Having learned his lesson — and his team's offense — Dwain Williams is now flourishing with the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team.

Williams is on one of the hottest scoring streaks in the recent history of the program.

In his last three games, the 6-foot junior guard is averaging 28.0 points per game, including a high of 36 against Saint Mary's last week.

"I'm a lot more comfortable now," Williams said. "Just knowing the plays, knowing how to come off screens in this offense, that's all helping me. But I can't be happy with this because we haven't been winning."

Indeed, Williams' three-game scoring spree resulted in a 1-2 record for the Rainbow Warriors.

Hawai'i is 7-6 overall as it begins the Western Athletic Conference portion of its schedule. The 'Bows will host Idaho in the WAC opener on Saturday.

Williams has taken over the scoring lead for the team, with an average of 15.6 points per game.

His average could be even higher if not for the goose egg he put up in a loss against Brigham Young, and a subsequent suspension for violation of team rules.

"That BYU game was a real learning experience for me," Williams said. "I really didn't know the offense and so I wasn't into the game the way I should have been, both mentally and physically."

Following the BYU game, he skipped practice and some of his classes, and was suspended for the next two games.

"Taking basketball away from me, even for a couple of games, that really humbled me," Williams said. "It made me realize that I have to make this work. I gotta be a team player and help this team win games."

Following the suspension, Williams had to earn his way back into the lineup. He did just that, thanks mostly to his shooting skills.

In his last five games, Williams is 17 of 33 from 3-point range for a .515 percentage.

"The value of having shooters helps the whole team," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "We're not seeing as many zones as we did last year. It stretches the floor and gives some of our bigs more room to operate near the basket."

Williams was recruited to Hawai'i to help alleviate the shooting woes of last season. He already has 25 3-pointers this season in his 11 games played. Last season's leader, Lasha Parghalava, finished with 31 3s in 25 games.

Williams was a starter at Providence in the powerful Big East Conference during the 2007-08 season. He had several memorable games, including a 23-point showing against Connecticut, and 21 points against Syracuse.

But he said the last time he had a stretch of three consecutive 20-point games was in high school.

"I do what I can to help the team win," he said. "If it takes me scoring 20 points, 30 points, then I can do it. But if I have to do other things, I can do that, too."

He notes that he has played various roles in his basketball career. Among his past teammates from high school and AAU basketball are current NBA players Michael Beasley and Jared Dudley, and current WNBA star Candice Wiggins.

"We won the AAU national championship for eighth grade, and Candice was on our team," Williams said. "I'm still best friends with a lot of them. I just played with some of those guys last summer."

Playing with and against such high-level competition has instilled a relentless and fearless style of play in Williams.

"It's basketball," he said. "I'm not scared to play against anybody."

The first of his 26 tattoos was of a basketball with knives in it and the inscription: "Killer Instinct."

He has proved it in his recent games, as evidenced by his free throws. In his last three games, Williams has drawn enough fouls to go 33 of 38 from the free-throw line.

"He's being aggressive offensively, and scoring in different ways, which is what you want," Nash said. "Obviously, he can shoot it from 3. But he's also quick enough to go by you, and he's crafty with the ball so that helps him draw fouls."

The last Hawai'i player to score more than 84 points in a three-game stretch was Carl English in 2003.

Part of Williams' recent success also has to do with circumstance.

Star forward Roderick Flemings has missed the last two games. Point guard Hiram Thompson sat out the last game.

"When those guys come back, they're going to get more touches," Williams said. "But I feel like I don't need to put up a lot of shots to be effective. When we have everybody back healthy, it's just going to make us harder to stop."