Box Score

BOISE, Idaho - Boise State out-muscled the Hawaii men's basketball team in a 74-57 victory, Wednesday night, at BSU Pavilion. Despite the loss, the Rainbow Warriors remain in a first place tie in the Western Athletic Conference standings.

Reserve forward Vaidotas Peciukas led the 'Bows (17-6, 9-4) with a career-high 14 points, all in the second half. The junior finished 5-of-8 shooting from the field, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range. Senior guard Michael Kuebler was held in check, with 12 points but extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer to 19 games, which ties the school record.

Junior Jeff Blackett started in place of an injured Haim Shimonovich, and scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Aaron Haynes recorded 27 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Broncos (16-8, 8-6).

Haynes scored the team's first 13 points as the Broncos took an early seven point lead. The 'Bows rallied and cut the deficit to two after Kuebler's second trey. But Bryan Defares took over scoring 13 of BSU's final 15 points of the half as the Broncos closed with a 15-3 run to take a 32-18 halftime lead, UH's largest halftime deficit of the season.

Hawaii shot just 26.9 percent from the field in the first half, including a 2-of-10 shooting performance from 3-point range. In contrast, the Broncos shot 44.8 percent as Haynes and Defares combined to shoot 11-of-13 from the floor.

The 'Bows came out firing in the second half, closing to within 38-33 with 15:21 to play. But BSU answered the call with a 9-0 run to push its lead back to 14. The Broncos maintained its lead and UH could not get any closer than eight the rest of the way.

The 'Bows continue its nine-day road trip against No. 20 Southern Illinois, Feb. 21, as part of ESPN's Bracket Buster Saturday event. Tip-off is set for 11:00 p.m. CST at SIU Arena in Carbondale, Ill. The game will be shown live on ESPN and can be heard on KKEA 1420 AM with Bobby Curran calling the action.

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