A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,090 watched the Rainbow Warriors bury five of their first six 3-point attempts, open up a 23-point lead in the first half, and then withstand Keoni Watson's frenetic 34-point effort.

In avenging last month's loss to the Vandals, the Rainbows improved to 17-12 overall and 7-8 in the Western Athletic Conference. The Vandals are 3-25 and 1-14.

"They shot the snot out of the ball in the very beginning," Idaho coach George Pfeifer said. "A couple of times they were open and the basket looked pretty big to them in the first 15 minutes."

The thing is, the Rainbows' original blueprint was to go inside to post player Ahmet Gueye. But UH coach Riley Wallace took out the blue pencil when the Vandals switched to a sagging 2-3 zone.

Point guard Matt Gibson swished a 3 from the right corner, giving the Rainbows a 5-2 lead they would not relinquish.

After Matt Lojeski, who finished with a team-high 20 points, made a 3 and Gibson followed with another, it was 13-4, and the Vandals' confidence, like their zone, was collapsing.