The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team started Thanksgiving week with a cupcake.

The Rainbow Warriors got their first victory of the season — and the first for head coach Bob Nash — with an 84-55 rout of Alcorn State last night.

"We just came out and played hard," Hawai'i sophomore forward Bill Amis said. "We got on a run, shots were falling, and played well."

A crowd of 2,577 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Hawai'i improve to 1-2. Alcorn State dropped to 0-3, with the three losses by a combined 87 points.

All 10 players in uniform for Hawai'i scored, led by Riley Luettgerodt's 20 points.

Bobby Nash added 15, Stephen Verwers scored 10 on 5-of-5 shooting, and Amis contributed nine points and nine rebounds.

"It was just a great effort all the way around," Bob Nash said.

Sophomore reserves Paul Campbell and Adhar Mayen grabbed 10 and nine rebounds, respectively, helping lead the 'Bows to a 56-37 advantage on the boards.

"I think that's the most we've had since I've been here (as a coach) at the University of Hawai'i," Nash said.

Hawai'i's two losses to open the season both came in the final seconds, but last night's game was close only for the first 10 minutes.

Just two nights earlier, the 'Bows suffered a heartbreaking 79-77 loss to Illinois.

"That was a tough loss," Luettgerodt said. "We wanted to get a win under our belt, and that's what we did. We put a team away pretty handily, so it's a good feeling."

A 12-0 run by Hawai'i broke it open midway through the first half. The surge gave the 'Bows a 31-15 lead with 6:37 remaining in the half.

The Braves never got closer than 12 the rest of the game.

"Once we found our groove, we got into some good things, got some good shots, some good opportunities," Bob Nash said.

Hawai'i closed the half with a 14-5 run to take a 45-24 lead at intermission, and Alcorn State never got within 20 in the second half.

Luettgerodt (16) and Nash (9) combined to out-score Alcorn State in the first half.

"I just wanted to come out and be aggressive," Luettgerodt said. "(Alcorn State) is run and gun ... we just wanted to contain them, rebound the ball, and get out and run our stuff."

Luettgerodt played 30 minutes — the most among the Hawai'i players. Every other 'Bow played at least nine minutes, and everyone scored a basket.

Alcorn State, which is from Mississippi and is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, limped into Hawai'i, and not just because of a 40-point loss at Oklahoma last week.

According to head coach Samuel West, four of the team's top six players sat out with injuries last night. Most significant, leading scorer Troy Jackson was not in uniform because of a knee injury.

"He would have made a big difference," West said of Jackson, who is averaging 14.5 points per game this season.

"I'm not making excuses; that's not what hurt us," West added. "We did a poor job of executing ... and we missed a lot of shots. We got a lot of great shots and we missed them."

The Braves did not have any players taller than 6 feet 8 available last night. In contrast, six of the 10 who played for Hawai'i are listed at 6-8 or taller.

"They were a little undersized," Bob Nash said. "But we took advantage of where we had the advantage."

Hawai'i shot 50 percent from the field for the game, and out-scored the Braves 38-22 "in the paint." Alcorn State shot 29 percent, including 24 percent from 3-point range.

Anthony Ford led the Braves with 16 points. Anthony Searcy grabbed 10 rebounds, and unintentionally delighted the fans with his free throw shooting. He was 2 of 9 from the line, including two air balls and one bank shot.

The 'Bows went straight from the arena to the airport last night for a trip to Albuquerque, N.M. Hawai'i will play its first road game of the season Wednesday at New Mexico.

"Now we have to look ahead," Amis said. "New Mexico is going to be a tough game."

Luettgerodt noted: "It's not as long a flight when you get a nice win."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.