Amadou Sow scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in leading UC Santa Barbara to a 79-61 basketball victory over Hawaii tonight in the Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, Calif.

By sweeping the regular-season series, the Gauchos improved to 18-8 overall and 7-5 in the Big West, tying the Rainbow Warriors for third place. The ’Bows fell to 16-10 and 7-5 after the first game of this two-game road trip. The ’Bows play Cal Poly on Saturday.

Sow, a 6-foot-9, 235-pound freshman, helped the Gauchos dominate the lane. The Gauchos scored 48 points in the paint. Their bench out-scored UH’s reserves 19-6.

The ’Bows, who trailed 17-4 in the first eight minutes, closed to 41-36 on Brocke Stepteau’s floater with 14:06 to play. But Sow grabbed a loose ball and tossed it in from 25 feet with a second remaining on the shot clock for the first 3 of his career.

The ’Bows entered with single-digit turnovers in four consecutive games. But they turned the ball over nine times in the first and finished with 16 giveaways.

Zigmars Raimo had a team-high 15 points for the ’Bows. Jack Purchase, who became UH’s career 3-point scorer on Saturday, was 4-for-11, including 1-for-7 from 3-point range. Purchase finished with nine points.