RAINBOW PLAYBOOK
Brigham Young Cougars
Coaches: BYU's Steve Cleveland (2nd year, 17-33); Hawaii's Riley Wallace (12th year, 180-168)
Season: BYU 8-12 (3-5 WAC); Hawaii 5-16 (2-7 WAC).
Top players: Michael Vranes, 6-3 freshman point guard (11.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg); Mark Bigelow, 6-6 freshman guard (13.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg); Silester Rivers, 6-7 junior center (9.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg); Nathan Cooper, 6-5 sophomore forward (9.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg); Mekeli Wesley, 6-9 sophomore forward (10.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg).
Interesting facts: The Rainbows had a 17-point lead in the second half against BYU on Jan. 16 at the Stan Sheriff Center but the Cougars rallied and Wesley nailed a 3-pointer near the buzzer to give them a 60-59 win ... Wallace said the team had to use hotel shuttles to get to practice yesterday because the bus they chartered couldn't use the highway system closed by a snowstorm.
Keys to the game: Hawaii's leading scorer, 6-8 center Marquette Alexander, will not start but he will play. He suffered a deep thigh bruise against UTEP last Thursday ... Erin Galloway (12 points, 8 rebounds vs. New Mexico) will start at center. But Galloway, who has asthma, will not play long stretches in Provo's altitude ... Expect to see freshman guard Mike McIntyre (19 points vs New Mexico) get plenty of time.
Tipoff: 4 p.m., today, Marriott Center, Provo, Utah.
On the air: Live, KFVE TV (Channel 5); KCCN radio (1420 AM)
WAHINE PLAYBOOK
Brigham Young Cougars
Coaches: BYU, Trent Shippen (2nd season, 27-22). UH, Vince Goo (12th season, 237-105).
Season: BYU, 12-8 (6-2 WAC). UH, 13-7 (5-4 WAC).
Top players: Jill Adams, 6-4 center (10.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game); Cady Williams, 5-11 guard (12.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg); Amanda Covington, 5-4 guard (7.3 ppg, 3.1 assists per game).
Interesting facts: Five of the six players that see action off the BYU bench are 6-feet or taller ... BYU guard Renae Hansen (7.1 ppg) is out for the season with a knee injury and guard Megan Jensen (7.2 ppg) is questionable due to a torn quadriceps muscle ... BYU's Cady Williams is 19th nationally in free-throw percentage (.863).
Keys to the game: Both teams say the game is crucial. UH's hopes of finishing better that fourth rest on this week's results ... The same is true of BYU's chances of overtaking first-place Utah ...The Cougars outrebounded the Wahine, 37-28, and forced 24 UH turnovers in the meeting at Provo ... Hawaii went cold from the field in the last 10 minutes as BYU turned the game into a rout ... "They can shoot inside and outside and we gotta take something away. We can't do both so we'll start with layups," UH head coach Vince Goo said ...UH is 11-5 at home, BYU is 5-2 away from Provo.
Tipoff: Today, 7 p.m., at the Stan Sheriff Center.
On the air: Live on KHNL TV (Channel 5) and KCCN radio (1420 AM).
