On a night marketed as "Champions on Display," the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team displayed its version of championship form last night.

The Rainbow Warriors combined a careful offense with a perimeter-wary defense in a 75-62 victory over Western Athletic Conference rival Fresno State.

A crowd of 5,447 — the largest home crowd of the season — at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the 'Bows improve to 7-10 overall and 3-2 in the WAC. It also marked the first time this season that Hawai'i won back-to-back games.

"Tonight was just one of those good nights where things were really clicking," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "We took care of the ball, we made the right reads. We were unselfish ... that's the way you play basketball."

On a night when the UH football, women's volleyball and soccer teams were honored, several 'Bows broke out of shooting slumps.

Jared Dillinger, who had two points in each of his previous two games, led the way with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

"That's what you gotta do — just shoot when you're in a slump like that," he said. "Tonight it worked out well. Everyone was feeling it and we were feeding off each other."

Bobby Nash added 13 points and a career-high eight assists. Riley Luettgerodt had 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting, and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Matt Gibson contributed 12 points and eight assists.

"It's a great feeling when you put in the work and it starts paying off for you, and shots are falling," Bobby Nash said.

The 'Bows had three days of practice to prepare for the Bulldogs, and they spent all three days in the Sheriff Center. Last week, the 'Bows had to practice in Gym II because the men's volleyball team had priority of the Sheriff Center.

"It made a big difference, getting used to the rims ... it was huge," Bobby Nash said.

As proof, the 'Bows shot 50.9 percent from the field, including 50 percent (9 of 18) from 3-point range. Hawai'i shot 61.5 percent from the field in the decisive second half.

"I thought all the 3-point shots we took were within the offense," Bob Nash said. "We really shared the basketball ... guys were really looking for each other."

Perhaps the biggest statistic of all was Hawai'i's season-low five turnovers.

"They were the better team tonight," Fresno State head coach Steve Cleveland said.

The Bulldogs entered the game undermanned with the loss of forward Bryan Harvey earlier in the week due to academic issues. He is one of three starters who did not make the trip to Hawai'i.

"We don't need to redocument why we're playing six guys," Cleveland said. "It just is what it is, and it's not going to change for a while. (Hawai'i) kind of controlled the tempo of the game offensively for the last 15 minutes, and once they got the lead, we didn't have the legs or the energy to be what we needed to be."

The Bulldogs entered the game ranked first in the WAC in 3-pointers with an average of 8.5 per game. Last night, they went 5 of 20 from long range.

Fresno State guard Eddie Miller entered the game ranked first in the WAC with 61 3-pointers, but he shot 1 of 9 from the field and 0 of 5 from 3-point range. It was only his second game this season without a 3.

Bob Nash credited Dillinger for the defensive effort on Miller.

"They are a good 3-point shooting team, and we knew that, so we had to get out on their shooters," Nash said.

The game was close early, with the lead switching 11 times in the first 10 minutes. Fresno State's biggest lead came at 18-15 with 10:16 remaining.

For the second straight game, Nash used a platoon system in the first half. The group of Bobby Nash and reserves Kareem Nitoto, Adhar Mayen, Alex Veit and Paul Campbell went on an 8-0 run to give Hawai'i a 23-18 lead.

The 'Bows took a 29-23 lead at intermission, and increased it to 36-27 early in the second half. The Bulldogs never got closer than seven the rest of the game.

With the Hawai'i defense focused on shutting down outside shots, Fresno State point guard Kevin Bell was able to drive to the basket for a game-high 21 points. But it was not enough as the Bulldogs shot 41 percent from the field for the game.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.