Arizona exchanged Hawaii turnovers into the best kind of currency — points aplenty — for most of Saturday night’s heart-stopping affair at Aloha Stadium.

But the Rainbow Warriors’ defense closed up the bank for the Wildcats’ two late red-zone scores in UH’s 45-38 victory, its first in six all-time meetings against UA and first against a Pac-12 team since 2015.

First, senior safety Ikem Okeke intercepted UA quarterback Khalil Tate at the 3-yard line when the Wildcats were driving for their first lead with under eight minutes left.

It was the first interception of Okeke’s four-year UH career. He caught it in stride and returned it 49 yards, helping set up Cedric Byrd’s 30-yard touchdown from Chevan Cordeiro. They were critical points; UH went up 10 against a team that came back repeatedly over the course of the game and had one last desperate attempt still to come.

>> Click here to see photos of the game between Hawaii and Arizona.

“You know, I was just playing my coverage how I should,” Okeke said. “Coach Batoon (defensive coordinator Corey), he always tells us to shuffle, shuffle, read the quarterback. I was reading him. The quarterback doesn’t even see me. I just ran to where I thought he was going to throw the ball, and the ball comes in my hands. I tried to advance it down the field. Should’ve run it into the end zone, but I didn’t stay on the sideline like how I was supposed to. We’re gonna get it right next time I get it.”

Until that, UA had outdone UH in points off turnovers 28-7. The turnover count finished at six by UH, two by UA.

The final time the Wildcats came down the field, trailing by seven in the waning seconds, Tate showed off his dual-threat abilities. With 10 seconds left, he looked downfield, tucked the ball, and ran headlong for the goal line from 31 yards out.

He got 30, as senior safety Kalen Hicks (nine tackles) and senior defensive end Pumba Williams (1.0 tackle for loss) knocked him down just in time.

“That was kind of actually scary. I was playing deep in coverage,” Okeke said. “A lot of us were deep in coverage. We were trying to defend the big pass play. Khalil Tate, I just looked down and the next thing you know, he’s running. A lot of people, we just tried to close in before he got to the goal line. And my teammates got him down, swarm tackled him, and we celebrated.”

It was a play destined to live on in UH highlight perpetuity.

Tate, Arizona’s senior who is 20 yards short of 2,000 yards career rushing, was disappointed but measured.

“We came up short, but luckily this happened early in the season,” Tate said. “We still have time to really just be more consistent, really get those extra few yards that we need.”

Several deep breaths later, head coach Nick Rolovich did his best to keep an even keel. He expressed his thanks to the defense for coming up with the two stops in between a 53-yard field goal by UA kicker Lucas Havrisik on Arizona’s last three possessions.

“You know, they’re a fast-tempo team. I think it just comes down to the defense sticking together and believing in Corey and the coaches,” Rolovich said. “I think they were very prepared for situational football. It was a real dramatic way to win that game.”