Last night, he did. Just not exactly the way he originally planned.

Sensley was the lone bright spot for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team in a 69-60 loss to Fresno State last night in the Save Mart Center.

The 6-foot-9 sophomore forward scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds. He shot 9 of 10 from the field, and also contributed four steals and two blocked shots.

"I wasn't being as aggressive as I should have been in the first half," Sensley said. "Coach (Bob) Nash got into my ear at halftime and told me to take over and play my game, so I did."

Sensley scored 18 after intermission, helping the 'Bows cut a 16-point first half deficit down to three in the second half.

During one spectacular stretch, Sensley drained a 3-pointer, then threw down a hard two-handed dunk off an alley-oop pass from Michael Kuebler on the next possession.

Fresno State head coach Ray Lopes said of Sensley: "He's going to be playing in the pros one day. He works inside, outside, rebounds the ball extremely well. He got on a roll."

Two years ago, Sensley was supposed to be rolling for the Bulldogs. He attended Fresno State for a semester, but transferred to Los Angeles City College before he could play for the Bulldogs. He signed with Hawai'i prior to this season.

Some Fresno State fans behind the Hawai'i bench heckled Sensley in the first half, and Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace used that as motivation at halftime.

"I challenged Julian," Wallace said. "He sat here for a semester. The fans were getting on him. I said how can you not be fired up wanting to prove something?"

However, Sensley would be the only Hawai'i player to reach double-figure points. It was the first time this season that the 'Bows did not have at least two players in double-figure points.

"They couldn't stop him," Wallace said. "But then we had no one to go with him. One man can't be two."

• Staying put: The 'Bows will remain in Fresno this week for the WAC Tournament at the Save Mart Center.

If Hawai'i can make it to Saturday's championship game, it will have spent nine days in Fresno.

"It's better than flying back and forth," Wallace said.

The 'Bows will practice at Fresno City College for the next few days in preparation for their quarterfinal game against Rice on Thursday. The 'Bows and Owls split their season series this season.