HONOLULU — Aaron Valdes scored 15 points and Hawaii remained perfect, 8-0, on its home court by beating Northern Iowa, 68-52 in a first-round game of the Diamond Head Classic Tuesday night.
Hawaii (8-1) advances to play No. 3 Oklahoma in the second of two semifinal games Wednesday.
Valdes hit a 3-pointer with 1:47 left in the first half to give the Rainbow Warriors a 32-25 lead and Isaac Fleming added two free throws to make 34-25 at intermission.
Sai Tummala hit the second of two free throws to spark a 10-0 run that pushed Hawaii's lead to 21 points, 68-47 after Stefan Jovanovic hit a layup off a feed from Fleming with 4:27 left.