Will it be different the second time around for UH hoops?

Hawaii isn’t counting on hitting 14 3-pointers in today’s quick turnaround at UC Irvine. That’s a good thing, because that outlier of a perimeter performance won’t be easily replicated.

When the Rainbow Warriors splashed in that many in 30 attempts against the Anteaters at the Stan Sheriff Center just nine days ago, it tied a program record for long-range makes set twice previously. UH (21-3, 10-1 Big West) used that, in part, to roll to a 74-52 win between the top two teams in the conference.

“I don’t know if you can assume you’re going to shoot that way,” UH coach Eran Ganot said via phone from Los Angeles on Friday night. “We played very well, we took great shots, we shot very well. But what I always want to count on is defending and rebounding, and, offensively, making good decisions.”

UH largely did that in a 69-63 win at Cal State Northridge on Thursday, helping the Rainbows overcome 20 turnovers to earn a fifth straight win overall. It also extended the team’s unprecedented start to road conference play to 5-0.

If the Rainbows can make it 6-0, they’ll be well positioned to take their first Big West regular-season title — a two-game lead with four games remaining before the conference tournament in Anaheim, Calif. It’ll also match last season’s win total of 22, the most for a first-year UH head coach, set by Benjy Taylor.

Behind what’s expected to be a sellout “Whiteout” crowd at the 6,000-seat Bren Events Center — and an ESPNU TV audience — second-place Irvine (20-7, 9-2) is out for payback, like the Rainbows were in the last meeting with last season’s loss in the Big West tournament title game fresh on their minds.

“Everybody around here knows it’s a big game for us in the conference standings,” Irvine coach Russell Turner said.

It was a humbling loss for Irvine, which hadn’t fallen by that margin or worse in conference play since a 22-point defeat at Long Beach State on Jan. 26, 2013. UCI is used to inflicting such struggles on opponents behind its size — 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye — and normally stifling 2-3 zone defense.

UH used some effective positioning by Stefan Jankovic and Stefan Jovanovic and timely help from its guards to frustrate Ndiaye and 7-2 backup center Ioannis Dimakopoulos. Meanwhile, the veteran backcourt of Luke Nelson and Alex Young was largely bottled up by Roderick Bobbitt and Quincy Smith.

Bobbitt scintillated with one of the best all-around games of his career (23 points, seven assists, six rebounds, no turnovers). He splashed in six of UH’s 14 3-pointers, easily a team season high for a group shooting below 32 percent from long range.

“It wasn’t just a matter of them making shots,” Turner said. “They played excellent defense (31.3 percent shooting allowed). They were clearly the aggressors, and more motivated, and just outplayed us. That happens sometimes.”

Turner paused.

“I give them credit for that. That was a big moment that they seized. You know, we have a different game (tonight). It’ll be interesting to see if they can do that to us again. I mean, we know how good Hawaii is after the way they dismantled us. So, we know we’re going to have to play well to beat them.”

Irvine responded to that loss by rolling to road wins at CSUN on Feb. 13 and Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday, averaging 94.5 points in those games. It represented an explosion from a team that’s had its occasional struggles offensively.

UH still, amazingly, has not been whole since the very first game of conference play. Wing Aaron Valdes (14.4 ppg) was a pregame scratch at CSUN with an illness.

“He looks a lot better,” Ganot said Friday. “Just to be safe, we’ll see how he is tonight, get some rest, see how he is at shootaround (today) and make a call.”

Against the Matadors, sixth man Isaac Fleming made a return to the lineup from a four-game injury absence and logged two points and two assists in 19 minutes.

The Rainbows will look to play inside-out again behind Jankovic, who is coming off a career-high 34-point outing on 12-for-13 shooting at CSUN.

Jankovic’s scoring output tied for the 19th-highest in program history; the last time a UH player scored that many points, coincidentally, was Valdes’ 34 against CSUN at the Stan Sheriff Center last season.

Jankovic’s shooting (92.3 percent) was the third-best in UH records for field-goal percentage with a minimum of 10 shots made. The only better performances was a 10-for-10 by Jim Halm against Nebraska in 1967 and Thomas Louden’s 13-for-14 vs. Nevada in 1979.

UH’s season high for 3-pointers made on the road is nine in an overtime win at Cal State Fullerton.

The team’s only win to date at Irvine came two years ago, thanks in part to a desperation 3-pointer by Keith Shamburger that sent the game to overtime.