No one likes to go on a long break after a loss.

But it might be good for this University of Hawaii basketball team.

A two-week lingering taste of defeat after Wednesday’s 75-62 thrashing by Princeton at the Pearl Harbor Invitational should make the Rainbow Warriors eager for a chance to improve in practice and redeem themselves.

At least coach Eran Ganot has to hope that’s true with his young team that is now 4-5.

UH played with no fire in the first half, and once again its tendency to treat the opening minutes of a game like warm-ups came back and bit the ’Bows in the okole.

This time they went steadily downhill the entire first half, building deficits of 10-2, 15-5, 21-9 and … well you get the idea … all the way to 43-23 at halftime. Apparently they’d never heard the old one about when you find yourself in a hole the first thing you need to do is stop digging.

But they did hear a lot at halftime. The normally mild-mannered Ganot peeled paint at the makeshift Bloch Arena locker area like a salty CPO dressing down sailors returning late from shore leave.

“Coach just challenged our manhood, basically,” point guard (at least for now, it seems) Brocke Stepteau said. “So we tried to come out with a better effort in the second half. But when you put yourself in a hole like that in the first half it’s going to be hard to overcome.”

UH got to the free-throw line 22 times after the break compared to just five before it.

“Offensively they were very aggressive and that tends to get your defense going,” Princeton coach Mitch Henderson said.

“We were on our heels (in the first half) and they punched us in the mouth, so we were down early,” Stepteau added.

Ganot is apt to use boxing metaphors, too. So at least in that regard Stepteau has the idea down about the point guard being an extension of the coach.

As for the rest of it, the sophomore walk-on is like almost everything else about this inexperienced team. He’s a work in progress, a term UH fans are probably sick of already, but might as well get used to hearing.

Stepteau’s numbers Wednesday weren’t particularly good. His four assists were offset by a like number of giveaways and he scored seven points. But he plays under control, and the 33 minutes is a stat of which to take note.

“I saw four turnovers,” Ganot said. “Now he’s going to see some more scouting, but he’s given us a great presence there. Sometimes people just look at the numbers, but his look’s been good. He doesn’t take many bad shots.”

Sheriff Drammeh started with Stepteau but Ganot’s designated primary point guard played just 17 minutes. He came out of this one two minutes into it, which is a minute more than he lasted in the loss Tuesday to Seton Hall. He made one of eight shots from the floor, with no assists and one turnover.

No one’s giving up on Drammeh as a key contributor to this team. But it can’t be as its primary ball-handler with an expectation of winning.

So fans can put a hold on printing up the “Give Brocke the Rock” T-shirts, at least for now. Whether he’s designated it or not, in reality, in the game, he’s the point guard. That could change in practice before UH’s next game, Dec. 22, the first-round of the Diamond Head Classic against Illinois State. But, for now, Stepteau is the player on the roster most closely resembling a Division I college point guard, and everyone knows it.

Another problem area is rebounding, and the Rainbows always seem outnumbered at the glass.

“We didn’t go hard enough on the offensive boards,” Ganot said. “I learned this a long time ago — the key to rebounding is shot selection. I think the key to a lot of things is shot selection. The shots you take, and the shots you force them to take. And right now there’s a big discrepancy there.”

Ganot remained somewhat upbeat despite the back-to-back losses, relishing the overall historical and educational aspects of the event on the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack.

“(The servicemen and women in attendance) are all thanking us for entertaining them,” he said. “I tell them we’re the ones who should be thanking them. … Anytime you’re walking around this facility, you’re constantly thanking someone.”

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.