"I think we're back to the old team that we had in the beginning of the year," junior forward Julian Sensley said. "Everybody's hungry and everybody's playing unselfish."

A crowd of around 2,000 at the Lawlor Events Center watched the 'Bows improve to 16-12 with their third victory this season over San Jose State. The Spartans, who are the last-place team in the WAC, finished their season at 6-23.

The three Hawai'i victories over the Spartans were by a combined 61 points.

"Our game plan was more of the same of what we played them before," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "Our big guys had to neutralize their quickness."

Sensley led the balanced attack with 13 points and seven rebounds. Junior center Chris Botez added 10 points and seven rebounds, and sophomore guard Bobby Nash scored 11 off the bench.

The 'Bows out-rebounded the shorter Spartans, 38-26, and dominated the game from start to finish.

"We got overwhelmed," San Jose State head coach Phil Johnson said.

The 'Bows raced to a 9-3 lead to open the game and never relented. By halftime, Hawai'i's lead was 31-18.

"We got that lead early and stayed with it," Wallace said. "And then we pounded the boards pretty good and we shot the ball better tonight than we've been shooting."

San Jose State got as close as nine early in the second half, but the 'Bows broke the game open with a 15-2 run that made it 55-31 with 6:21 remaining.

Hawai'i ran its flex-motion offense well, as evidenced by its 22 assists against just nine turnovers.

"When you check the stat sheet with us, you check the assists," Wallace said. "That's what makes us go."

Making it more impressive, Hawai'i's starting guards — "Little Matt" Gibson and Jake Sottos — struggled yesterday.

Gibson, the team's leading scorer, was held to three points. Sottos was also limited to three points, but passed for a team-high six assists.

Reserve guards Deonte Tatum and Nash picked up the slack. Tatum sparked the first-half surge after Gibson got in foul trouble, and he finished with seven points, five assists and a career-high nine rebounds.

"The ball was just falling in my lap," Tatum said. "I went to go get a few, but the majority of the time, it was being in the right spot at the right time."

Perhaps most notable, Tatum drained his first 3-pointer of the season. Prior to last night, he was 0 for 17 from 3-point range. "It's only a 3," Tatum said with a smile.

Nash was also on target, shooting 3 of 5 from 3-point range.

"Our other guards were having a little trouble getting started and Coach had faith in us to put us in," Nash said.

Most of the points, however, came on layups off crisp passes. Sensley was the primary benefactor, getting all six of his field goals from close range.

"They were switching a lot, so those back-door slips were open," he said.

By the end of the game, every 'Bow got in the act. Reserve center Milos Zivanovic also drained the first 3-pointer of his career in the closing minutes.

"It's a fun offense to coach, it's a fun offense to play and it's a fun offense to watch if they run it right with aggressiveness," Wallace said. "And we ran it well tonight."

As impressive as Hawai'i's offense was, its defense may have been better.

The 'Bows limited the Spartans to a 36.0 field-goal percentage, including just 18.8 percent (3 of 16) from 3-point range.

"When you shoot 36 percent, that's just not going to do it," San Jose State senior guard Kareem Guilbeaux said. "That was the difference."

Marquin Chandler led the Spartans with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting.

"We're playing good on both ends of the floor," Tatum said. "We're concentrating a lot more on defense, trying to get consecutive stops. Not just one stop, but three or four stops in a row. That's what's going to win games."

The task will be tougher tomorrow against No. 2 seed UTEP. The Miners are 24-7, and defeated Hawai'i twice this season.