Hawaii moved back to .500 in Big West play with a comfortable 73-52 win over UC Riverside at the Stan Sheriff Center. Now the Rainbow Warriors have another chance to accomplish something that’s so far eluded them in 2015 — a winning streak.

Thursday’s contest was a memorable one for a couple of reasons.

Point guard Roderick Bobbitt set a team record for steals in a season by swiping the ball four times. Bobbitt, the national leader in total steals, reached 85 on the season to surpass Tom Henderson’s 84 in the 1972-73 season.

"It feels good," said Bobbitt, who added six points and four assists. "Like I been saying, it was a goal of mine, to firstly lead the nation in steals. I didn’t really think about a school record, but that came as well. Just blessed."

And UH (17-9, 5-5 Big West) clinched a winning overall season record under interim coach Benjy Taylor with six regular-season games remaining, plus the conference tournament in mid-March. UH is holding steady in sole possession of fifth place.

"It’s been a long season, guys," Taylor said to postgame media. "We’re enthused about playing basketball, enthused about each other. Today was just an emotional day for me, to solidify a winning season … we still got a lot of basketball left. Three months ago this was bleak."

UH continued its trend of alternating wins and losses in conference play, and improved to 9-0 on the full season coming off a loss.

UH continues play at home Saturday against last-place Cal State Fullerton (9-15, 1-8). Prior to the contest, the Rainbows hold their alumni game.

Thursday’s game before a crowd of 4,213 wasn’t in doubt once the Rainbows held the Highlanders scoreless for a 10-minute stretch of the first half and scored 21 unanswered points. A 14-point halftime lead grew as wide as 24 in the last few minutes.

UCR (11-13, 4-6) had seven assists against 18 turnovers and was held to 27.5 percent shooting from the field as UH avenged a 66-62 loss in Riverside, Calif., on Jan. 17. The Highlanders’ top three scorers, Taylor Johns, Jaylen Bland and Steven Thornton, were held to a combined 8-for-35 shooting.

"(Hawaii) played with a real sense of urgency," UCR coach Dennis Cutts said. "I thought we had a poor performance — especially offensively. They make you play with that speed and they played like they needed to win a home game, and they did."

It was UH’s first home game since falling by six to UC Irvine on Jan. 24. The Rainbows then went 2-2 on two-week road trip.

Forward Stefan Jankovic was ill the second week of the trip and barely played. But he and guard Isaac Fleming combined to score 27 points off the bench Thursday as UH’s reserves outscored the Highlanders’ 43-15. It made up for no UH starter scoring in double figures.

"I feel like both of us bring energy right off the bat," Jankovic said. "That’s something I wanted to do personally, coming off being sick, this and that, a couple tough road games. I felt energized, I felt good, and Isaac’s been doing that all year."

In the loss at Riverside last month, guard Garrett Nevels and swingman Negus Webster-Chan missed the game. Webster-Chan got the start Thursday, his first in eight games, replacing center Stefan Jovanovic. Webster-Chan had eight points and Nevels seven.

UCR cut a 20-point UH lead down to 12 with 12 minutes to play, but Quincy Smith scored inside and Bobbitt followed with his second 3 of the game to end the run.

UH wasn’t threatened again.

Bobbitt, who earlier this season became just the second player in program history to record a triple-double, shook off bruising his left knee which kept him off the floor during team practices on Tuesday and Wednesday. With UH’s big second-half lead, he was able to safely sit out the last 7:49.

UCR shot just 27.3 percent in the first half as UH took a 42-28 lead into the break. Fleming scored 10 in the period.

Bobbitt had three steals in the first half, tying him with Henderson.

Bobbitt and Fleming were assessed technical fouls in the win. It was Fleming’s sixth of the season.

"We accept his flaws, and he is trying to get better," Taylor said of Fleming. "During the road trip and now, he’s playing his best basketball."

Thursday

Hawaii 73, UC Riverside 52

UC Davis 75, CSU Fullerton 69

Cal Poly 70, CSUN 63

UC Santa Barbara 70, Long Beach State 55

Saturday

Cal State Fullerton at Hawaii, 7 p.m.

UC Irvine at UC Riverside

UC Santa Barbara at CSUN

Long Beach State at Cal Poly

Halftime — Hawaii 42, UC Riverside 28

3-point goals — UC Riverside 3-18 (Gruninger 1-1, Thornton 1-5, Bland 1-6, Quick 0-1, Standifer 0-2). Hawaii 9-20 (Jankovic 2-2, Webster-Chan 2-4, Bobbitt 2-5, Smith 1-1, Nevels 1-3, Fleming 1-4, Enos 0-1). Steals — UC Riverside 9 (Bland 3, Johns 2, Gruninger, Quick, Standifer, Thornton). Hawaii 10 (Bobbitt 4, Smith 2, Fleming, Nevels, Thomas, Valdes).  Turnovers — UC Riverside 18 (Bland 4, Johns 4, Gruninger 3, Larsson 3, Quick 2, Thornton, TEAM). Hawaii 14 (Fleming 3, Jankovic 3, Nevels 3, Jovanovic 2, Bobbitt, Thomas, Webster-Chan). Assists — UC Riverside 7 (Gruninger 3, Quick 3, Thornton). Hawaii 12 (Bobbitt 4, Nevels 3, Valdes 2, Fleming, Jankovic, Jovanovic). Blocked shots — UC Riverside 1 (Johns). Hawaii 5 (Jankovic 2, Jovanovic, Smith, Thomas). Technical fouls — UC Riverside none. Hawaii 2 (Bobbitt, Fleming). Officials — Bret Nansel, Glen Mayberry, Rob Rorke. A — 4,213.