UC Irvine used superior interior play to hold off Hawaii 67-56 in a Big West basketball game today in the Bren Center in Irvine, Calif.

The Anteaters amassed a rebounding advantage of 40-28, including 12-8 off the offensive glass, and scored 34 points in the paint to sweep the regular-season series between the teams. The Anteaters won in overtime on Jan. 23 in Honolulu.

“It’s just making an effort on every possible possession,” UCI post player Jonathan Galloway said in an ESPN3 interview.

Galloway pulled down 13 rebounds, including seven after the intermission.

The Anteaters led 33-18 in the first half, punctuated when Evan Leonard buried a 3 as time expired. It was Leonard’s only basket of the game.

The Rainbow Warriors closed to 52-46 on Sheriff Drammeh’s 3 with 7:19 to play.

But UCI guard Max Hazzard drove for consecutive layups, and Galloway grabbed a missed shot and parlayed it into a thunderous dunk to extend the margin to 12 points.

The ’Bows dropped to 14-9 overall and 5-4 in the Big West. The Anteaters are 21-5 and 9-1.