Hawaii tied the program record of 20 steals and forward Aaron Valdes scored a career-best 34 points as UH pulled away late from Cal State Northridge, 83-66, before a Saturday night crowd of 5,513 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

UH evened its Big West Conference record at 1-1 while improving to 13-5 overall. CSUN dropped to 0-2 and 4-13. The Matadors committed 28 turnovers to just nine for UH.

Valdes shot 13-for-18 from the field to surpass his previous best of 31 against Hawaii Hilo, and stole five balls. Forward Stefan Jankovic added a season-high 15 points off the bench and point guard Roderick Bobbitt had 10 assists, eight swipes and six points.

UH tied its season high for assists at 21.

The existing steals record was set against Tennessee Tech in 1988. Bobbitt already broke the the individual record for steals in a game against Hilo.

Senior shooting guard Garrett Nevels missed his second straight game while recovering from right hand surgery. But freshman Isaac Fleming, who started for Nevels and struggled in Wednesday’s 61-57 overtime loss to Cal Poly, went back to the bench while sophomore center Stefan Jovanovic entered the starting lineup.

Valdes hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 55-48 lead with under 14 minutes to play and the ‘Bows extended their lead from there.

An exciting and back-and-forth first half featured 14 lead changes. Valdes dunked it on alley-oops three times in the first half, including a fast break flush from Fleming in the final minute started by a Valdes steal. UH took a 39-37 lead into the break.