Roster feast vs. roster famine.

It's been the former for New Mexico State, which gained key players back from ineligibility as the 2009-10 season progressed. Hawaii, meanwhile, is still starved for players and production as the Rainbow Warriors enter the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M., today at 4 p.m. to face NMSU.

The upset-minded Rainbow Warriors (9-15, 2-9) meet the third-place Aggies (15-9, 8-3) in a bid to end three dubious streaks—six straight losses overall, an 0-6 performance on the road this season and an 0-4 all-time mark at NMSU.

Short-handed UH has kept itself in games on the six-game skid by slowing the pace to a crawl and grinding it out against opponents. The 'Bows did that to nearly pull off a win at Louisiana Tech on Saturday, only to fall 66-60 when the Bulldogs sealed it at the free-throw line.

The attempted pace will be no different if UH is to stand a chance at NMSU. UH is down to 10 active players—including just seven on scholarship—while the Aggies are at full strength with forward Troy Gillenwater back from eligibility problems.

“;Well, that's the way we have to play,”; UH coach Bob Nash said from El Paso, Texas, where the Rainbows spent the night. “;We can't be in a run-and-shoot game with them. We don't have the personnel at every position to do that, so we have to make it at our pace. Play good ball control and do the best that we can at controlling the boards. We gotta be able to score and we gotta get fouled, step up to the line and be confident and knock down free throws.”;

That's been a huge part of the problem; UH is shooting 63-for-119 (52.9 percent) at the line on its losing streak, including 12-for-24 in the LaTech loss.

The 'Bows' issues go far beyond that. Heavy pressure on point guard Hiram Thompson is expected again with no other clear-cut ballhandler on the UH roster. Swingmen Roderick Flemings (team-best 15.3 points per game) and Adhar Mayen will have to share the load.

Meanwhile, the Aggies just added another weapon to their arsenal.

Gillenwater has averaged 14.0 points and 7.3 rebounds off the bench in three games since becoming eligible, but his team is coming off an 83-64 blowout loss at Fresno State on Thursday. No NMSU player scored more than 14 points for the normally explosive Aggies, who are in the running for the WAC championship.

NMSU coach Marvin Menzies said he wasn't concerned about having too much of a good thing with options aplenty in guards Jahmar Young (21.0 ppg), Jonathan Gibson (18.1 ppg), Gillenwater, Wendell McKines (11.7 ppg, 9.6 rebounds per game), and center Hamidu Rahman (11.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg) at hand.

McKines missed 10 games to start the season with his own eligibility issues.

“;We're pretty good on our sub patterns. I'm comfortable with it and actually hoping we could go a little bit deeper,”; Menzies said. “;Now that we got Troy back, it's just a matter of Troy getting into game shape and getting that chemistry in a game atmosphere other than practice with the other guys.”;

UH prepped for a heavy zone defense and will offer a solid helping of it at the other end of the court. The Rainbows must capitalize on the Aggies' tendency to allow points in bunches; they give up a WAC-worst 78.6 ppg. It was nearly enough in Honolulu on Jan. 22, but Young, who is tied for third in WAC scoring, hit the deciding jumper in the Aggies' 71-69 win. It started the current UH losing streak.

“;I'm hoping we don't need a last-second shot to win it,”; Menzies said. “;It's going to be a tough fight; Hawaii has done a great job of hanging in there with people, even though they've been depleted with some injuries and distractions.

“;Bob has done a very good job of keeping the team together. I had a chance to watch their game against LaTech and they did an excellent job of controlling the pace and hanging in there 'til the very end. And had they made a couple shots there in the last 2 minutes, they easily could have won that game on the road.”;

The Rainbows drive about 45 minutes to Las Cruces, N.M., from El Paso after a morning shootaround today.