SANTA BARBARA, Calif. >> Streaks of cold shooting and turnovers plagued Hawaii during long stretches Thursday night, and the Rainbow Warriors suffered the consequences with a 79-61 defeat at UCSB.

The loss dropped Hawaii (16-10, 7-5 Big West) into a third-place tie with the Gauchos (18-9, 7-5) in the conference standings.

Zigmars Raimo scored 15 points and Drew Buggs had 13 to lead Hawaii, which shot 47 percent for the game (25-53) but committed 16 turnovers and was outrebounded 35-27.

UCSB set a season high with 12 steals.

The Gauchos had four players in double figures, led by Amadou Sou with 18. He also grabbed eight rebounds. Ar’Mond Davis had 14 points and JaQuori McLaughlin and Devearl Ramsey added 11 points apiece.

UH caught a Gauchos team that had suffered three straight losses.

UCSB turned up the defensive intensity and made it tough for the Warriors to get into an offensive groove in the first nine minutes of the game as they fell behind 17-4.

“We weren’t ready to go,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “The combination of way we came out of the gate and the way they took it to us, we got what we deserved.”

UH had to feel fortunate to be down by only 11 (30-19) at halftime after committing nine turnovers, shooting 30 percent (8-for-26) overall and 2-for-11 on 3-pointers, and giving up 22 points in the paint.

“We weren’t ready offensively, we shot a poor percentage,” Ganot said. “In the second half, it was more like us. We played with a purpose.

“We keep having these stretches where we’re stuck in mud and then we bounce back and we make our move and then we’re not ready to go.”

The Warriors fought back early in the second half behind the shooting of Eddie Stansberry. He buried a trio of 3-pointers, including back-to-back treys, to cut UCSB’s lead to 39-34.

But the Gauchos responded with a 10-4 run. Sow — UCSB’s 6-9, 235-pound freshman center — hit a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock and ignite the Gauchos run. It was his first 3-pointer of the season.

UH kept hanging around. Buggs made a spectacular save on a scramble after a missed free throw and Raimo scored and was fouled. He converted the three-point play to make it 55-46 with 8:55 to play.

Raimo then drew a charge from Davis and Samuta Avea scored on a drive to pull the Warriors within seven, 55-48.

Buggs banked in a shot and UH trailed 57-50 before it all fell apart.

UCSB kept attacking the rim and getting to the free-throw line. Guard Devearl Ramsey knocked down a top-of-the-key 3 to extend the Gauchos’ lead to 64-50 with 4:16 to play.

UCSB extended the margin to 20 (77-57) with 53 seconds left.

Ganot said consistency has been an issue with the Warriors.

“The mark of our team and how successful we are this season will be determined by our consistency,” he said. “Right now, we’re inconsistent.

“We’re a good team,” he added. “We got to get tougher and we got to be more consistent. We want to be when we get to that point (the conference tournament) a consistent, tough team, not a team that has it every other day or has these five-minute lulls — you’ll get exposed anywhere, especially at this level.

“Hopefully, like we always do, we’ll bounce back. We’ll learn from this and grow, but we just can’t keep going back and forth.”