The University of Hawaii basketball team’s surge to the top of the Big West standings could be traced to thinking outside the box score.

“The box score only tells so much of the story,” head coach Eran Ganot said. “There are so many things that can be done that don’t show up in the box score that help a team or an individual perform. That’s what’s been happening.”

Ganot noted JoVon McClanahan’s off-the-bench energy has changed the defense and encouraged teammates to take their best shots. Last Saturday, McClanahan implored 6-10 wing Kamaka Hepa to be more aggressive. Hepa responded with four 3s in leading the Rainbow Warriors to a comeback victory over UC Santa Barbara. In that game, 6-6 guard Junior Madut committed a foul on a Gaucho’s unsuccessful dunk attempt.

“Just the presence that we’re going to fight through every possession, play all 40 minutes,” Ganot said of Madut’s symbolic foul. “You can’t assume anything. In transition, if you’re about to give up a layup, play it out. You never know. That habit has to be ingrained throughout our program. It’s good to see guys do that.”

The ’Bows, who are 11-5 overall and 6-0 in the Big West, will need that 40-minute commitment in tonight’s road game against UC Riverside at SRC Arena.

This season, the ’Bows are the league leader in 3-point accuracy (37.3%) while the Highlanders are No. 1 in defending the trey (26.4%). UCR is holding opponents to 60 points per game.

Defense is “definitely where we hang our hat,” UCR coach Mike Magpayo said.

The Highlanders’ defensive approach is to recruit tall — their shortest player is 6-3 — force opponents to one side of the court, then direct drives into the path of a rim-protecting center. It was a strategy Magpayo learned under Todd Golden at Columbia and then San Francisco, and then refined from David Patrick, who was UCR’s head coach through 2020. As UCR’s interim head coach last year, Magpayo placed 7-foot-1, 250-pound Jock Perry at the base of the defense. Perry has completed his NCAA eligibility.

Magpayo, now in the first year of a five-year deal as UCR’s head coach, relies on 7-1, 295-pound Callum McRae as the lane’s dead end. He averages 8.1 rebounds per game.

“We base our defense on Callum McRae,” Magpayo said. “He really protects the rim for us. He’s kind of the quarterback back there. He organizes it all and makes sure our scheme is executed. … Our defensive scheme is no secret. We try to funnel everything to him.”

McRae was an imposing defender two years ago, He redshirted as a junior last year while trying to learn Perry’s offensive moves. This season, McRae has been able to connect on 50.4% of his shots in the low post and, when defenses collapse, pitch out to Dominick Pickett, Flynn Cameron, Wil Tattersall or Dragan Elkaz at the perimeters.

“He’s been able to facilitate beautifully this year,” Magpayo said of McRae, who averages 2.1 assists per game.

Ganot said: “(McRae) is a load to keep off the boards and to stop him from scoring under the rim. It can be hard to bring support because of their (outside) shooting. He’s a presence on both ends.”