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HONOLULU—The University of Hawai`i men's basketball team led from wire-to-wire and maintained their double-digit lead throughout the second half to defeat Delaware State, 75-60 on Tuesday night. Aaron Valdes led a trio of Rainbow Warriors with double-figures in points. He poured in a team-high 19 points while Garrett Nevels added 15 and Negus Webster-Chan finished with 11 points on Tuesday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Warriors improved their record to 7-2 overall while the Hornets fell to 3-4 on the year.
 
Valdes shot 9-for-14 from the floor with one 3-pointer made. He also corralled seven rebounds and had two steals in 28 minutes of action. Nevels was an efficient 5-for-8 in field goals—including going 2-for-2 from beyond the 3-point arch. He also was 3-for-4 in free throws with four rebounds, a blocked shot, and a steal. Webster-Chan also had a solid game, making 4-of-9 shots with three boards, two assists and two steals. He also made two treys early in the first half to spark UH's offensive outburst.
 
The Rainbow Warriors took a 35-23 lead into the half with Valdes scoring a team-high nine points while Mike Thomas had a strong first half, scoring eight points with nine rebounds. Hawai'i got a quick start right out of the gate, scoring the first five points of the game—the 'Bows never looked back. Thomas made a jumper with 10:39 left in the half to give UH an 11 point lead, but the Hornets would start to chip away bringing their deficit down to six points with 7:28 left in the half. But the 'Bows responded right back with a 10-to-0 run to go up by 16 points with 4:26 on the clock. Later in the first half, a trey by Nevels lifted UH to an 18-point lead with a little more than two minutes left. Hawai'i would take a 14 point lead into the break.
 
In the second half, UH quickly put the pedal to the metal and saw its lead balloon to 23 points twice—the last time with 11:24 left in the game. The Hornets tried to make a dent into Hawai'i's lead, but never got closer than 15 points.
 
Hawai'i out-rebounded Delaware State, 40-to-34 and had a distinct advantage in the paint, out-scoring the Hornets, 48-to-30. UH also out-scored DSUM, 23-to-8 in points off of turnovers and on fast breaks, 20-to-6. Delaware's only advantage came from their reserves, as they outscored Hawai'i's bench, 23-to-18. Hawai'i had 13 assists on its 31 made baskets and shot 46.3% from the floor (31-for-67).
 
Delaware State also had three players post double-digits in points—led by Charles Burley's 14. Kendall Gray added 13 and Tyshawn Bell  chipped in with 12 points. Gray also pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds.
 
Hawai'i now hits the road again to face BYU in Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 4:00 p.m. MT.