The Hawaii men's basketball team fell flat on its face the last time the curtain went up.

The Western Athletic Conference show goes on, however, and so must the Rainbow Warriors if they hope to qualify for the WAC tournament in March.

UH (8-9, 1-3) faces San Jose State (9-7, 2-2) to open a three-game homestand today at 7:05 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center. Contests against New Mexico State and league leader Louisiana Tech follow on Thursday and Saturday.

It wasn't easy to shake off Monday's 44-point loss at Utah State—a UH record in a WAC game—but the Rainbows worked feverishly behind the scenes this week to improve for their next showing.

Any wins the 'Bows can collect at home over the next week will be huge in staving off Boise State (0-6) in the standings and avoiding the last-place team's fate of being left home from Reno, Nev., come tourney time. After this homestand, four of the next five are on the road—where UH is 0-3 this season.

“;These guys have worked hard. I know that. They've really concentrated, they're engaged in what we're doing,”; UH coach Bob Nash said. “;I've pushed them a little bit harder, trying to get them to understand that it all starts with the level of desire and you build from there.

“;If you have pride in what you do, you're not going to succumb to pain, mistakes, all that kind of stuff. You're not going to crumble, (you'll) stay together, and anything is possible.”;

That theme of the week—desire—hit home with forward Petras Balocka, who missed the USU game with a hurt left shoulder. He's confident he'll be ready to play today.

“;Definitely (we have the desire),”; Balocka said. “;I felt like myself, I'm a senior, I have to come with a different attitude. Just kind of get the guys ... pull their heads up.

“;Guys were down after that game, the long travel, everybody tired. But nobody cares. San Jose doesn't care. We don't care that they traveled here (from a win vs. BSU on Thursday). We just gotta come and play, and like I told the guys, there's five seniors, this is the last games for us. We'd better not leave this place as losers. Just have to come and play hard and give it everything we got and hope for the best result we can.”;

Salvaging a meaningful senior season for forward Roderick Flemings would go a long way toward making team success happen. UH's top scorer (14.4 points per game) has battled a litany of nagging injuries, most recently to his knees, but he figures the time for excuses is over. He wants to guard SJSU's top player, shooting guard Adrian Oliver, to set the tone tonight.

“;Just going to try to come out and win these three home games. Make a stand for ourselves,”; Flemings said. “;(The clock's ticking) is how I feel sometimes. There's a lot of games left, but I do feel a sense of urgency to do things now. I need to.”;

While Flemings and Balocka were essentially back in full action in yesterday's practice, guard Dwain Williams (14.0 ppg) attended but sat out with what Nash called “;a family issue.”;

“;(Today) we'll just see how he feels. We'll see how things go,”; Nash said.

The resurgent Spartans have the WAC's second-leading scorer in Oliver (20.9 ppg) and leading rebounder in forward Chris Oakes (10.2 per game with 10.7 ppg). Athletic 6-foot-4 point guard Justin Graham has had some of his best career games against the Rainbows in previous seasons.

UH point guard Hiram Thompson said the plan is to lay off Graham to discourage his slashing game, a big part of the SJSU offense.

“;We kind of gave him a gap (last year in San Jose), let him prove his shooting, and then once he proves his shooting then get up on him,”; Thompson said. “;But kind of just gap him and stay off him until he knocks down some shots.”;

SJSU leads the WAC in 3-point percentage at 41.0 percent, but is very selective about pulling the trigger on treys. Despite their impressive conversion rate, the Spartans are last in 3-pointers made (93) and attempted (227).