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LAS VEGAS – The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team fell behind big early and made a spirited second-half comeback before eventually falling at No. 24 UNLV, 77-63, Saturday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center.
 
Playing its first road game of the year, UH (4-2) dug itself into a 26-point first-half deficit, only to nearly erase it in the second half. UH got within eight points, but the hole would be to deep to get out of as the Rainbow Warriors suffered just its second loss of the season.
 
Christian Standhardinger carried the Rainbow Warriors offensively, tying his career-high with 27 points while adding 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. UNLV frustrated senior center Vander Joauqim for much of the night, but he still finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
 
Freshman forward Anthony Bennett led a balanced UNLV attached with 16 points and eight rebounds.
 
The Rebels took control of the game from the very beginning and sealed UH's fate in the first half, building a 26-point lead before taking a 49-27 advantage into the break. UNLV shot 59 percent in the first half to UH's 36 percent. The 'Bows missed all 10 of its three-point attempts and committed 12 turnovers in the first half.
 
UH, however, came out determined in the second half going on a 15-4 run in the first eight minutes to cut it to 53-42. UNLV countered with three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to push the lead back to double-digits. 
 
Still, the Rainbow Warriors continued to battle and got within eight points on a pair of occasions. A pair of Joaquim free throws with 2:58 remaining made the score 71-63. But UH could get no closer as they failed to score the rest of the way.  
 
After surrendering 49 first half points, UH held the Rebels to just 28 after the break as UNLV finished with a season-low in points. UH however shot just 34 percent for the game and finished a dismal 1-of-18 from three-point land.
 
With the loss UH fell to 1-31 all-time against nationally ranked teams on the road.
 
UH now returns home to host Pepperdine on Saturday, Dec. 8 at the Stan Sheriff Center. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.