Two days after a heartbreaking loss to Louisiana Tech, the Rainbow Warriors responded with a heart-warming 62-59 victory over Southern Methodist last night.

As their Valentine's Day gift, the 'Bows moved back into a tie for first place in the Western Athletic Conference. A crowd of 6,326 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Hawai'i improve to 17-5 overall and 9-3 in the WAC.

Nevada, which beat Texas-El Paso yesterday, is 10-4 and tied with Hawai'i. SMU dropped to 10-13 overall and 4-9 in the WAC with its second loss to the 'Bows this season.

"We wanted it real bad," sophomore forward Julian Sensley said. "That loss (to Louisiana Tech) woke us up a little bit."

But for most of last night's game, the 'Bows kept hitting the snooze button. Their shooting did not awake until midway through the second half.

"It just took us a while to adjust," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said.

Senior guard Michael Kuebler was especially effective, scoring a game-high 21 points, including six 3-pointers. He scored 16 points during the decisive second half, including 5 of 7 shooting from 3-point range.

Three other 'Bows scored in double figures: Sensley (11), Haim Shimonovich (10) and Jake Sottos (10).

Yes, Jake Sottos.

He and Milos Zivanovic — two members of the Hawai'i scout team in practice — inspired their teammates with unexpected contributions in the first half.

Because SMU employed a zone defense for nearly the entire game, Sottos was summoned off the bench for his long-range shooting skills.

"I wanted another option in there," Wallace said.

The 'Bows struggled against the SMU zone early, making just one of their first 10 shots and falling behind 12-3 to open the game.

Sottos then came in and scored all his points in the first half, including three 3-pointers. His last 3-pointer of the half cut SMU's lead to 25-24 at intermission.

"When (Wallace) called on me, I was ready to come out and shoot," said Sottos, who had not played at all in the previous five games. "All shooters like zones."

He stayed in the lineup to start the second half, but instead of shooting, he started passing. He did not score in the second half, but had five assists. His final totals of 10 points and seven assists were career highs.

"He got me a little bit fired up," Kuebler said. "And he probably got me a some more open looks because they were starting to key on him."

A 3-pointer by Kuebler gave Hawai'i its first lead of the game at 34-33 with 14:14 remaining.

MILOS ZIVANOVIC

JAKE SOTTOS

But SMU responded with a 14-4 run late in the game to take a momentary 59-58 lead. Bryan Hopkins gave the Mustangs the lead when he drained a 3-pointer, got fouled in the process, and made the subsequent free throw.

"I was feeling good about our chances right there," Hopkins said. "But maybe we got too excited. We didn't make a defensive stop."

On Hawai'i's ensuing possession, Kuebler hit a wide open 3-pointer to put the 'Bows back up, 61-59 with 48.7 seconds remaining.

"The way it was going in the second half, I felt like everything was going in," Kuebler said.

SMU head coach Mike Dement said he stayed with a zone defense because "we just aren't a very good man-to-man team. We went man-to-man one time and they got right inside and scored easily."

Logan Lee made one of two free throws with 8.8 seconds left for the final margin.

SMU had two chances to tie the game in the closing seconds, but both shots were blocked by Shimonovich.

"We just broke down on defense and gave them too many open looks," Hopkins said. "But give them credit, they made all the big shots."

With Kuebler hitting from the outside, Shimonovich took care of the inside in the second half. He scored all 10 of his points in the second half on 5-of-5 shooting. He also grabbed six of his eight rebounds in the second half to lead Hawai'i to a 37-29 advantage on the boards.

He required treatment after the game for a knee injury, but it was not expected to be serious.

Shimonovich was limited to four minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. In his place, Zivanovic grabbed a career-high five rebounds in the first half.

Hopkins led the Mustangs with 16 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Patrick Simpson and Kris Lowe added 13 each.