LAS VEGAS >> A late scoring drought in a desert city led to an arid end to the University of Hawaii basketball team’s season.

The Rainbow Warriors missed their final seven shots in falling to UC Riverside 62-52 in the quarterfinals of the Big West tournament. The ’Bows have not advanced out of the opening round since 2016, when they qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s tough right now,” UH coach Eran Ganot said during an emotional postgame news conference. “There’s a finality to it. You don’t play for the finality. You feel you’re just going to keep playing.”

The Highlanders, under an interim head coach, advance into tonight’s semifinals against second-seeded UC Irvine, while the ’Bows are making travel plans to return to Manoa.

Hawaii had solved the riddle of the Highlanders’ elastic defense, tying it at 49 on Junior Madut’s 3-point jumper from the right corner and, with 5:08 to play, closing to 53-51 on Biwali Bayles’ putback of Justin Webster’s missed layup. But the ’Bows would not hit another basket, from neither near nor far.

With UH collapsing its defense in the post, UCR guard Dominick Pickett circled outside, then buried a 3 from 24 feet.

“Everyone has the green light,” UCR coach Mike Magpayo said. “You can’t play in this program unless you’re willing to shoot it. Pickett is always in our top group in shooting. But if you have a rhythm 3, we want you to take it, which is why we shoot so many 3s.”

Pickett joined the Highlanders as a manager. He walked on to the team and eventually established himself as a starting guard. Thursday, he finished with 14 points while making six steals. He did not have a turnover.

“His story is incredible, but it’s not just the story,” Ganot said. “He’s good.”

After UH’s Casdon Jardine misfired on a 3 attempt, the Highlanders eventually got the ball to 6-foot-9 forward Arinze Chidom. Chidom drove the lane, then flipped the ball to 7-foot-1 Jock Perry on the right side. Perry’s soft jumper made it 58-51 with 2:25 to play.

“Arinze had a bit of a quiet night, but he helped me get involved with his presence out there,” said Perry, who transferred from Saint Mary’s last summer.

Chidom missed the final series of the regular season because of an ankle injury. He missed his first four shots and finished with four points. But Chidom was able to quell Jardine into 3-for-8 shooting and eight points.

In Riverside’s zones and sagging man-to-man schemes, Perry is aligned in the middle of the lane, a free safety with a defensive tackle’s body. With Perry and 6-10 understudies Angus McWilliam and Oliver Hayes-Brown camping in the lane, and the Highlanders aggressively defending the perimeters, the ’Bows were invited to shoot 2-point shots over double teams and towering post defenders. The ’Bows hit 14 of 32 2-point shots.

While Mate Colina had a productive first half, UH’s other center, James Jean-Marie, was harassed in the post and on the edge. Jean-Marie was 2-for-7 for five points. Madut had a solid outing, scoring a team-high 12 points, grabbing five rebounds, and accounting for three of the ’Bows’ four steals. But Webster, facing a web of taller defenders, missed his six field-goal attempts.

“We were just following the scout,” Perry said. “We knew it was going to be a tough matchup. We knew we had to take away their tendencies.”

Ganot acknowledged the Highlanders’ ferocity around the rim. “When we did get around the paint, we didn’t finish very well,” Ganot said. “This wasn’t a game where they’re all of a sudden defending the paint. They’ve done it all year.”

The Highlanders also feasted from outside the arc. They launched 24 treys, connecting on nine. Even Perry would loop outside to bury a 3. The ’Bows had been one of the league’s best at defending long-range shots this season. But Ganot said the defensive lapses “hurt us.”

After the game, Ganot expressed appreciation for UH and Big West officials for enabling a season to be played during a pandemic. The ’Bows were the only team to play a full 18-game Big West schedule. “We didn’t have a nonconference (schedule against Division I teams),” Ganot said. “This went pretty quickly. Played 18 league games, then it’s (over) just like that. It’s tough.”