A recent change at the point for the Hawaii men's basketball team is likely to continue tomorrow at Illinois.

The Rainbow Warriors (3-2) arrived safely in Chicago yesterday morning and bused through the snow to Champaign, Ill., for tomorrow's 3 p.m. Hawaii time meeting with the Fighting Illini (7-1) of the Big Ten Conference.

In the last two games—wins over Iowa State and Prairie View A&M—Hawaii coach Bob Nash shifted Lasha Parghalava from shooting guard to the point and brought Kareem Nitoto in off the bench. Nitoto had started the first three games.

For now, Nash favors the situation for two reasons: It gives the young Nitoto an opportunity to study opponents before entering games (in calmer situations) and forces the sometimes-manic Parghalava to settle down early and run the flex offense.

“;I think we got some mileage out of it,”; Nash said. “;We're still tinkering with things, and Lasha, if he can continue to get us off to a good start, we'll stay with the routine.”;

Nitoto doesn't see it as a demotion; the two guards' minutes have been evenly split since the change.

“;It really doesn't matter if I start or if I come off the bench,”; the sophomore said. “;All that matters is that I finish the game. At the last two games, I didn't start, but the last 20 or 15 minutes I was in the game. When the team needed me to play I stepped up and made the right passes, we locked up on defense and we won close games.”;

Against the potent Illini, calm conditions seem unlikely. The raucous Assembly Hall seats more than 16,000 and will be the only hostile arena the Rainbows see until the Western Athletic Conference season.

“;Illinois should be good—I always wanted to play there,”; said UH forward Roderick Flemings. “;We gotta stick together, trust in each other. Just come out with the win. We had a good practice today, lot of energy, it was good.”;

Illinois blew out a good Georgia team yesterday, 76-42, in rebounding from its first loss of the season to Clemson on Tuesday.

The Rainbows wanted to watch the game on local TV but could only find a score-tracker on the Internet. But they watched film and got in a solid practice later on the frigid Illinois campus.

“;The weather's cold (about 18 degrees F, 14 below freezing upon their arrival) but in conference you play in all kinds of situations,”; Nash said. “;I don't think our young guys know what to expect, but it's a learning process for them and that's why we put them in this situation.”;

Coach Bruce Weber has three starters who average double figures. Sophomores Mike Davis (14.8 points a game) and Demetri McCamey (13.9) were reserves for the Illini team that defeated the 'Bows in Honolulu last year. Senior guard Trent Meacham (10.4) didn't play in that game but had a solid season overall.

The Illini have held teams to 56.9 points a game on 39.8 percent shooting, and are tops in the Big Ten with 19.6 assists per game.

Hawaii is led by Flemings, who is third in the WAC in scoring at 17 points a game. Bill Amis has averaged 12.4 points and nine rebounds, while Petras Balocka has added 11.8 points in just 19.6 minutes.