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Honolulu, Hawaii • Utah's Diamond Head Classic drought came to an end against the tournament host.
Playing without leading scorer and rebounder Kyle Kuzma, the Utes clamped down defensively and held Hawaii to 29 percent shooting in a 66-52 victory on Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Junior David Collette finished with a game-high 17 points and nine rebounds to lead the Utes (8-3), who improved to 3-0 in games after a loss and won for the first time in five attempts in the Classic after finishing eighth out of eight teams in 2010.
Utah will play Stephen F. Austin in the fifth-place game on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU
The Utes avoided an 0-2 start in the Classic, which would have severely disrupted preparations for Pac-12 play, despite Collette and Sedrick Barefield — who had 35 points in Thursday's loss to San Francisco — dealing with foul trouble.
Collette picked up his fourth foul with 9:24 left in the game that put Hawaii into the bonus trailing 49-30.
Barefield struggled in his first start for the Utes after becoming the first player since Keith Van Horn in 1997 to score at least 35 points in a game in the opening round. He had the first basket of the game but was held scoreless until he stopped an 11-2 Hawaii run with a floater with 4:51 remaining to put Utah ahead 53-40. Barefield fouled out 27 seconds later and had four points in 17 minutes.
Hawaii got as close as 10 before Collette checked back in the game with 3:01 remaining and scored. Parker Van Dyke then added the third 3-pointer by the Utes to put Utah back up by 15.
Lorenzo Bonam had 11 points and nine rebounds in his first game as a reserve. Devon Daniels, the only Ute to start every game this season, had six points and five rebounds.
Jack Purchase had 13 points and Brocke Stepteau added 11 for Hawaii (4-7).
Early on, the Utes clearly missed Kuzma, who was in a walking boot on the end of the bench after rolling his ankle in Thursday's loss to San Francisco.
Utah led 13-8 with 7:50 remaining in the first half as the teams shot a combined 25 percent (8-for-32) to start the game.
The Utes put some distance between themselves and Hawaii before the half, getting a couple of easy transition buckets due to forcing 11 first-half Hawaii turnovers.
Outside of leaving Purchase wide open for a couple of 3-pointers, the Utes defense suffocated the Rainbow Warriors, especially inside the paint, holding UH to 6-for-24 shooting to lead 31-18 at the break.