South Florida withstood Hawaii’s second-half surge and innovation for a 76-69 basketball victory in Thursday’s consolation round of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in SimpliFi Arena.

A crowd of 1,652 witnessed the Rainbow Warriors fight back from double-digit deficits but eventually suffer their second loss in the tournament. The ’Bows (4-5) face Northern Iowa on Christmas Day for seventh place. Tip-off is set for 10:30 a.m.

“Credit to them,” UH guard/wing Junior Madut said. “They came in and played aggressive and hard, and we just didn’t match that aggression. That’s something we’re going to fix.”

The ’Bows trailed by as many as 13 and had difficulty catching a break. Javon Greene, who entered hitting 29.5% of his 3s, appeared to launch a deep shot a nano-second after the shot clock expired. But during the ensuing timeout, Greene was awarded the 3 to boost the Bulls’ lead to 43-35.

In the Wednesday’s opener, the ’Bows were able to slow Vanderbilt with a 2-3 zone. On Thursday, the ’Bows turned to a full-court press — and a freshman — for an energy boost. Justus Jackson, a guard who signed with UH on Tuesday and joined the ’Bows that afternoon, sparked a 7-0 run for a 49-48 lead with 8:45 to play.

“It was my first time on the court at a Division I level,” Jackson said. “I was happy to be here, I tried to compete and work hard and have fun.”

On his first defensive stand, Jackson forced a turnover.

“He’s a smart kid,” associate head coach John Montgomery said. “Credit to him. He’s really gone through only two walk-throughs and one practice.

We’ve been taking him on the side and trying to give him as much information as we can. Obviously, he doesn’t know all the stuff we’re doing, but we felt he was going to go out there and compete. He has a lot to learn but it was good to go see him go out and play his heart out.”

It was 51-all, when USF’s Corey Walker seized control, making three steals in a row. The first two resulted in coast-to-coast dunks, the third was parlayed into two of his free throws.

After that, the ’Bows struggled to catch up with a smaller lineup. Kamaka Hepa exited with leg cramps, a possible result of overcompensating for a sore ankle. The ’Bows already were playing without their two centers. Bernardo da Silva is recovering from a hand injury, and Mate Colina is in the safety/health protocols and not available for this tournament. Jerome Desrosiers, who usually plays the four, started at center. But Desrosiers fouled out with 3:27 as the ’Bows tried a final push.

After that, 6-foot-6 Beon Riley played the five and wing Zoar Nedd was at the four. “At the end, we had no bigs out there,” Montgomery said. “We were just surviving and fighting for our lives at the end. Some of the guys never played together.”

The Bulls took advantage, posting up guards and wings, and planting their forwards in the low post. The Bulls constructed a 35-22 rebounding advantage, including 15-4 on the offensive glass. The Bulls’ final 12 points came on free throws. Greene finished with 18 points, including 7-for-9 on free throws. He drew seven fouls. Caleb Murphy added 17 points.

Noel Coleman led the ’Bows with 22 points a night after netting a career-high 31.