Hawai'i and Pennsylvania are more than 4,000 miles apart, so it was probably fitting that the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team could never get close enough to the University of Pennsylvania last night.

The Rainbow Warriors were within striking distance of the lead several times during the game, but stayed frustratingly behind throughout in a 58-55 loss.

A crowd of 5,509 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the 'Bows drop to 7-4. Penn, which is favored to win the Ivy League, improved to 4-4.

"We just couldn't get that bucket and that one stop we needed to get over the hump," Hawai'i guard Matt Lojeski said. "It was definitely frustrating and it just sucks to lose at home."

Penn guard Ibrahim Jaaber seemed to make a clutch shot every time the 'Bows got close, and finished with a game-high 24 points.

Hawai'i point guard Deonte Tatum finished with a career-high 17 points to lead the 'Bows.

"Deonte had his career night," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "I thought he played his best game of the year."

Tatum said: "I just took what came off the offense. I was looking to be more aggressive tonight, that's all."

But it wasn't enough as several other 'Bows struggled.

Hawai'i had a 2-0 lead in the opening minute of the game, but then trailed the rest of the way.

But the 'Bows still nearly pulled off a comeback in the end.

Trailing 57-55 in the closing seconds, Lojeski made a steal but then immediately turned the ball over while attempting to make a pass to Ahmet Gueye.

"I saw (Gueye's) man try to come to me," Lojeski said. "I think he thought I was going to go up with it and I probably should have. Nothing we can do about it now."

After Penn's Steve Danley made one of two free throws, Hawai'i's Julian Sensley missed a 3-pointer at the final buzzer.

Lojeski added 13 points and "Big Matt" Gipson contributed 12 points and eight rebounds.

Sensley and center Gueye — Hawai'i's two leading scorers — scored four and five points, respectively. Sensley was 1 of 6 from the field and Gueye was 2 of 6. Gueye did grab a game-high nine rebounds to lead Hawai'i to a 33-26 advantage on the boards.

Still, it was the second-lowest point total of the season for Sensley and the lowest for Gueye.

"We don't have the bench points coming in," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "So the guys on the floor have to do the scoring, and Julian and Ahmet didn't score tonight."

Due to injuries to other players, the 'Bows used only two reserves last night — freshman point guard Hiram Thompson and center Chris Botez. Thompson scored four points and had four assists; Botez did not score, but had two assists.

Penn head coach Fran Dunphy said the primary focus of his defense was to double-team Sensley, Gueye and Lojeski every time one of them got the ball.

"Our help defense was key," Jaaber said. "We left some of their guards open to help on the big guys. We had to take that chance."

As a result, the shorter Quakers got 28 "points in the paint" to Hawai'i's 24.

"Our power guys inside, I'm calling them floaters now because there's no power," Wallace said. "We're not scoring in the paint."

Perhaps more costly, the 'Bows went 11 of 22 from the free-throw line and committed 17 turnovers.

"That's a lot of beating yourself against a very good team," Wallace said. "If we don't improve the free-throw shooting, we're going to be in trouble."

Sensley scored the first basket of the game, but Penn's Mark Zoller then scored the next seven points to give the Quakers a 7-2 lead they would hold the rest of the game.

Penn led by as many as nine, but the 'Bows cut it to one several times late in the first half. A 3-pointer by Gipson in the closing seconds of the half cut the Penn lead to 28-27 at intermission.

"Once we get off to a slow start, especially at home, the other team gets confidence when they shouldn't have confidence," Tatum said.

The Quakers again built the lead to nine at 50-41 with 8:01 remaining in the second half.

Hawai'i responded with a 10-1 run to get within 52-51 with 2:40 remaining. Lojeski scored seven points during the surge.

But Jaaber scored on a short jump shot with 2:11 remaining to push the lead back to 54-51.

"I think we were timely in our shots dropping tonight, and that's what you gotta do if you're going to win a game like this on the road," Dunphy said. "It's a terrific win for us, no doubt about it."

The Quakers helped make it interesting in the final minute by going 2 of 5 from the free-throw line. They were just 6 of 15 (40 percent) on free throws for the game.

But Hawai'i went 2 of 4 on its free-throw attempts in the final minute.

"We were more focused on our shots," Jaaber said. "We're glad they didn't make theirs, but we also wanted to capitalize on ours to help open the gap."

Zoller added 13 points and six rebounds for the Quakers.

Hawai'i will next host a Western Athletic Conference game against Nevada on Jan. 5. The Wolf Pack is ranked No. 20 and the preseason pick to win the conference.

Penn will play at Brigham Young-Hawai'i on Saturday.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.