FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Matthew Gipson and the Rainbow Warriors open Western Athletic Conference play at Fresno State tomorrow.

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‘0’ marks the spot

As the WAC season looms,
the unbeaten Warriors are
wearing a target in their record

That little zero on the right side of the Hawaii basketball team's win-loss column might as well be a giant bull's-eye.

Hawaii at Fresno State When: Tomorrow, 5 p.m. (Hawaii time) Where: Save Mart Center TV: Live, KFVE, Ch. 5 Radio: Live, KKEA 1420-AM Internet: HawaiiAthletics.com

The Rainbow Warriors enter Western Athletic Conference play tomorrow as the league's only undefeated team and they know Fresno State would love to be the team to finally hang a loss on them.

"Everybody reads the paper and everybody looks on the Web sites and sees us at 8-0, so there's obviously going to be a target on your back," Hawaii guard Bobby Nash said. "When you're winning, the target gets bigger and bigger."

Fresno State will be the first WAC team to take its shot at knocking UH from the list of undefeated teams left in the country tomorrow when the teams meet in the first conference game of the season.

Although the Rainbows are off to their best start since the 1973-74 campaign and enter WAC play undefeated for the first time, they find themselves back at the starting line as they open conference play at the Save Mart Center.

"It is a new season so we just have to come out like it's our first game," UH forward Jeff Blackett said. "Eight and zero doesn't mean anything right now, especially going on the road."

While UH survived several tight games to maintain its perfect mark, Fresno State is trying to get back on track. The Bulldogs (6-3) won their first six games of the season, but enter tomorrow's game having lost three straight.

The Bulldogs are looking to extend a three-game winning streak against UH. Fresno State was the only WAC team to sweep the regular-season series against Hawaii last season.

"It means a lot to the returnees to go up there and beat Fresno," UH forward Julian Sensley said. "Plus it's kind of a rivalry, so it's huge for us to go up there and try to get a win."

In past years, the Rainbows struggled early in the WAC season following the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic. After winning their fourth straight tournament title last Thursday, UH coach Riley Wallace let the players rest on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day before returning to practice on Sunday.

"We're not tired now," Wallace said. "We gave them two days off so they've got their legs back."

The Rainbows scheduled an early-season trip at Saint Louis with an eye on having to open the WAC season on the road. They pulled out a 53-52 win over the Billikens on Dec. 4 and, perhaps more importantly, got a taste of life away from home.

"That's why (the coaches) did it," Blackett said. "So everyone knows what those 7-hour flights feel like and how it feels living out of a bag. So I think everyone's pretty much ready."

Fresno State lost both of its top guards from last season in Shantay Legans and Marcus West, but Ja'Vance Coleman has stepped in to lead the Bulldogs in scoring. Coleman, a sophomore transfer, ranks fifth in the WAC in scoring at 19.6 points per game and has hit a league-best 29 3-pointers.

UH's post players will also be tested by Bulldogs center Mustafa Al-Sayyad, who enjoyed two of his most productive games of last season against Hawaii. The 6-foot-9 senior averaged 18.5 points and 13 rebounds in Fresno State's wins over UH and made 14 of 18 shots from the field.

"I know that's going to be their main focus trying to get it to them and try to get our guys into foul trouble," Sensley said. "We'll have to double down a lot and play a lot of help-side D. So that's something we're definitely concerned about."

After tomorrow's game, the Rainbows head to Nevada and face the defending WAC champion Wolf Pack on Saturday in a nationally televised contest on ESPN2.