The question that was answered with a definitive "no" for all of November took a timely turn for the positive.

Could the Hawaii defense come up with a stop when it mattered? With the meaning of next week’s game against BYU on the line, the Warriors answered "yes." It wasn’t a resounding cry, but it still echoed throughout cavernous Aloha Stadium on Saturday night as UH fended off game Tulane 35-23.

"We’re still trying to play as 11 guys with one heartbeat," UH defensive coordinator Dave Aranda said. "At times we did tonight, at other times we didn’t. We have to continue to fight that good fight."

UH (6-6) was still in position for a berth to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl after the defense forced the Green Wave, who trailed by 12, to punt from their territory near midfield on a three and out with less than 6 minutes to play.

Over UH’s three-game losing streak entering the week, the Warriors were in every game, only to stumble at the finish. Utah State, Nevada and Fresno State outscored UH 35-7 in fourth quarters over that span.

"We really stressed to each other that we really gotta finish the game, because looking back at the last games that we lost, we really didn’t finish at the end," senior safety Richard Torres said.

This time, the UH defense earned a push (7-7 in the fourth), and when it came to shove, that was good enough.

Tulane, with the benefit of starting at midfield due to an errant UH punt, scored a touchdown with 11:42 to play. But on Tulane’s last-gasp series, Green Wave backs Robert Kelley and Albert Williams were stopped for short gains and quarterback Ryan Griffin attempted a pass to Jamar Thomas, who dropped it with UH linebacker Corey Paredes covering.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Green Wave elected to punt. It would be the final possession of Tulane’s season.

"We really made sure we came out in that series," Torres said. "We knew it was a big series, we had to come out and really just end it. Don’t give them life. Get in and get out."

Though running backs Kelley (92 yards) and Orleans Darkwa (71 yards) kept the chains moving, UH was successful in stymying Griffin into a 12-for-28 night for 102 yards.

The Warriors held the Green Wave to 287 yards of total offense, 57 under their season average.

After UH failed to force a turnover in last week’s 24-21 loss to Fresno State, the defense returned to its ball-hawking ways. Senior linebacker Aaron Brown recorded his third interception of the season and senior cornerback Tank Hopkins snared the first pick of his career.

Paredes eclipsed 100 tackles for the season after recording a game-high 13 on the Green Wave. Brown added nine.

"What I was able to see tonight was guys making plays," Aranda said. "It’s been a couple of weeks since we got that. I was happy to see it. I thought we played with some enthusiasm and some passion."

Senior defensive lineman Kaniela Tuipulotu was knocked out for some of the second half with a flare-up of his subluxed shoulder. He pledged he’d be OK for BYU.

"I’ll be ready," he said. "(Tonight) we couldn’t hold anything back. We had to give it everything we had on every play. That’s the mentality we came in. This was our season right here."