Rainbows’ road troubles
go beyond the court

Life on the road has been anything but dull for the Hawaii basketball team this season.

While the Rainbow Warriors have kept things exciting on the court, just getting to their destinations has been an adventure at times.

Hawaii at Rice When: Today, 10:05 a.m. Hawaii time Where: Autry Court TV: None Radio: Live, KKEA 1420-AM Internet: HawaiiAthletics.com

There was the 15-hour bus trip from Fresno to Nevada through a late-December snow storm. Last week, the team's connecting flight from Denver to Tulsa was rerouted, delaying the 'Bows' arrival in Oklahoma. Then yesterday, their hop to Houston hit a snag when airline personnel deemed the plane too heavy.

To lighten the load, some of the luggage was taken off the plane -- including the duffle bags containing the team's practice gear.

So instead of running through a full practice at Autry Court, the team held a quick shootaround to loosen up for today's Western Athletic Conference game against Rice.

"Hazards of the road," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "But it won't bother us."

The Rainbows (14-10, 6-9 WAC) have an early wake-up call and an hourlong practice this morning before facing the Owls (15-10, 9-6) in their final regular-season road game of the season. Tipoff is set for 10:05 a.m. Hawaii time.

The bags were due to arrive in Houston last night, and although the snafu altered the team's practice plans, it gave the players a chance to recharge before attempting to end a three-game losing streak.

"We'll be really rested after today, so it'll be good," forward Jeff Blackett said. "I think it works to our advantage."

The Rainbows are 2-7 on the road this season, with those nine games decided by an average of 3.9 points.

The team reviewed tapes of Rice last night and know what to expect from the Owls, having faced them last month in Honolulu. UH won that meeting 75-72 in overtime thanks to guard Bobby Nash's four-point play with 15.5 seconds left.

After Nash banked in a 3-pointer while being fouled that night, the breaks have largely gone against the Rainbows. UH is 3-5 after beating Rice and has lost five of its last six games.

"You can't put it all on breaks. You make your own breaks," Wallace said. "Our execution has to get better."

In UH's latest setback -- an 83-76 loss at Tulsa on Friday -- the Rainbows took a lead on a 3-pointer by Julian Sensley with 3:17 left only to see the Golden Hurricane answer with a go-ahead trey. The 'Bows managed just three points after that, as they struggled to get into their offensive sets.

"We're starting to do things a lot better during the main flow, but we struggle when the defense tightens up," Wallace said. "It's pressure on the ball and pressure on the (entry passes), and you really have to be really good and strong at what you do."

Still, the UH coach has been pleased with the players' overall effort in recent games even though the scores haven't gone the Rainbows' way.

"You can't keep playing hard and keep losing," guard Matt Gibson said. "As long as we keep playing hard and fighting hard to the end, I'm sure good things will happen."

Gibson (20 points) and fellow guard Jake Sottos (24) accounted for 44 of UH's 76 points on Friday. Sensley added 11 points and Wallace indicated the junior may be back in the starting lineup today after coming off the bench in the last two games.

Rice is led by the trio of forward Michael Harris and guards Jason McKrieth and Brock Gillespie. The seniors will be honored prior to playing their final regular-season home game today.

Harris had 15 points and 18 rebounds in Rice's 56-50 win over San Jose State on Friday. He ranks second in the WAC in scoring (20.2 points per game) and rebounding (11.4 rpg) and leads the league with a 60.4 field-goal percentage.

"He's just a real hard worker and really talented athletic player," Blackett said. "He'll go out there every night and do his thing and we just have to keep that in check."

While the Owls are fighting to hang on to third place in the WAC, the Rainbows need quite a bit of help to climb out of seventh place and avoid a play-in game at the conference tournament, trailing Fresno State, SMU and Louisiana Tech by two games with three left to play.

"We just have to stay focused and stay hungry," Gibson said.