FRESNO, Calif. — Prior to Thursday night's game, Fresno State presented a gift basket to retiring University of Hawai'i men's basketball coach Riley Wallace.

Once the game started, the Bulldogs practically handed the victory to the Rainbow Warriors.

The 'Bows took advantage of an ugly shooting night by Fresno State in an "ugly" 54-42 victory.

"It was just one of those nights," Wallace said. "It was ugly, but we'll take it."

A Save Mart Center crowd of 11,768 — the largest the 'Bows have played in front of this season — booed the Bulldogs in the first half, and then left in silence as the final minutes ticked off the clock.

Hawai'i improved to 13-9 overall and 4-5 in the Western Athletic Conference with its second victory over Fresno State this season. It was Hawai'i's first WAC victory on the road this season. The Bulldogs dropped to 15-7 and 4-5 with just their second home loss of the season.

"We heard the boos and we felt like booing ourselves," Fresno State point guard Kevin Bell said.

The 'Bows won despite scoring a season-low 54 points and committing a season-high 23 turnovers, and despite sub-par performances from co-captains Matt Lojeski and Ahmet Gueye.

"They didn't score, but the rest of the team picked it up," Wallace said. "It was a grinder, that's all I can tell you."

Matt Gibson led the 'Bows with 19 points and nine rebounds. He shot 3 of 5 from 3-point range, and scored 12 points in the second half to help hold off the Bulldogs.

"Sick, not sick; cold, not cold; we just have to decide not to lose on the road," Gibson said. "No more excuses."

P.J. Owsley added 12 points and seven rebounds, and Bobby Nash had seven points, seven rebounds and four steals.

A combination of tenacious defense by Hawai'i and atrocious shooting by Fresno State led to the Bulldogs' demise.

Fresno State shot 23.6 percent from the field, including an incredulous 4.2 percent (1 of 24) from 3-point range.

"There's nothing that I can find redeemingly good about the way we played offensively," Fresno State head coach Steve Cleveland said. "I don't know in my 30 years of coaching that I've seen the ineptness that we showed offensively."

Fresno State entered the game leading the WAC with an average of 9.8 3-pointers per game.

"I want you to give us a little reward on defense because we did contest every shot," Wallace said. "When they did get shots, we contested everything."

The Bulldogs were particularly bad in the first half.

The score was tied at 12 with 6:49 remaining in the first half, but the Bulldogs then went scoreless until intermission.

Hawai'i closed the half with a 15-0 run to take a 27-12 lead.

Nash and Gibson then opened the second half by draining 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give the 'Bows a 33-12 lead. The Bulldogs were never really in it after that, and the final score was as close as it got.

Fresno State's first basket of the second half came with 16:37 remaining on a tip-in by Hector Hernandez. It ended a streak of 17 consecutive possessions without a point. From the end of the first half to the opening minutes of the second half, the Bulldogs went 10 minutes without scoring.

"You have to take your hats off to (Hawai'i), they played good defense and stuff," Fresno State's Quinton Hosley said. "But a lot of those shots were good shots. Those are shots we take in practice."

But the frustration was evident. Midway through the second half, Hosley took a swing at Nash's head. Hosley was assessed an intentional foul, and Nash made both free throws.

"You could tell they were frustrated," Nash said. "Our defense played well. We weren't letting them get anything easy."

Lojeski, Hawai'i's leading scorer, played 33 minutes even though he was suffering from flu-like symptoms. He finished with six points and five rebounds.

Gueye was in foul trouble throughout the game and finished with six points and two rebounds in just 16 minutes.

"When Ahmet goes down in foul trouble, someone needs to step up or we're not going to get a win," Owsley said. "I just try to do what I can to help the team."

If not for its poor shooting, Fresno State might have been in the game. The Bulldogs out-rebounded Hawai'i, 46-43, and went 15 of 28 on free throws to Hawai'i's 4 of 4.

Bell also collected nine of Fresno State's 17 steals.

Hawai'i shot 37.7 percent from the field. The 'Bows maintained their lead in the second half by patiently working the 35-second shot clock down to a few seconds on each of their possessions.

"It was ugly at the end, but we'll take it," Owsley said.

Gibson added: "We sure ain't giving it back."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.