Hawaii drove a few miles and switched up the venue to historic Bloch Arena for the Pearl Harbor Invitational. The Rainbow Warriors’ recurring problems hitched a ride from the Stan Sheriff Center.

UH got off to a slow start, yielded turnovers aplenty and faced more uncertainty at the point guard position in a 68-57 loss to Seton Hall on Day 1 of the two-day event at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

“It seems like it happens for us every game, unfortunately,” said point guard Brocke Stepteau, who scored a career-high 17 points off the bench in relief of starter Sheriff Drammeh and helped keep his team within striking distance until late.

More than a thousand members of the military and veterans were on hand Tuesday in humid, dimly lit Bloch, which was opened just before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 75 years ago.

UH (4-4) did plenty to make its small section of fans feel right at home. Seton Hall scored the first seven points, put in 25 on 18 ’Bows turnovers, and forced UH into an early point guard change. Stepteau quickly came on for Drammeh, who coughed it up on each of the first three UH possessions and six times for the night.

“Your margin for error is small,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “We took a hit early to start that game again, down 7-zip, and then we played them even for the next probably 32 minutes. Then it got away from us. It was the turnovers again.”

Twelve in the first half resulted in 18 points for the Pirates (6-2), more than half of their bounty in the period. Guard Desi Rodriguez stole it for breakaway jams twice. The potent Big East team led by eight at halftime (33-25) and would not allow UH closer than six points in the second half.

There’s little time to parse the problems that contributed to 32.1 percent shooting. UH plays Princeton (2-4) of the Ivy League at 4:30 p.m. today to cap the event. Princeton lost to California 62-51 Tuesday in the opener.

“Once we start doing our job, playing our basketball, we’re going to start winning games like this where we compete,” said forward Gibson Johnson, who scored 12 points with seven rebounds. “We just shoot ourselves in the foot.”

Stepteau came out to start the second half and scored 12 in the period, willing UH back into it several times.

“I thought he gave us a huge lift today,” Ganot said.

But on an evening when Noah Allen struggled to his worst game in a UH uniform — scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting — it did little more than tease the outcome. It was the graduate transfer’s third straight subpar outing.

“Now he’s handling (being scouted) and a lot of attention for the first time (in his career),” Ganot said. “They’re taking him out of his game, and he’s got to find other ways to impact the game.”

Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard’s defensive point of emphasis was actually forward Jack Purchase because of the Australian’s floor-stretching capability. When opponents keep Purchase in check, Allen loses driving lanes, Willard said. Purchase scored eight points on 2-for-8 shooting.

“I thought we were just really solid on defense,” Willard said. “I thought they weren’t getting really high quality shots. … It was a matter of time until we could make a run.”

Guard Khadeen Carrington paced the Pirates with 19 points, while forward Angel Delgado owned the paint with 16 points and 14 rebounds.

Larry Lewis Jr. stuck a layup, got a steal and went to the line to bring UH within 39-33 with 15:12 to play.

Veer Singh scored in transition off a Matt Owies turnover to extend the lead back to 10. Myles Powell hit a 3 on a dish from Carrington, but Stepteau came back with a layup and drew a foul. When he missed the free throw, UH got the rebound and Stepteau hit a 3 to bring UH back within six.

“At that point (10:48 left) it felt good, because basically it was a five-point play,” Stepteau said. “And we got a stop after that. Got us a little hope. But I think some things went wrong not too long after that, so we never got to a one- or two-possession game to really feel like we had a chance.”

UH TIPOFF

HAWAII VS. PRINCETON

Preceded by: California (7-1) vs. Seton Hall (6-2), 2 p.m.

——————

WHEN: 4:30 p.m. today • WHERE: Bloch Arena

PRINCETON (2-4)

Projected starting lineup:

WHEN PRINCETON HAS THE BALL

The Tigers’ famous offense relies on plenty of screens on and off the ball. In concert with non-stop motion and ball movement, Princeton theoretically gets plenty of open shots — they just weren’t going in on the Bloch rims. The Tigers shot a dreadful 29.8 percent against Cal. But their offense is very balanced; Cannady and Cook lead the way with 12 points apiece.

HAWAII RAINBOW WARRIORS (4-4)

Projected starting lineup:

WHEN HAWAII HAS THE BALL

Leland Green got the starting nod against Seton Hall but struggled again (1-for-5 shooting, three points). That position in the backcourt has been a question mark all year, but Stepteau might get a chance to start again coming off his career-high 17 points against the Pirates. Allen has submitted season lows in points the past three games (12, seven, zero).