JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's seven-member senior class, Riley Luettgerodt, Alex Veit, Jared Dillinger, Stephen Verwers, Bobby Nash, P.J. Owsley and Matt Gibson, plays its final home game tonight.

Seniors hope for a grand home finale

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A seven-member senior class representing the core of this year's Hawaii basketball team will have one more chance to defend the home court tonight when the Rainbow Warriors face Boise State at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The senior class of Jared Dillinger, Matt Gibson, Riley Luettgerodt, Bobby Nash, P.J. Owsley, Alex Veit and Stephen Verwers will be honored following the game in the annual senior night ceremony.

The group represents six states ranging from Oklahoma to Hawaii and came together from diverse backgrounds to form a tight unit that has accounted for the bulk of the Rainbows' production this season.

"We're very close," Luettgerodt said. "We hang out on and off the court, we're really good friends, we goof around, joke around, fight, just like anybody else. But at the end of the day we've all got each other's backs."

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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM From left are Riley Luettgerodt, Gladstone, Oregon; Alex Veit, Salem, Oregon; Jared Dillinger, Littleton, Colorado; Stephen Verwers, Weatherford, Texas; Bobby Nash, Honolulu, Hawaii; P.J. Owsley, Bozeman, Montana; and Matt Gibson, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The postgame introductions, the plaque presentations, the leis, the parting shots.

The seven members of Hawaii's senior class know what awaits them following their home finale tonight.

They are also very aware that the traditions that annually make senior night a bittersweet highlight of the schedule will have to wait a little while more.

Before the Rainbow Warriors turn their attention to the postgame revelry there's the matter of facing the top team in the Western Athletic Conference when Boise State visits the Stan Sheriff Center for a 7:05 p.m. matchup.

"We're trying to come out and play with a lot of emotion and play really inspired," senior swingman Riley Luettgerodt said. "We've got Boise coming in here and it's senior night, so we're going to be up and ready to play."

The diverse senior class of Luettgerodt, Jared Dillinger, Matt Gibson, Bobby Nash, P.J. Owsley, Alex Veit and Stephen Verwers has carried the Rainbows (11-15, 7-6 WAC) for much of the season, accounting for just under 80 percent of Hawaii's scoring.

But the statistics show just a part of their contributions to the program.

"I've gotten close to them as far as being people and I really like all of them," UH coach Bob Nash said. "Just guys who represent themselves, the state and their families very well. That's the part I've been most pleased with.

"They've given me unbelievable effort at every turn. It's not one of those groups you have to scream and yell at. ... They represent themselves like men, so I treat them like men."

Bobby Nash is the longest tenured of the group, finishing his fifth year, and is 13 points away from joining the program's 1,000-point club. Gibson, in his fourth year in Manoa, reached that mark earlier this season and also ranks in UH's all-time top 10 in 3-point goals, free throws, steals and assists.

Dillinger and Verwers -- who has been out since breaking his leg on Christmas -- have been at UH for three seasons, while Luettgerodt, Owsley and Veit are completing their two-year runs.

"It's been fun and it's a time to remember and it's not time to be sad or anything like that," Gibson said after completing his final full practice in the Sheriff Center yesterday. "It's a time to be happy, you're moving on to a new chapter in your life and all the new adventures that await you."

What awaits the Rainbows prior to the emotional sendoff is a Boise State team that tops the WAC standings and ran away to a 95-80 win over the Rainbows in Boise, Idaho, on Jan. 24.

Tonight's game marks the second straight year Boise State has been UH's opponent on senior night.

"I think it's always a plus for the home team, but we'll hang in there and battle. This is a hard place to play for us anyway," said Boise State coach Greg Graham, who is 0-5 in Honolulu.

After suffering an 85-77 overtime loss to Idaho on Thursday, the Rainbows will need to tighten up defensively against the WAC's highest-scoring attack (81.6 points per game) and one of the nation's top shooting teams (51 percent from the field).

Forward Reggie Larry ranks third in the league in scoring (18.6) and first in rebounding (9.1). But center Matt Nelson (15.6 points, 7.6 rebounds per game) did not make the trip after suffering a sprained foot late in Boise State's win at San Jose State on Thursday.

"It's a major blow," Graham said. "He's an all-conference caliber player who's almost averaging a double-double and has been a great leader and a force inside with Reggie, so now other guys have to step up and play."

Sagging the defense inside can leave the perimeter open for Tyler Tiedeman and Matt Bauscher. Tiedeman is shooting 50 percent from 3-point range and Bauscher went 5-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first meeting with UH.

"The thing that makes them so good is their transition," Bob Nash said. "They really put the pressure on you to get back. If you don't they shoot layups, and if you do they get right into their secondary break or flow right into their offense. They do a really nice job."