So much for a renewed rivalry.

The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team appeared uninspired in an 83-65 loss to Brigham Young last night.

"It was a situation where we were a little flat tonight for some reason," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "I can't put my finger on it. Going into the game, I never would have expected us to be out-hustled and I think we just got out-hustled tonight."

It was the first meeting in more than 10 years between the former Western Athletic Conference rivals.

A crowd of 4,307 watched the Rainbow Warriors drop their second consecutive game to fall to 2-2.

BYU, which is predicted to win the Mountain West Conference, is 3-0.

"We had our moments of good basketball, but we have to play 40 minutes of it," Hawai'i point guard Hiram Thompson said. "We had a couple of runs there, but we kind of just got out of our offense and our defense."

Thompson — who was once recruited by BYU, and has a younger brother on the BYU football team — had 15 points, six rebounds and five assists to lead the 'Bows. However, he also committed six of Hawai'i's 20 turnovers.

In a telling statistic, BYU scored 32 points off Hawai'i's 20 turnovers. In turn, the 'Bows scored just eight points off 10 BYU turnovers.

"They are efficient," Hawai'i forward Petras Balocka said of the Cougars. "But, including myself, we didn't sprint back every single time and they got out on some easy layups. I think they got 32 points on turnovers, which is deadly for us."

Balocka added 12 points and 10 rebounds, leading the 'Bows to a 37-27 edge on the boards. Hawai'i grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, but could not recycle many of those into points.

In another telling statistic, the 'Bows scored just 10 "second chance" points, while the Cougars scored 13 points off of their 11 offensive rebounds.

"Last couple games, Rod (Flemings) and other guys seem like they get offensive rebounds and they shoot it and it rolls on the rim and goes in," Balocka said. "Today was one of those days that we just missed those easy layups."

Roderick Flemings scored 12 and Adhar Mayen 11 for the 'Bows.

Dwain Williams, who was Hawai'i's leading scorer entering the game with 17.7 points per game, went scoreless. He shot 0 for 5 from the field.

"We just had some guys who didn't play very well," Nash said. "One of those games where the energy level wasn't where it needed to be."

Nash noted that the 'Bows had to turn to "some forced offense" several times in the game because of mistimed cuts and passes.

The 'Bows finished with a .396 field-goal percentage, while the Cougars were at .557.

The Cougars took control of the game midway through the first half and never allowed the 'Bows to rally.

"We knew it was going to be a battle," BYU point guard Jimmer Fredette said. "We had to come out and play, and we got on them a little bit early and was able to sustain."

BYU took a 41-31 lead at intermission, but the 'Bows got as close as 43-38 in the opening minutes of the second half.

The Cougars responded with a 13-0 surge to increase their lead to 56-38 with 14:07 remaining. Hawai'i never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.

"I think we shot the ball pretty well, shared the ball pretty well," Fredette said. "But I think on the defensive end we need to do a little better job, that's why we didn't break it open a little bit more."

Fredette, a 6-foot-2 junior and All-America candidate, led the Cougars with 20 points and eight assists.

The Cougars led by as many as 22 late in the game.

The only cheers for Hawai'i came in the final minute when crowd favorite Ji Xiang scored his first basket of the season — a putback off his own missed free throw.

As part of a home-and-home agreement, Hawai'i will play BYU at Provo, Utah, next season.

Hawai'i's next game will be against another former WAC team — New Mexico — next Friday at the Sheriff Center.