So much good has been said about Matt Lojeski this season, here's something not so good: he doesn't always listen to his parents.

Against his father's advice, Lojeski played with a sprained left shoulder and helped lead the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team to a 69-59 victory over Utah State yesterday.

"I told him not to play," Tom Lojeski said. "I said you'll be sorry when you're 40 and can't raise your shoulder. But he's 20 and thinks he's invincible."

Lojeski, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard, played like he was invincible, matching his season-high with 20 points. He shot 8 of 11 from the field, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range.

"It's like it all came back today," he said. "It's been sore the whole week, but I felt good today for some reason."

Lojeski said he agreed to an acupuncture treatment a few hours before yesterday's game.

"There were probably 10 to 12 needles in there; I was a little nervous about it," he said. "But it definitely worked."

During last season's recruiting period, Lojeski chose Hawai'i over Utah State, so the performance did not come as a surprise to the Aggies.

"I don't think anybody was trying to leave him open," Utah State head coach Stew Morrill said. "When you're 6-6 and can shoot it like that, you don't have to be that open."

Lojeski sustained the injury in a 58-52 loss at Wisconsin-Milwaukee last Saturday. He scored a season-low six points, and had to sit out the final 10 minutes.

"He kind of owed us one after that," senior co-captain Deonte Tatum said.

Lojeski is from Racine, Wis., so last week's game came in front of more than 150 friends and family members.

"He visited too many friends and had too much going on in Milwaukee," Tom Lojeski said. "This was more the way we're used to seeing him play."

Lojeski's parents and younger brother and sister are in Honolulu through Christmas.

Lojeski has emerged as Hawai'i's top shooter this season. Through six games, he is averaging 14.7 points per game and leads the team with 17 3-pointers. He is also among the national leaders with a 60.7 percentage from 3-point range.

"Thank god it was his left arm and not his right arm," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "He still amazes me with that shot. It's a high arcer and when he's on, it doesn't do anything but tickle the twine."

But Lojeski's most important contribution yesterday may have been on defense. He helped limit Utah State leading scorer Jaycee Carroll to 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Carroll was averaging 20 points per game prior to yesterday. Wallace said Lojeski's size was a factor against the 6-2 Carroll.

"The long 6-6 body on him probably made him change a few shots and that was probably a key," Wallace said.

NOTE

Reserve guards Bobby Nash and "Little Matt" Gibson did not play yesterday. Nash has an injured right shoulder, and Wallace said he is "leaning toward" a redshirt season. Gibson is recovering from minor surgery to remove a staph infection near his chest.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.