Center Dawson Carper was standing flat-footed in the green paint minding his own business Thursday night when a missed shot caromed directly into his hands.

The University of Hawaii 7-footer then calmly put the ball in the basket.

In a lot of ways it was that kind of a career night for Carper — and the Rainbow Warriors basketball team, which had a 75-54 victory over Cal Poly firmly in hand.

A night that had seemed poised to allow Jack Purchase to secure sole honors in the school record book for career 3-pointers instead became a showplace for the ’Bows big men, who went inside with power and impunity to put away the Mustangs and give UH (15-9, 6-4 conference) a share of third place in the Big West with rapidly descending UC Santa Barbara.

Purchase, who entered the night needing but two 3-pointers to tie Zane Johnson’s career (2010-12) mark of 180, settled for a tie to the disappointment of a turnout of 2,914 at the Stan Sheriff Center after going 1-for-2 from behind the arc.

Purchase, tightly shadowed, didn’t get his first 3-point attempt until the eight-minute mark in the first half. His first points did not come until the final 5 minutes, 41 seconds on a pair of free throws, and he didn’t connect on his only 3 until 4 minutes, 28 seconds remained.

That merely postpones the expected inevitable until Saturday, when the ’Bows play UC Riverside to close out the homestand.

But, then, the ’Bows hardly needed the long-distance component for most of this one. When the Mustangs tightened up on the outside to open the game, UH disdained the long ball — attempting just three 3-pointers in the first half — and merely made a bruising inside job of it.

Carper, who did not start, came off the bench with 14 minutes, 28 seconds in the first half and went on to score a season-high 15 points, only the second time he has scored more than four points in a game in this, his freshman season.

UH’s inside presence was more than the beleaguered Mustangs could handle. That, and the combination of the ’Bows defense and Cal Poly’s underwhelming offense, drops the Mustangs to 5-18 (1-9 Big West) on the way to a sixth consecutive losing season. Coupled with UC Riverside’s win over UCSB, the Mustangs are unlikely to make next month’s conference tournament.

Carper made good on seven of eight field-goal attempts and managed three rebounds in 15 minutes. Another 7-footer, Mate Colina, added four points and three rebounds in four minutes, while Zigmars Raimo managed 10 points and could have had many more if not for at least six chip-shot misses on a night of 5-for-12 shooting.

While Carper stood out inside, guard Drew Buggs was a force everywhere else. Despite a chronic limp, Buggs stayed step-for-step to frustrate the Mustangs’ only real scoring threat, Donovan Fields.

Fields fouled out with 11 points — five below his average — with 2 minutes, 34 seconds remaining and had to work hard to get that on 4-for-13 shooting (0-3 from 3-point range).

Meanwhile, Buggs contributed eight assists — as many as the entire Mustangs team — and scored a game-high 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting.

Between Carper and Buggs, the ’Bows had this one well in hand from beginning to end.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser or 529-4820.