The season opener for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team turned into a national eye-opener.

The Rainbow Warriors scored one of the biggest upsets in the program's history in an 84-62 victory over No. 4 Michigan State yesterday.

"If people didn't know about us before, and if they didn't believe in us before, I hope they do now," Hawai'i senior co-captain Deonte Tatum said. "I think we definitely opened a lot of eyes around the nation with this one."

An afternoon White-Out crowd of 8,802 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the season opener for both teams.

The only higher-ranked team that Hawai'i upset was No. 2 Kansas in the 1997 Rainbow Classic.

"This is huge for us," Hawai'i senior forward Julian Sensley said. "I've never experienced anything like it. It's what we all dream of in high school, playing in this kind of atmosphere."

Perhaps the most surprising part wasn't the victory, but the dominating way it happened.

Hawai'i took a 13-10 lead less than five minutes into the game, and never let it go the rest of the way.

"As close to a complete game, I think, as I've ever coached," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said.

Hawai'i did it with a balanced attack — four players scored in double figures — and a mix of points off fastbreaks and half-court sets.

Sensley scored 20 points and had five assists; junior guard Matt Lojeski also scored 20, including 6-of-8 shooting from 3-point range.

Junior forward Ahmet Gueye added 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Bobby Nash came off the bench to score 10.

Tatum, the senior point guard, had six points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals.

"We have so many weapons on this team," Sensley said. "Any single player on our team can get in there and play 30 minutes a game."

Sensley got the 'Bows rolling early with an emphatic dunk in the opening minutes.

Lojeski, who was starting in his first game with the 'Bows, then drained two 3-pointers to turn a 10-7 deficit into a 13-10 lead for Hawai'i.

The 'Bows increased their lead to as many as 11 in the first half before taking a 39-32 advantage at intermission. Sensley (13 points) and Lojeski (11) led the first-half charge.

"We just started off on fire," Sensley said. "We were playing so well as a team, moving the ball, making them think."

The Spartans got as close as 41-36 early in the second half, but then they crumbled under the heat.

In a bizarre sequence, center Paul Davis and guards Maurice Ager, Shannon Brown, and Drew Neitzel all had to be helped from the court in the second half due to muscle cramping. Those are the four returning starters from last season's 26-7 MSU team that went to the Final Four.

"We had the lead cut down and that's when everything kind of started happening," Davis said.

Davis, a 6-foot-11 senior, was the most significant loss. He finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds despite sitting out the final 13:27 of the game.

"They are a good team," Davis said of the 'Bows. "They will be in the (NCAA) Tournament."

During one stretch late in the game, MSU had sophomore point guard Neitzel on the court with four freshmen.

"I felt like vomiting," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "Nothing was any good about that. It's really a shame. It's your biggest nightmare."

Sensley said: "I don't know what happened. Some of their key guys got hurt, so that helped us a lot down the stretch."

But the way the 'Bows were playing in the second half, it might not have mattered.

"No matter what (the Spartans) were doing, we were still getting good shots off of it," Wallace said of MSU's defense.

The clincher may have come when Nash banked in a 3-pointer as the 35-second shot clock was about to expire. It ignited an 11-0 run that gave Hawai'i a 67-50 lead with 7:06 remaining.

Ager, Brown and Neitzel all left the game after that. The Spartans never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.

"We didn't play well, they played well," Izzo said. "They deserve the credit that they get. That's an NCAA (Tournament) team, I don't think there's any question about that."

Ager led the Spartans with 16 points, although he shot 5 of 15 from the field. Brown added nine points on 4-of-11 shooting.

"Our wings didn't play very good," Izzo said of Ager and Brown. "And that was on both ends of the court."

The Spartans shot 39.6 percent from the field, including just 27.8 percent (5 of 18) from 3-point range. They also committed 17 turnovers, leading directly to 20 points for Hawai'i.

The 'Bows shot 45.6 percent overall and 41.7 percent (10 of 24) from 3-point range. Hawai'i also matched the rugged Spartans in rebounds, 36-36.

"We had in mind that we had to play intense the whole 40 minutes," Gueye said. "They are a great team and we respect them a lot, but we had to make a statement and show what we can do."

The victory was also the 300th for Wallace as head coach at Hawai'i.

"I'll remember this one," said Wallace, who is in his 19th season as head coach at UH. "I don't know 100, and I don't know 200 ... but I'll remember 300 because you beat a great team, a nationally ranked team, and a very well-coached team. That makes it even more special."

The 'Bows will depart Hono-lulu today for Las Vegas, where they will play a road game at UNLV on Tuesday.

The Spartans departed Hono-lulu last night for Maui. They will begin play in the EA Sports Maui Invitational tomorrow.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.