After returning from an 11-day road trip last week, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team apparently readjusted on Hawaiian time last night.

The Rainbow Warriors could not overcome a lackluster first half in a 61-58 loss to UNLV.

"We didn't compete for 40 minutes tonight," sophomore guard Dominic Waters said. "We competed for maybe 20. We didn't decide to get hungry until the second half."

The 'Bows rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to tie the score at 56, but as head coach Riley Wallace said: "It was too little, too late, obviously."

A sparse but vocal "White-Out" crowd of 3,411 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Hawai'i drop to 4-4 with its first home loss of the season. The Runnin' Rebels improved to 6-2 with their second victory over the 'Bows this season.

UNLV also beat Hawai'i in Las Vegas last month. Last night was the second part of the home-and-home series.

Just like in Las Vegas, the 'Bows started slow last night.

"It was (UNLV's) defense early on that set the tempo for the game," Wallace said. "Their defensive pressure once again took us out of our offensive sets ... we got frustrated a little bit and got impatient and took some bad shots."

Foul problems and turnovers also contributed to Hawai'i's demise

Waters, Matt Gibson and Bobby Nash each scored 11 points to lead the 'Bows. Matt Lojeski, the team's leading scorer, was held to a season-low five points before fouling out.

But as poor as the 'Bows played last night, they still had a shot to win it at the end.

A 3-pointer by Gibson — just as the 35-second shot clock expired — tied the score at 56 with 1:20 remaining.

On UNLV's ensuing possession, Wendell White fittingly responded with a jump shot from about 18 feet away to put the Rebels ahead for good, 58-56, with 1:02 remaining.

White, a 6-foot-6 forward, led UNLV with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

"I thought he was really quick all night attacking the glass," UNLV head coach Lon Kruger said of White.

Hawai'i cut the UNLV lead to 59-58 on two free throws by Waters with 5.4 seconds remaining. However, Lojeski was assessed an intentional foul on UNLV's ensuing inbounds play, sealing Hawai'i's fate.

UNLV's Curtis Terry made one of two free throws, and the Rebels retained possession because of the intentional foul. Kevin Kruger then made one of two free throws for the final margin.

"It's one of those situations where you know those are always intentional, and the refs usually end up not calling it," Kruger said. "But it was a two-hand grab, so by rule, I guess he has to."

Making matters worse for Hawai'i, Lojeski was assessed his fifth foul by the referees, even though it was Gibson who grabbed Terry's jersey.

"They made the call and you have to live with it," Wallace said. "We have to make our own breaks and can't blame the officials."

Waters added: "It's not the refs' fault at all. We shouldn't have left it up to the refs to decide the game."

Instead, the 'Bows pointed to their sloppy first half as the major cause. Hawai'i trailed 26-18 at intermission after making just 6 of 18 field goals (33.3 percent).

The 18 points were a season-low in a half for the 'Bows, and they also committed 12 of their 20 turnovers before intermission.

"We worked hard all week and for us to put a display on like that in the first half just didn't make any sense," Nash said.

The Rebels' man-to-man pressure forced 39 Hawai'i turnovers in the two games between the teams.

Hawai'i senior forward Ahmet Gueye scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but he went 4 of 10 from the free-throw line, including two misses in the final minute.

Wallace said Gueye has been having "problems" with his injured right knee that may require some rest.

The 'Bows will have some time before their next game, which is scheduled for Dec . 16 against Northwestern State.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.