Honolulu - Hawaii overpowered Saint Louis 82-64 tonight in a non-conference men's basketball game at the Stan Sheriff Center. Rainbow Warriors All-America candidate Julian Sensley was sensational with game-highs of 22 points and eight rebounds as UH bounced back from a road loss at UNLV.

"Julian Sensley is a pro, and we just weren't able to do much with him," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg said. "But we had defensive breakdowns that we just can't have, and we will work to correct those."

The Billikens surprised the Rainbow Warriors in the early portion of the opening half as SLU zipped to a 17-12 lead after sophomore center Bryce Husak's short jumper from the right side. But UH swingman Matt Lojeski started tossing in treys from all over the floor, and the 'Bows responded with a 10-0 run to claim a 22-17 advantage. The Bills were within 33-31 after senior guard Anthony Drejaj's lay-up off an inbounds play at the 2:35 mark, but again UH closed with a 10-2 run to close the half. Sensley dunked at the horn off a missed fastbreak lay-up attempt to close the half. With each team shooting better than 50 percent in the first half, the 'Bows converted 10 offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points to provide their edge.

"We gave up 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, and that's usually a game's worth for us," Soderberg said. "We talked about it at halftime, and it was better in the second half, but we had put ourselves in a hole that we couldn't climb out of."

Needing a strong start to the second half, the Billikens could only make one basket in the first five-plus minutes, and that was Vouyoukas' traditional three-point play. SLU shot a mere 27.6 percent in the second half as the Bills misfired on a myriad of open shots. Meanwhile, UH continued to shoot the lights out and built the lead to as many as 24 before a late flurry of SLU treys by Danny Brown and Luke Meyer accounted for the final spread.

Sensley highlighted the night with a spin move and dunk off the left baseline that brought down the basket standard in front of the UH bench much to the delight of the home crowd. Hawaii (2-1) shot 51.6 percent from the field, 50 percent from the arc and 53.8 percent from the free throw line. The 'Bows out-rebounded the Bills 37-28 and finished with 14 second-chance points. Lojeski totaled 17 points, Bobby Nash added 13 off the bench and center Ahmet Gueye tossed in 10.

Vouyoukas was the only Billiken in double figures with 18 points and added six boards, two assists and three blocked shots. Freshman guard Tommie Liddell topped the club in rebounds with seven, while sophomore guard Dwayne Polk had five assists without a turnover. SLU shot 41.1 percent from the floor, 42.9 percent from the arc and 80 percent from the free throw line.

Saint Louis (1-1) returns to Savvis Center on Wed., Nov. 30, to renew its regional rivalry with Southern Illinois. Tip-off is 7 p.m.