UH hopes
to shake slump

With Hawaii trailing the pack in the Western Athletic Conference basketball race, the UH coaches are working with the team's confidence as much as its shooting and rebounding.

The Rainbows (10-5, 2-5 WAC) return to the Stan Sheriff Center this week looking to end a three-game losing streak. The team's losses have been by a total of 11 points, and with 11 WAC games ahead, the 'Bows are trying to look at the full half of the glass.

"We're trying to build them back up," UH coach Riley Wallace said yesterday. "It's not a different team than when we were 8-0. ... You don't give up on them, you don't get down, you keep battling because sooner or later you usually start winning some of them. Win one or two in the conference and you're back to where you were."

The Rainbows will try to get back on track when they face Rice (10-5, 5-2 WAC) on Thursday and Tulsa (4-12, 1-6 WAC) on Saturday. The homestand closes the Rainbows' first cycle through the conference.

Rice is third in the WAC after dropping a home game against Nevada on Saturday, while Tulsa picked up its first WAC win against Fresno State.

The Rainbows held a relatively light practice consisting mostly of shooting drills yesterday to give the players a chance to recharge. They'll start preparing in earnest for Rice at today's workout.

"We have to get the energy level up and play with confidence," Wallace said. "Home will do that for you."

UH last started 2-5 in the WAC in 2001. That team went on to win the WAC tournament to earn the first of back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths.

Switch back: A good memory helped sophomore Bobby Nash get some playing time last week.

Nash, who started nine games at shooting guard this season, was plugged in at small forward against UTEP and Boise State. He worked at small forward most of his freshman year.

"I know when you play on this team you have to know all the positions," Nash said.

Nash and Vaidotas Peciukas gave UH a boost last week when starting forward Julian Sensley took a breather or moved to power forward. Nash had 10 points against UTEP and Peciukas scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting against Boise State.

TV time?: WAC commissioner Karl Benson said the conference has been in discussions with ESPN about being featured on the network's Big Monday package.

The WAC could fill the slot currently held by the Mountain West Conference as early as next season, Benson said during yesterday's WAC teleconference.

"We've made it clear to them that we are ready to fill the Big Monday spot," Benson said. "I think it's an ideal exposure opportunity for us."

The WAC was included in the Big Monday lineup in the 1990s before being replaced by the Mountain West.

Bracket talk: With UH's recent slide, Wallace isn't optimistic about the Rainbows getting one of the televised spots on ESPN's Bracket Busters Saturday on Feb. 19.

UH will host a game this year after going on the road for nationally televised Bracket Busters games the last two years. However, UH had winning WAC records when those selections were made.

The pairings for the 11 Bracket Busters games to be televised by ESPN and its affiliates will be announced on Monday. Six games will be shown on ESPN and ESPN2, the other five will be produced by ESPN Regional Television. The rest of the matchups in the 64-team event will be announced the following day.

"We're still hanging in there to get four or five teams in that group of 22," Benson said.