Saint Mary’s hopes to play
spoiler once again

Hmm, this all seems a bit familiar.

When Saint Mary's (Calif.) visited the Stan Sheriff Center back in December 1996, the Gaels faced a Hawaii basketball team that had won its first four games to open the season.

Saint Mary's (Calif.) vs. Hawaii When: Today, 7:05 p.m. Where: Stan Sheriff Center TV: Live, KFVE Ch. 5 Radio: Live, KKEA 1420-AM Internet: HawaiiAthletics.com Tickets: $20 (lower level, single seats only), $15 (upper level-adult), $5 (upper level-student), $3 (upper level-UH students), $5 Super Rooter/Manoa Maniacs) Promotions: "White Out" night, the UH athletic department is asking fans to wear white shirts to the game. ... UH Kids' Club members receive a free ticket with the purchase of an adult ticket.

Saint Mary's spoiled UH's perfect record that night, handing the Rainbow Warriors a 56-51 win in the championship game of the PowerBar Invitational.

"I remember they had 'Big Continent' and we couldn't stop him," said UH coach Riley Wallace, recalling the performance of 7-foot-2, 335-pound Saint Mary's center Brad Millard.

Just a little more than eight years later, the Rainbows are 4-0 again and guess who just got into town.

This year's Saint Mary's squad doesn't have a player quite as beefy as Millard, but will again pose a serious threat to the Rainbows' season-opening winning streak in tonight's nonconference matchup at the Sheriff Center.

Tipoff for the "White Out" game is set for 7:05 p.m.

Saint Mary's enters the game at 6-3 and was picked to finish second to Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference's preseason coaches poll, receiving three first-place votes.

The Rainbows will face a road-tested Saint Mary's team that made stops in Oakland, New York, Las Vegas and Piscataway, N.J., before arriving in Honolulu.

Along the way the Gaels picked up road wins over California and Nevada-Las Vegas and played in Madison Square Garden in the final rounds of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

"This is one of our toughest tests on the road so it'll be good for us," Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett said. "Hopefully we'll come out on top, if not, it can really help us in the long run because this is a tough place to play."

After enjoying a significant size advantage up front in their first four games, the Rainbows will face a team with equal height.

Hawaii has started the front line of forwards Julian Sensley (6-foot-9), and Jeff Blackett (6-8) and center Chris Botez (7-0) in all four games. The Rainbows also have 6-9 junior Matt Gipson available off the bench.

Saint Mary's counters with forwards Daniel Kickert (6-10) and Jonathan Sanders (6-7) and center Blake Sholberg (7-0).

Kickert leads the Gaels in scoring (14.6 points per game), rebounding (9.1 rpg) and blocked shots (11).

"It'll be good for us because the (Western Athletic Conference) teams are a little bit bigger than the teams we've been playing," Blackett said. "So it'll be good to see a little bigger competition and see where we're at, especially down low."

But Saint Mary's won't be content to just pound the ball into the post. The Gaels attempt more than 18 3-point shots per game.

"They play a different style," Wallace said. "They'll spread the court and shoot a lot of threes. And they will transition, they're pretty fast."

The Gaels have even more front-court depth with the addition of 6-7 forward Erik Bond. The transfer from California will be eligible for the first time this season after sitting out the first semester.

Saint Mary's also welcomes back All-WCC guard Paul Marigney, who missed the first nine games due to academic issues. Marigney led the Gaels with 16 ppg last season.

Bennett said Bond will probably play tonight while Marigney hasn't practiced much with the team.

"We've played pretty well, the group we've played thus far has good chemistry and guys understand their roles," Bennett said.

Hawaii's back court is back at full strength with the return of Jake Sottos yesterday. Sottos sat out the previous two days with whiplash. Wallace said Deonte Tatum and Bobby Nash will start at the guard spots tonight.

Cleaning house: Gipson sat out yesterday's practice due to an infection on his right foot. It was a different infection from the one that sidelined him earlier this season.

Wallace said Gipson will be in the rotation tonight.

Nash had a boil, similar to the one Gipson had lanced yesterday, removed earlier this week. While it's not known if the two incidents are related, the training staff took the precaution of sanitizing the locker room and seats on the bench yesterday.