Samuta Avea may not have been the scoring star during the University of Hawaii’s 79-55 win over Hawaii Pacific on Saturday, but the swing from Hauula was certainly the focal point of the fans inside BYU-Hawaii’s Cannon Activities Center.

“It was special, I was really surprised by the turnout at 12 on a Saturday, and a lot of people who came to watch us,” Avea said. “Hopefully we put on the show for them to come back next weekend. It was special to see a lot of people I knew.”

During media timeouts, the arena’s public address announcer shouted out the Kahuku graduate. After the game, Avea’s brothers and cousins performed a haka dedicated to him in front of the Hawaii bench, something he was unaware would happen.

“That was crazy,” he said. “Really meant a lot and it was really a chilling feeling.”

On the court, the 6-foot-6 Avea had four points, all in the final stages of the first half. He also recorded a block and an assist for UH (3-1), which will return to the Cannon Activities Center for next weekend’s Patty Mills North Shore Classic.

“Samuta played really well. He might not show it on the box score, but he sacrificed himself (when) those guys were making it tougher for him to get good looks and that opened up things for the other guys,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “At the same time, he defended their best player really well for most of this game. That’s a good step for him and us.”

Kamaka Hepa had his first career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, one of four players with 10 or more points for the Rainbow Warriors. Harry Rouhliadeff — who turned 19 on Saturday — had 10 points off the bench, all in the first half.

“I was just looking to help the team spark a little bit,” Rouhliadeff said. “We just needed a little bit of energy, and I was coming off the bench, really just trying to provide that spark to the team.”

Hawaii made four of its first five shots to begin the game to create a 10-0 lead, as Hawaii Pacific missed its first six shots. UH finished the first half shooting 58.6% from the field to HPU’s 28.6% and took a 43-23 lead into the break.

HPU began the second half with an 8-0 run that cut into UH’s lead before the Rainbows went on a 12-2 run to reestablish themselves on the court.

“The first five minutes of the second half was a process. We didn’t play right, lackadaisical with the ball, and they made us pay,” Ganot said. “Eighty, 90% of the game, we played really well balanced on both ends, but that five-minute stretch was brutal and we can’t do that again.”

Hawaii Pacific’s Trey Chapman had a team-high 10 points for the Sharks and Melo Sanchez added nine before fouling out in the second half. Blake Dearborn drilled two of HPU’s five 3-pointers during garbage time.