Must-win time is upon Hawaii just three days into the Western Athletic Conference basketball schedule.

UH (7-7, 0-1 WAC) can ill afford to drop a second straight game at home to start league play when it takes on Boise State (9-5, 0-1) today at 7:05 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Playing from behind in the conference standings is nothing new to the Rainbow Warriors. UH dropped its fourth straight WAC opener with the 59-52 decision to Idaho on Saturday.

But dropping another game means the Rainbows stare at an 0-2 hole—then have to travel to Fresno State and Utah State. UH is 4-12 in WAC road games under third-year coach Bob Nash, and 13-45 overall on the road going back to 2003-04.

“;Oh yeah, this is a must-win. We gotta win this one,”; said guard Dwain Williams, who popped his right (shooting) shoulder out of alignment during practice, but said he was fine afterward. “;Starting off league 0-2 is something we can't do. We were fortunate to get home games back-to-back to start it off.”;

The Rainbows did some light shooting and halfcourt drills yesterday in preparation for the Broncos, who also dropped their WAC opener, 71-68 at Fresno State on Saturday. It was a normal practice, until Nash decreed every player had to sink 10 straight from the free-throw line before the team could leave. It took a while for the team ranking seventh in the WAC from the line at 70.1 percent.

“;We look at this as a very important game, but important from the sense that we're trying to win as many games as we can and trying to get to the WAC tournament,”; Nash said. “;There's a lot at stake. If you let them slip away at home and don't win on the road, then you take yourself out of contention.”;

Getting Hawaii's top scorers back on track is a must. Williams—who leads the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game—shot 1-for-10 for five points against the Vandals. Roderick Flemings (14.6 ppg) hasn't scored 20 or more since he went for 22 vs. Lamar on Dec. 6. Forward Petras Balocka averaged a double-double until a zero-point, one-rebound performance in 7 minutes in the last game.

“;We have to come out inspired,”; Nash said. “;We gotta do the things we do every day in practice, little things. It's not major problems. We didn't seal to get open. We let pressure bother us. We can't afford to do that against a conference team, or any team.”;

The Broncos had their game within their grasp, until Fresno's Paul George completed two three-point plays in the final minute to lift the Bulldogs.

“;We played very well except for 3 minutes—the first 2 and the last 1,”; Broncos coach Greg Graham said at BSU's practice at the Sheriff, soon after his team's arrival in Honolulu yesterday afternoon. “;Hey, the league's good. Everybody's good, and if you're off your game at home or on the road, you're gonna lose.”;

BSU is searching for a bounce-back win on the same day its unbeaten football team takes on TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. Graham's players will be able to catch at least part of the game on TV before taking on UH.

“;Our guys will be excited to watch, but no, they'll come to play,”; Graham said. “;We just need to refocus from the loss on Saturday, get ready to go, and I think it'll be good for our guys to watch it instead of laying around our hotel doing nothing. Get kind of revved up a little bit watching the game.”;

That'd be bad for Hawaii. BSU has won five straight over UH, including a sweep last season in which the Broncos made late runs to win at both the Sheriff and Taco Bell Arena.

Boise State remains one of the best transition teams in the WAC, averaging 74.9 points per game, though Graham pointed out that the Broncos have had to play more halfcourt than in previous years.

Forward Ike Okoye leads Boise State with 13.9 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, but the Broncos spread out their attack; six players average more than 7.5 points.

Forward Kurt Cunningham complements Okoye by leading the league in field-goal percentage at 64.6.

“;I don't think there's a whole lot of secrets (between WAC teams),”; Graham said. “;At least, I hope those other eight don't have any that I don't know about.”;