Hawaii gave all it had to hang with No. 6 Miami as long as it could in the first round of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Friday night.

Unfortunately for the Rainbow Warriors, that amounted to about 23 minutes.

The mighty Hurricanes intensified to Category 5 status after UH took the first second-half lead of any Miami opponent all year, and blew past the ’Bows, 75-57, in front of 5,757 vocal fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Miami (10-0), one of four unbeaten teams in the country, turned to its superior size to pound the paint (44 points to UH’s 20) and advanced to face New Mexico State in today’s 5 p.m. semifinal. UH (7-3) fell into the consolation bracket for the second straight year and will face Davidson (4-5) in the 7:30 nightcap.

Davidson, a collection of 3-point shooters, missed a triple at the buzzer of a 69-68 loss to NMSU preceding UH’s game.

For a while, the Rainbows threatened to bust the DHC bracket. Then Miami shot 16-for-23 (69.6 percent) in the second half.

“I think the energy was electric, the gym was electric,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “I thought we were winning the hustle plays, loose balls. … Then the second half, they picked up their defense, we didn’t handle it well, and we were taking rushed shots.

“They dictated the second half. It wasn’t even close.”

UH got 17 points and four assists from guard Sheriff Drammeh, and nine points and a career-high 12 rebounds from forward Jack Purchase. But season leading scorer Mike Thomas struggled to one point on 0-for-3 shooting, and was on the receiving end of two vicious dunks.

The Hurricanes went with a strict eight-man rotation. It was all they needed in shooting 52.6 percent, as Ja’Quan Newton and Dewan Huell scored 16 points apiece, and Anthony Lawrence II added 11. Bruce Brown Jr. doled out eight assists, while his entire team turned it over only nine times to UH’s 16.

“I feel like we lost the game on the defensive end,” Drammeh said. “We felt we could really compete with those guys. … A team ranked No. 6, to be tied with them at halftime, it’s a good feeling.”

Preseason reports had Miami involved as one of several schools the FBI is investigating as part of a widespread scandal of improper recruiting practices and benefits.

UH threw its own adversity at the ACC team, countering an early deficit with a 16-4 run to go up by four. Drammeh’s long 2-pointer tied it up at 33 going into intermission.

Leland Green’s 3, followed by a reverse layup from Gibson Johnson, gave UH the lead for the last time at 38-37.

But, as has been the norm in their best start to a season since 2007-08, the Hurricanes shrugged off the adversity thrown at it.

“I just thought UH was very, very good in the first half,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. “Their athletic ability is very impressive. We needed to adjust to that. I think they’re the most athletic team we’ve played so far in terms of just speed and quickness. They’re not as big as some teams we played, but their guards are very fast, their wings are fast. I thought our guys did a great job of adjusting to their athletic ability in the second half. We defended them much better. In the first half they shot 46 percent and in the second half only 38.”

Miami, second in the country in points and field-goal percentage allowed, locked in and used 11-1, 9-0 and 8-0 runs to separate. They went to a switching defense in the second.

“When they’re switching, you gotta think quicker, act quicker,” Purchase said. “They were switching 1 through 4 with me. … They were doing a good job of guarding us.”

UH’s trusty close-game shot-maker, Brocke Stepteau, picked up his third and fourth fouls 36 seconds apart and had to check out with 12 minutes left.

Johnson picked up his fourth with 9:39 and likewise took a seat.

UH trailed 10-2 in a blink, but a broken play — Stepteau’s dribbles nutmegged through a defender to Purchase, who flipped it behind his back to Drew Buggs for a 3 — helped UH claim an 18-14 lead.

Thomas was on the wrong end of two first-half posterizations — especially Ebuka Izundu’s chest-to-chest one-handed demolition with 1:12 left in the period.

Hawaii dropped to 1-3 against ranked foes in the DHC.

OTHER DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC GAMES, NOTES

Middle Tennessee 69, Princeton 67

Giddy Potts’ pull-up 17-footer with 2.3 seconds left vaulted the Blue Raiders of Conference USA into the semifinals with a comeback effort over the Tigers of the Ivy League.

Princeton’s Sebastian Much had just tied the game at 67 on a step-back 3-pointer, but Potts (14 points) dribbled into his shot near the top of the arc, all net. After an officials’ timeout, the Tigers’ halfcourt heave only grazed front iron.

Nick King led MTSU (8-2) with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Devin Cannady put in 16 points for the Tigers (5-7).

New Mexico State 69, Davidson 68

The Aggies of the WAC rallied late after giving up a 12-point lead to Wildcats of the Atlantic 10 to gain the DHC semifinals.

Davidson used a 20-2 run over the heart of the second half while NMSU went scoreless for a five-minute stretch. But NMSU’s Zach Lofton put back his own miss for a 67-66 lead with 40 seconds left. Davidson’s Peyton Aldridge (26 points) drove and flipped in a shot with 23 seconds left. NMSU got another putback from Jemerrio Jones with 7.8 remaining.

The Aggies (10-2) forced a tie up the Wildcats (4-5) in the frontcourt with 2.1 seconds left, but Davidson kept possession and had one last chance. Peyton Aldridge (26 points) had a step-back 3 from the top of the arc and it hit side iron at the horn.

USC 84, Akron 53

HONOLULU >> Elijah Stewart scored 20 points, Chimezie Metu 16 and Jonah Mathews 13 and the Trojans rallied past the Zips for a win in the first-round.

USC (7-4) overcame a nine-point deficit in the first half and narrowed the deficit to 33-29 at halftime.

The Trojans emerged from the break on a 20-5 run with Stewart and Metu scoring 15 to put USC up 49-38 with 14:39 to play.

The Trojans shot 61 percent (17 of 28) from the field in the second half and were 27 of 55 (49.1) overall.

Stewart, a 6-foot-5 senior guard, was 6-for-14 from the field, but made three of his seven attempts from beyond the arc, and was 5-for-6 at the free-throw line. He scored 15 of his points after halftime.

USC was 10-for-23 deep and 20-for-27 at the free throw line.

Jaden Sayles scored 12 points and Daniel Utomi and Eric Parris added 11 apiece for Akron (6-3).

2018 DHC field revealed

The 2018 Diamond Head Classic field — the event’s 10th — was announced on Friday, with four returning visitors.

The eight-team tourney is: Charlotte of Conference USA, Colorado of the Pac-12, host Hawaii of the Big West, Indiana State of the Missouri Valley, Rhode Island of the Atlantic 10, Saint Mary’s of the West Coast Conference, TCU of the Big 12, and UNLV of the Mountain West.

Saint Mary’s (third time), Colorado (second), Indiana State (second), and UNLV (second) are the returnees. SMC and UNLV were in the first Diamond Head in 2009.

It also will be a return for TCU coach Jamie Dixon, a former UH assistant. The Horned Frogs are currently unbeaten and ranked 15th.

It will again be played on Dec. 22, 23 and 25.

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