SAN JOSE, Calif. » The handshake line at the Events Center on Saturday night didn’t show a whole lot of celebrating.

The Hawaii men’s basketball team had just outlasted San Jose State for an

83-81 overtime victory. But after the teams exchanged the traditional pleasantries, the Rainbow Warriors walked back to their locker room knowing they had merely survived against a team that is winless in Western Athletic Conference play. The Spartans walked back to their locker room knowing they let one get away.

“They played with heart and they played with passion,” Hawaii coach Gib Arnold said of San Jose State. “They deserved to probably win that game. I thought our guys, for about 25 minutes, didn’t deserve to win it.”

That might sound harsh, but it’s probably true. When San Jose State’s James Kinney threw down a dunk with 13 minutes, 17 seconds remaining in the game, it capped an 8-0 run and gave the Spartans a 54-40 lead. By the time the Rainbows (13-9, 5-3 WAC) broke the run on a Joston Thomas layup, they had turned the ball over 16 times in the game and hadn’t shown a whole lot of energy.

“In the second half, we had to come back from our relaxed state and get back to who we are,” said Thomas, who scored a career-high 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. “Just being hard-nosed and blue collar. Going out there and rebounding, and we just had to cut down on our turnovers.”

UH cut down on them to the tune of just two the rest of the way. Thomas’ layup didn’t seem like much at that moment. However, he was fouled by Garrett Ton on the play and converted the old-fashioned 3-point play. That began a 16-0 run for Hawaii that lasted almost 61⁄2 minutes. Thomas scored the first eight points of the run with another 3-point play and a chance for a third (he missed the foul shot). A 3-pointer by Zane Johnson tied the score, and Thomas finished it off with a dunk, giving him 12 points during the run.

At the other end of the floor, the Rainbows clamped down on the Spartans (7-16, 0-8). San Jose State went more than 10 minutes without a field goal. Twice down the stretch, Hawaii pushed the lead to six. However, in the final moments, the ’Bows gave the Spartans a chance to win the game, thanks to a late turnover by Miah Ostrowski and two missed free throws by Thomas. But Keith Shamburger made just one of two free throws with 3 seconds left and the game went to overtime with the score tied 70-70.

San Jose State took the early lead in the extra period, but Johnson’s 3-pointer with 2:12 remaining gave the Warriors the lead for good. Again, missed free throws almost cost Hawaii — Ostrowski missed one of two and Vander Joaquim missed two to allow Kinney a chance at the lead in the final seconds. Then, Joaquim missed one of two, and Kinney launched a potential game-winning shot from halfcourt that harmlessly bounced off of the backboard.

Thomas’ point total topped his previous career high of 27, set during an 82-69 home victory over San Jose State on Jan. 7. Joaquim finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season.

Johnson had 19 points, all after halftime, and hit five 3-pointers to pass Alika Smith and Carl English and move into second place on UH’s career list.

“(Thomas) played really well,” Johnson said. “He dominated down there in the paint. When he’s dominating down in the paint, they have to double-team.”

Arnold said in the second half the Rainbows went with X-power, a simpler offense that emphasized getting the ball inside.

“The rule is basically, we don’t take a shot until either the 4 or the 5 touches it in the paint,” Arnold said.

With the win, Hawaii remained in third place in the WAC. The Warriors caught a break when first-place Nevada suffered its first WAC loss of the year Saturday, 72-68 to visiting Idaho. That leaves Hawaii two games out with six to play. Thomas said he feels good about how the ’Bows are playing.

“If we do every game like we played the second half and cut down on our turnovers, we’d be a very good team,” he said.