LAS VEGAS — As he exited the Thomas & Mack Center into the cold desert night, University of Hawai'i forward Ahmet Gueye quietly lamented his uncharacteristically cold shooting from the free-throw line last night.

"I may have scored a lot of points, but it wasn't a good game for me at all," he said. "I missed all those free throws and it added up. I wish I could shoot them again."

He wasn't the only one. The Rainbow Warriors made just 6 of 18 free throws in a 67-61 loss to UNLV last night.

Otherwise, Gueye was impressive in just his second game with Hawai'i. He scored a team-high 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field, and grabbed seven rebounds.

"He's still learning the offense, and there were times even tonight when he was in the wrong place, but he still managed to get his shot off," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "It's just a matter of him getting it down, but you can see how good he can be."

However, Gueye was 1 for 5 from the free-throw line, with all his misses coming in the crucial final five minutes.

"I think he was tired at the end there, because he's normally a good free-throw shooter," Wallace said. "But he played his butt off and kept us in the game. You can't fault him. Everybody was missing (free throws)."

With UNLV's pressure defense shutting down Hawai'i's outside shooting, Gueye's low-post presence was one of the few bright spots. The 6-foot-7 junior was particularly effective in the first half, when he scored 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting.

"My teammates were getting me involved," Gueye said. "I was just trying to do my part. When I get the ball down low, I feel like I should score."

Gueye took an inadvertent blow to his ribs from a UNLV player in the second half, and he said it was still hurting after the game.

"It bothered me when I was shooting, but that's no excuse," he said. "I'm still supposed to make my free throws."

ANOTHER SHOT

Yesterday's game was the first of a rare home-and-home series between non-conference teams. The Rebels will fly to Hawai'i to play the 'Bows in the Stan Sheriff Center on Dec. 6.

"We're looking forward to it now," Hawai'i senior "Big Matt" Gipson said.

"They pretty much took us out of our game tonight, so we have to come back and prove to them the kind of team we really are the next time."

NOTES

The 'Bows are scheduled to return to Honolulu today. Their next game is Saturday against Saint Louis in the Stan Sheriff Center.

Around 1,000 of the fans in attendance last night were cheering for Hawai'i.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.