with 26 assists against 11 turnovers.

"We’re very appreciative and grateful to be 4-0," Ganot said. "We always say our most reasonable expectation is to get better every day and I think that’s been the case. That being said we know we have to continue to get better, and quick."

RAINBOW WARRIORS 99, NICHOLLS 74

COLONELS (1-2)

RAINBOW WARRIORS (4-0)

Key — fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; r: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.
Halftime — Hawaii 54, Nicholls State 28
3-points goals — Nicholls State 11-27 (Carpenter 5-12, Kamber 3-4, Frye 3-6, Bell 0-2, L.Thomas 0-2, O’Neal 0-1). Hawaii 10-23 (Valdes 3-4, Jankovic 2-3, Thomas 1-2, Tummala 1-2, Bobbitt 1-3, Fleming 1-3, Drammeh 1-3, Smith 0-1, Stepteau 0-2). Steals — Nicholls State 6 (Carpenter 2, Frye 2, Caudill, L.Thomas). Hawaii 4 (Smith 2, Enos, Jankovic). Blocked shots — Nicholls State none. Hawaii 5 (Bobbitt, Jankovic, Smith, Thomas, Valdes). Turnovers — Nicholls State 7 (Kamber 2, Young 2, Caudill, Frye, Q.Thomas). Hawaii 11 (Jankovic 3, Tummala 2, Bobbitt, Buscher, Drammeh, Fleming, Valdes, TEAM). Technical fouls — Jankovic. Officials — Tom Nally, Phil White, Steven Espinoza. A—4,388.