Seldom of late has Hawaii gone to Reno, Nev., riding a windfall of success.

Rarer still — make it never — do the Rainbow Warriors leave with some.

The reeling Rainbows (9-12, 2-6 Western Athletic Conference) hope to end a three-game losing streak today in an ESPNU-televised contest at 5:05 p.m. at Nevada (12-8, 4-3). UH has never beaten the Wolf Pack in 12 tries at Lawlor Events Center.

Despite the black hole of UH performances in The Biggest Little City in the World, Hawaii hopes this isn't the last time it sees Reno this season.

At the midpoint of the WAC schedule, coach Bob Nash's team is fighting to get back there in March for the league tournament.

The battle to avoid a last-place finish — and subsequently miss out on the tourney — heated up with UH's 83-60 loss at San Jose State on Thursday coupled with wins by Idaho (2-6) and Boise State (1-7) in their last games.

An upset of the Pack would restore some morale to a UH team that is 0-4 on the road and is losing by an average margin of 22.75 points in away games.

“;Everything just kind of left us (in the second half to SJSU), and if you don't play with energy on the defensive end until your offense comes back, then you're gonna get beat the way we got beat,”; Nash said over the phone yesterday after a short flight from San Jose, Calif., to Reno. “;Looking at Nevada, they're a team that is very good, and very good in this building. You don't win often in this building. ... We still gotta go out and play a basketball game and give our best effort. And I think our guys will be up for that challenge.”;

It doesn't figure to get any easier today. The crowd, altitude, and quality of opponent are similar to Utah State, where UH lost by 44 two weeks ago, a school record for a WAC game. UH has dropped seven straight to UNR overall.

And Nevada's had a week to prepare for UH since the Pack's last game, an 87-77 loss at Fresno State. UNR is 9-1 at home this season and has won 28 of its last 34 WAC games in Lawlor.

The Pack thrives at home behind its up-and-down offense; UNR ranks 13th nationally in scoring at 81.8 points per game and 15th nationally in field-goal percentage at 48.9.

Sophomore Luke Babbitt, the preseason WAC Player of the Year, ranks third in WAC scoring (and 14th nationally) at 21.5 points per game with 10.0 rebounds per game.

The 6-9, 225-pound forward joined the 1,000-point club in the loss at FSU, and is one of only three players in the country to average 20 and 10.

“;I think he picked up where he left off with his freshman year,”; said first-year Pack coach David Carter, a 10-year assistant before taking the reins from Mark Fox, who now coaches Georgia. “;I think sometimes you worry about the sophomore slump or the sophomore jinx, and he's been very consistent for us.”;

Complemented with junior point guard Armon Johnson (16.1 ppg, 5.1 assists per game), the Pack always have a source of offense at hand.

“;Babbitt is a double-double guy, Johnson, he's the straw that stirs the drink,”; Nash said. “;He's a very good point guard. They have a very good supporting cast with (Brandon) Fields and (Joey) Shaw and (Dario) Hunt. Those guys do a good job of picking up the slack when those guys are not on their A-game.”;

Carter thought the battle of the boards might be the difference. The Pack's been out-rebounded in the last three games, despite averaging 40.2 boards a game on the season.

UH's top rebounder, Petras Balocka, got just 7 minutes off the bench and has seen his production and minutes decline sharply since injuring his shoulder at Fresno State on Jan. 9.

“;It wasn't the kind of game we thought he was going to have and he's not really giving that kind of effort on the defensive end, so we had to make some changes,”; Nash said. “;(We) put other guys out there who gave effort on the defensive end.”;

The Rainbows are still short-handed at guard without Dwain Williams, who did not make the trip and will miss his fifth straight game because of his cousin's death.

UH's top player, Roderick Flemings, has averaged 19.7 points over the last three games to bring his season average up to 15.0.

Hawaii is 1-3 this season in nationally televised games.