Their last meeting ended in an 83-81 overtime win in San Jose on Feb. 4, 2012.

The University of Hawaiʻi Men's Basketball team came alive in the second half on Sunday to turn back future Mountain West (and former Western Athletic Conference) foe, the San Jose State Spartans, 80-69.

Tanner Christensen led a five-pack of Rainbow Warriors that scored double digits with 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting. Tom Beattie was next with 16 on 6-for-9 shooting. Kody Williams and Harry Rouhliadeff each chipped in 12, and Marcus Green added 11 for himself.

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Donovan Yap led the Spartans with 16 points on 4-for-6 shooting and was 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Sadaidriene Hall was next with 14, and lead-scorer Josh Uduje was held to just 10 in the loss.

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Rouhliadeff drew first blood with UH's first and only triple of the first half, only for UH to go 0-for-9 after that. UH scored 11 of the first 13 points before SJSU battled back to take the lead.

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UH stayed in close range, but SJSU hit five triples to remain in the lead. UH did not let the gap exceed five points and occasionally took the lead. SJSU still held the lead by going a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line.

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At the end of the first half, it was the Spartans in front, 38-34.

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After the Spartans extended their lead to six less than a minute into the second half, UH began to get hot. Thanks to several Christensen dunks and timely triples from Williams and Rouhliadeff, UH still gave themselves a legitimate chance to walk away the winners.

UH finally took the lead for good off another Rouhliadeff fast-break triple with 7:55 remaining. Beattie ultimately locked up the game with his lone triple with 1:43 remaining. Christensen put an exclamation point on his own game with a gritty dunk with 24 seconds left.

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It was another great game for the 'Bows, as they committed three turnovers in both halves to total six overall while the Spartans committed eight overall.

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UH will battle for the 2024 Outrigger Rainbow Classic Championship on Monday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. HST at the Stan Sheriff Center against former Big West foe, the Pacific Tigers. You can listen to the game on ESPN Honolulu or watch the game on Spectrum Sports. If UH can win, it would be their first since 2017.