Hawaii closed out its nonconference schedule the same way it opened it — by piling up victories.

The Rainbow Warriors made the late plays to outduel scrappy Prairie View A&M for a 76-68 win on Tuesday night, the fifth time in the last six games UH came out on top.

UH (12-4) has turned plenty of heads with its success to this point under coach Benjy Taylor. It has the most wins of any Big West Conference team.

"I don’t think we’re satisfied," forward Mike Thomas said after tying his career high of 14 points. "We know we have business to handle. We’re excited, ready to go, anxious. Everybody in our conference has played big games this year, and we want to get out against them to see where we’re at."

UH opens at home against Cal Poly on Jan. 7.

A Stan Sheriff Center night crowd of 3,292 was on hand for UH’s last game of the 2014 calendar year, and the Rainbow Warriors’ second straight night facing a team out of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. It was an unusual occurrence for stand-alone games; it happened as UH needed to fill a game opening late in the offseason.

Combined with the 14-point defeat of Southern on Monday, the ‘Bows improved to 17-0 all-time against SWAC teams.

"They were good games for us," Taylor said of the SWAC-tion. "They’ll do well in their league. But tonight, I really liked tonight’s game for a lot of reasons.

"The main reason because we won, first of all. But because we won a conference-type atmosphere, where we had to make plays at both ends down the stretch. Our conference games are going to be like tonight."

Thomas shot 4-for-6 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line to lead five ‘Bows in double-figure scoring. UH shot 52.6 percent from the field and 76.9 percent at the line, while forcing 20 turnovers with its pressing defense.

But Prairie View (2-11) was unintimidated, knocking down 10 3-pointers and threatening the outcome much of the way.

UH used a late 10-0 run to seize control after the game was tied at 58 with 7:26 to play. Thomas was undeterred when center Stefan Jovanovic started the second half for him; he came in and scored eight straight points for UH in one sequence, including a rare 3 and an alley-oop jam from point guard Roderick Bobbitt.

"I think we had to pick up the urgency," Thomas said. "We were playing tired and nonchalant for a lot of the game."

Prairie View clawed within 70-66 on Montrael Scott’s fifth 3-pointer with 1:31 to play. But Isaac Fleming made an acrobatic lefty layup and UH followed with an alley-oop dunk from Bobbitt to Aaron Valdes to widen the margin again.

Bobbitt (nine assists, four steals) shrugged off a second straight six-turnover night and hit two free throws with 25 seconds left to seal the win.

Fleming scored 11, while Garrett Nevels, Negus Webster-Chan and Quincy Smith added 10 points apiece.

Nevels was playing for the second time with his right hand wrapped in a cast. He is scheduled for surgery Wednesday to repair a ligament near his thumb, and will miss an unknown amount of time.

The play of Smith was a confidence-booster. He’d struggled most of the season thus far to find his shooting and playmaking touch, but he made four of five attempts, including his first two 3-point makes of the season, while adding three assists and three steals. He started the second half for Valdes.

"It’s just me going out there and playing with confidence, making plays. If I don’t make plays, I can’t play," Smith said. "But as long as we win, I don’t think anybody is worried about minutes.

Webster-Chan was shooting it well (4-for-7, 2-for-3 on 3-pointers) but exited early in the second half when he tweaked his previously sprained right ankle. Taylor said he could have re-entered with 10 minutes to play, but the player declined.

"The days of the Willis Reeds are gone, guys," Taylor quipped. "(Reed’s) not walking back through that door. But he’ll be fine."

Halftime — Hawaii 38, Prairie View A&M 36

3-point goals — Prairie View A&M 10-22 (Scott 5-13, Green 3-5, Johnson 1-1, York 1-3). Hawaii 6-18 (Smith 2-2, Webster-Chan 2-3, Thomas 1-1, Fleming 1-4, Nevels 0-1, Jankovic 0-2, Valdes 0-2, Bobbitt 0-3). Steals — Prairie View A&M 7 (Scott 3, Hagood 2, Hamilton, Johnson). Hawaii 12 (Bobbitt 4, Smith 3, Jankovic 2, Nevels, Thomas, Valdes). Turnovers —  Prairie View A&M 20 (Scott 6, Hagood 3, Hamilton 3, Onwukamuche 2, York 2, Dobbs, Green, Lomax, TEAM). Hawaii 15 (Bobbitt 6, Valdes 3, Fleming 2, Jovanovic 2, Smith, Thomas). Assists — Prairie View A&M 14 (Hagood 6, Scott 3, Onwukamuche 2, Green, Johnson, York). Hawaii 21 (Bobbitt 9, Nevels 3, Smith 3, Fleming 2, Valdes 2, Jankovic, Thomas). Blocked shots — Prairie View A&M 5 (Johnson 2, Green, Onwukamuche, York). Hawaii 5 (Jankovic 2, Thomas 2, Webster-Chan). Technical fouls — Prairie View A&M none. Hawaii none. Officials — Rob Rorke, Quinton Reece, Melvin Landry. A –3,292.