MOSCOW, Idaho—It was somewhat fitting that University of Hawai'i men's basketball assistant coach Larry Farmer joked that he wanted guard Riley Luettgerodt to start practicing with the "bigs" this week.

It was Luettgerodt who came up big in the closing minutes of a 58-53 victory by the Rainbow Warriors over Idaho last night at Cowan Spectrum.

With the game still in balance, Luettgerodt grabbed two crucial rebounds and went 4 of 4 on free throws in the final 35 seconds to help clinch the victory.

"I wasn't helping out offensively all night, but it was a matter of staying active," the 6-foot-5 senior said. "I was going to do what ever I could to get those rebounds. Coach Farmer said if I keep rebounding like that he's going to start using me with the bigs."

Farmer coaches the Hawai'i big men, but it was Luettgerodt who wound up with a team-high five rebounds last night.

Luettgerodt, who entered the game averaging 12.6 points per game, was held scoreless for the first 39:25 of the game. He went 0 for 4 from the field, and his only points of the game were the clutch free throws.

"People always look at the points first, but there's a lot of other things that can help you win games, and Riley did that," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "I thought he played solid defense and he came through at the end."

Luettgerodt also played a team-high 38 minutes.

"We kind of knew this would be an ugly game," he said. "So we just wanted to get out of there with the win, and we did that."

Luettgerodt has been in an admitted shooting slump, but he is now tied for the team lead in rebounding with 4.7 per game.

"I was really hesitant with my shot tonight, but I just have to play through it," he said. "If not, I'll keep doing what ever I can to help in other ways."

SUSPENSION OVER

Bob Nash said Matt Gibson's suspension from the starting lineup is done after last night.

Gibson did not start because of disciplinary reasons, but played 30 minutes and scored a team-high 16 points.

"There's never going to be a time when we have disregard for the rules," Nash said. "Matt had to be disciplined, and we took care of it. Now it's done and we move on."

It was the second time this season that Gibson was held out of the starting lineup for disciplinary reasons.

LONG JOURNEY HOME

The 'Bows departed Moscow at 3:30 a.m. today for their return trip to Honolulu.

They will take a bus ride to Spokane, Wash., fly from there to Denver, then connect to a Honolulu flight. They are scheduled to arrive home around 4:30 p.m.

"It's a long day, but the travel always seems better after a win," coach Bob Nash said.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.