BOISE, Idaho — The snow fell hard and fast outside the Taco Bell Arena last night.

Inside, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball did the same.

The Rainbow Warriors got into a big deficit early in the game, and could never make up the difference in a 95-80 loss to Boise State last night.

"Once they got it going, it started raining on us and didn't stop," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "We battled and battled and battled, but the hill was too high for us to climb."

In truth, the game was not as close as the final score might indicate. The Broncos led by 25 at halftime and increased it to 31 in the second half.

The 95 points was the most surrendered by a Hawai'i team since TCU scored 103 during the 2000-01 season.

But the 'Bows hustled all the way to the end, with Bobby Nash draining a 3-pointer from near half-court as the final horn sounded.

"At least we showed character and went down with a fight," Hawai'i senior Riley Luettgerodt said. "I couldn't live with myself if we rolled over and quit."

Hawai'i, which had its two-game winning streak snapped, dropped to 7-11 overall and 3-3 in the Western Athletic Conference.

Boise State improved to 14-5 and moved into second place in the WAC at 5-2.

Matt Gibson tied his UH career high with 26 points, although 18 came in the second half when the 'Bows were in catch-up mode.

"I could care less how many points, rebounds, assists I get," Gibson said. "I want to win games. We didn't do it, so I'm not satisfied."

Luettgerodt added 14 points, Nash scored all 13 of his points in the second half, and freshman Kareem Nitoto contributed a career-high 10 points.

"I guess we made up a little ground, but not very much," Gibson said. "They did what they did and executed their game plan and that's why the game went the way it did."

The Broncos entered the game as the top offensive team in the WAC, and Hawai'i's plan was to slow the pace.

"We had a game plan of making it an ugly game, slowing it down, running time off the clock ... but we came out firing shots," Gibson said. "We didn't try to run with them, we just shot quick shots, and that's not the game plan we had established."

The 'Bows also had a season-low seven assists, and got out-rebounded 45-27.

Hawai'i also had a plan to stymie the Broncos' strong inside duo of 6-foot-9 Matt Nelson and 6-6 Reggie Larry. The 'Bows did that early in the game with double-teams, but that left the perimeter open for Boise State's shooters.

Senior guard Matt Bauscher responded with 21 points, including 5-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.

By the end of the game, Boise State was 14 of 22 (63.6 percent) from 3-point range. It was one 3-pointer short of the record for a UH opponent.

"Against us, you kind of have to pick your poison," Bauscher said. "We got the two best big guys in the WAC, I believe, and if you're going to double-team in there, we have to have the confidence to knock down the shot."

Bauscher set the tone early, draining two 3s to give the Broncos a 6-0 lead they would never relinquish.

Late in the first half, Boise State went on a 17-4 run to turn a 20-12 lead into a 37-16 rout.

Bauscher had 16 points — and four 3-pointers — in the first half to help the Broncos to a 47-22 lead at intermission.

"It was like all of their shooters were hitting," Luettgerodt said. "We were trying. I thought we were moving around on defense. It was just hard to defend when they were all making shots like that."

Bauscher said: "Luckily, their shots weren't falling and ours were."

Oddly enough, the only Bronco who wasn't hitting shots was Larry. He entered the game ranked third in the WAC in scoring with 19.0 points per game, and first in rebounding with 9.1 per game.

He finished last night's game with six points, all on free throws. He went 0 of 7 from the field, and grabbed eight rebounds.

Nelson, however, finished with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting, and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Tyler Tiedeman added 17 points, including 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range.

"They have a great inside game, but they have great shooting, too," Bob Nash said.

Boise State finished with a field goal percentage of .483, which was actually below its NCAA Division I leading percentage of .522 prior to the game.

Bauscher's final 3 of the game came with 10:54 remaining. After it went in, Luettgerodt shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"I was a little late getting there, but I definitely had a hand in his face," Luettgerodt said. "Once he made that, I was just like, 'Wow, I guess everything's going in.' "

Boise State pushed the lead to 84-53 with 6:19 remaining before head coach Greg Graham put in his reserves.

Hawai'i out-scored the Broncos, 21-5 in the game's final five minutes.

"It became a teaching situation," Bob Nash said. "We can't allow ourselves to not fight all the way to the end."

Assuming the snowstorm comes to a halt, the 'Bows are scheduled to depart Boise today for Moscow, Idaho.

Hawai'i will play another WAC road game at Idaho on Saturday.

"We just have to put this one behind us and get the next one," Bob Nash said. "Your goal is to win every road game, but if you can get a split on the road, that's still a success. We still have a chance to split on this road trip, so that's what we're aiming for."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.