Hawaii takes on Nevada in Reno tomorrow night, trying to exorcise long- and short-term demons.

The Rainbow Warriors will try to snap a three-game Western Athletic Conference men's basketball losing skid at a place they've never won in 11 tries.

Nevada (11-7, 4-1) has won 22 of its last 24 conference regular-season home games, but one of the losses came at the start of the season in a shocker against Idaho.

Coach Bob Nash and the Rainbows (9-8, 1-4) were scheduled to arrive in Reno late last night. They're drawing upon the Vandals' victory at Lawlor Events Center as encouragement.

“;If Idaho can go in there and beat them, why can't Hawaii go in there and beat them?”; Nash said. “;It's going to take a heck of an effort, because they are still a very good team. They don't have as much size and the talent level isn't as deep as it's been in the past, but they're a very good team but they're not a team that's unbeatable.”;

Players like Kirk Snyder, Nick Fazekas, Ramon Sessions, Marcelus Kemp and JaVale McGee are gone after tormenting Hawaii for five straight years of first-place Nevada finishes in the WAC. But Nevada has a talented freshman forward, Luke Babbitt, who has filled much of the void.

The Wolf Pack responded from the Idaho loss by winning four straight. The highly-touted Babbitt (15.7 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game) has won two straight WAC player of the week awards over that span.

Nash pointed out that only four of the current Rainbows played in UH's 88-68 loss in Reno last year, so most haven't tasted the legacy of losing there (going on eight years in WAC play).

“;A lot of these guys haven't been there before,”; Nash said. “;So they can carve out their own niche, what they want to accomplish.”;

While Roderick Flemings has been steady (WAC-best 17.6 ppg), getting junior forward Petras Balocka back on track offensively will be a must for UH. He was the Rainbows' second-most reliable source of offense until their one-point win at home to Louisiana Tech, when he missed most of the game with a groin injury.

In four games since the injury, he's shot 23 percent from the floor and 20 percent from the free-throw line.

“;I'm stuck somewhere I can't get out right now,”; Balocka said on Sunday, a day after going scoreless in a loss to San Jose State. “;My whole mind-set right now is just everything's down. When you're down, nothing coming your way, I feel like it's not a good time right now and as a team we're doing not that great. I really hope we get out of the slump as soon as possible, and open a new chapter.”;

He and point guard Kareem Nitoto weren't planning on going to Reno simply to show up.

“;We just gotta come out there and not be afraid of anything,”; Nitoto said. “;Be willing to make mistakes if you're willing to work even harder to make up for it.”;

The Rainbows will continue to bring back point guard Hiram Thompson slowly from a second hamstring injury. He got 9 minutes against SJSU and a similar amount of time is possible tomorrow.

“;We'll get him out there and see how he feels and try to extend those minutes as we go forward,”; Nash said.