If the Western Athletic Conference season was a camping trip, Bob Nash and the Hawaii basketball team just got hit with a severe thunderstorm.

Nash isn't a happy camper, but he is a determined one. After Monday's 98-54 debacle at Utah State—the worst WAC loss in UH history—his Rainbow Warriors stand at 8-9 overall and 1-3 in league play, good for eighth place in the nine-team conference.

“;It's the fourth game of conference and we can't fold the tent now and think that it's over,”; said Nash, the UH head coach. “;That was only Utah State's first win in conference ... so they're in no better position than we are. They played really well at home and did an extremely good job. All you can do is get right back to work and correct some of the things that hurt us.”;

So the Rainbows returned to their home shelter and got back in action with a closed practice yesterday. It was the first of three isolated sessions scheduled before UH plays San Jose State (8-7, 1-2) on Sunday to kick off a three-game homestand, followed by New Mexico State (3-1) and Louisiana Tech (4-0), currently the third- and first-place teams.

Turnovers helped allow both games on the recent road trip to Fresno State and USU to rapidly turn into routs. The 'Bows generously gave the ball to Fresno 15 times in the first half, then coughed it up 10 more times in the first period against the Aggies. While UH committed only two turnovers in the second half of that game, the result was already decided as USU was up 54-26 at the break.

While one player probably wouldn't have made the difference against the red-hot Aggies, UH missed starting power forward Petras Balocka. The 'Bows' best rebounder at 9.0 per game was out, nursing a sore left shoulder after getting tangled up with a Fresno State player going for a board last Saturday—the same shoulder he had offseason surgery on. He met with a doctor and is limited to light shooting at practices.

“;I had my arms up going for the rebound and somebody jumped on my arm and pulled it back, you know with the whole body weight,”; the senior said. “;I extended my arm behind my back, so it hit that exact spot that I had surgery on, you know.

“;It's sore, but it's getting better, man. Getting better with every day. I shot around a little bit today, but I had no contact and I can't have no contact right now. We'll see how I feel (for SJSU), but I should be OK.”;

Leading scorer Roderick Flemings (14.4 points per game) also took it easy during the closed practice with an aggravation of his sprained knee.

Nash was optimistic that the historic USU loss won't leave a lasting funk over his squad. Previous closed practices were used to motivate the team with intense feedback, but yesterday was a calmer period, Nash said.

“;Today wasn't more about yelling, it was about teaching and correcting,”; he said. “;It's not a time to press a panic button and do all those kind of things. It's about teaching and trying to correct the errors. So that's what we worked on ... chemistry, getting the ball where it needs to be on time. Getting our shooters open by setting good, legal screens. That kind of stuff.”;