Here's a Christmas wish for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team: more Chicago States on the schedule.

The Rainbow Warriors got into a festive mood last night in an 83-58 romp over Chicago State.

"Going into the game, I told them I wanted them to have fun," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "Not the fun in the sense that you're laughing and giggling, but you're sharing the basketball, you don't care who scores ... I thought they played with that mentality."

The end result was the most-lopsided victory of the season for the 'Bows.

A crowd of 2,660 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Hawai'i improve to 5-4 with their third consecutive win.

Chicago State dropped to 3-5, including 0-4 on the road. It is the second consecutive year that the Cougars lost at Hawai'i.

The game was actually close in the first half, then the 'Bows broke away in the second half.

"We picked it up in the second half," senior forward Petras Balocka said. "We've been building on that — not coming out flat in the second half."

Several 'Bows made key contributions, and all 12 players in uniform scored.

"We had everybody contributing, everybody was sharing the ball," senior forward Adhar Mayen said.

Roderick Flemings, playing with an injured thigh, led Hawai'i with 18 points, including 15 in the second half. He did not start because he sat out practice on Friday with his sore leg.

"In order to understand the scout stuff, you have to be in practice, and with his quad bruise, he wasn't able to practice, so he couldn't start the game," Nash said. "We let him sit over there and watch a little while, and he still played (32) minutes and it was one of his more effective games."

Among the other effective 'Bows: Dwain Williams shot 3 of 5 from 3-point range and scored 15 points; Balocka had 12 points and eight rebounds; Mayen went 3 of 5 from 3-point range and scored 12; Hiram Thompson dished out nine assists; Brandon Adams had seven points and seven rebounds.

"It speaks volumes on how they played in the second half," Nash said. "Guys were rotating in, so we had guys who were fresh and when shots became available, they were knocking them down."

Hawai'i also relied primarily on a zone defense that limited the Cougars to 39 percent field goal shooting.

"We got off to a shaky start," Nash said. "We were in our man defense and giving them some easy looks, so we decided to switch to a zone, and I think it stymied them for a while. And it gave us a little bit of energy to get our legs back under us."

Chicago State coach Benjy Taylor said the Hawai'i zone coaxed the Cougars into "forced shots."

"We missed a lot of easy baskets in the first half, and once Hawai'i got the lead, they sat in that zone and we forced shots," Taylor said.

The 'Bows opened the game by making just 3 of their first 13 field-goal attempts and trailed the Cougars, 17-12.

The 'Bows seized momentum by scoring the final seven points of the half — including a 3-point bank shot by Mayen just before the buzzer — to take a 33-26 lead at intermission.

"Definitely gave us a boost," Balocka said. "We just kept building on it in the second half."

Chicago State got as close as 37-33 early in the second half, but the 'Bows secured the win with a 14-0 run to increase the lead to 51-33 with 11:54 remaining.

Flemings scored 10 of the 14 points during the surge, including a highlight-reel alley-oop dunk off an assist from Thompson.

The 'Bows increased the lead to 28 late in the second half, allowing the reserves to finish the game.

The Chicago State coach was quick to point out free throws in the boxscore. Hawai'i went 25 of 35, while the Cougars went 8 of 12.

"It's hard to come into an environment like this and think you can be in the game giving up that many free throws," he said.

Chicago State lost at Nebraska, 74-39, on Thursday, and arrived in Honolulu on Friday afternoon.

"It's a tough schedule, but it's the hand we're dealt," Taylor said.

Christian Wall led Chicago State with 20 points, and Carl Montgomery had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Hawai'i played without starting center Paul Campbell, who sat out with a back injury.

Hawai'i's next game is Dec. 22 against College of Charleston in the inaugural Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. The 'Bows will play three games in four days during the tournament.