They still have a chance.

That was the prevailing thought—outwardly, at least—from the Hawaii men's basketball team following its disheartening 102-89 loss to Cal Poly in the ESPN BracketBusters game Saturday night.

UH players took solace in the fact that their eighth straight loss didn't deal a direct blow to their fading chances of qualifying for the Western Athletic Conference tournament.

But the Mustangs (10-16) of the Big West Conference thwarted UH's opportunity to gain some morale from the nonconference matchup entering the 9-17 (2-10 WAC) Rainbow Warriors' final four games of league play.

“;I mean, this wasn't a WAC game,”; said senior swingman Roderick Flemings, who poured in 26 of his career-high 39 points in the second half. “;I wish we would have got it to get our momentum going, but we still got a chance to make the WAC tournament. We got Boise State at the bottom with us tied, so we still got a chance.”;

Flemings' outburst on 15-for-30 shooting (also a career high in attempts) put him back in the discussion for a 1,000-point UH career. He's at 400 points this year and 898 over two seasons, and would have to average just over 25 points in the last four games—or about 20 if UH qualifies for a game in the WAC tournament.

UH coach Bob Nash was pleased with Flemings' output—the fourth-highest by a UH player and most by a Rainbow at the Sheriff—and that of senior forward Petras Balocka (career-high 23 points, 16 rebounds). However, he maintains his short-handed team must turn up its effort if it's to get to Reno, Nev.

“;Well, it's the same old story,”; he said. “;We're still trying to win games, and we're trying to do it with some problems, and obviously we're the only ones who can control that as a team, as a coaching staff. We can work harder, we can work smarter, but at the end of the day, it's all about effort.”;

Poly took advantage of lackluster UH perimeter defense to torch the Rainbows with 61.5 percent shooting, including 11-for-21 (52.4 percent) on 3-pointers. UH did turn it up a notch in the second half—getting to within eight points behind Flemings and fullcourt pressure—before the Mustangs closed the deal with more deep bombs.

A similar performance against WAC leader Utah State (22-6, 11-2) on Thursday could result in a drubbing similar to the 44-point beatdown administered by the Aggies in Logan, Utah, last month. USU's shown no signs of a letdown; it won its 12th straight in an ESPN-televised BracketBusters win vs. Wichita State on Saturday.

“;We gotta rally up and get a couple more wins so we can make the tournament, and from there anything can happen,”; said point guard Hiram Thompson, who had an encouraging offensive game with 13 points on 4-for-7 3-point shooting. “;They were on fire in that first half. Pretty much the whole game, actually, but you know, a lot of that was our fault, not getting up on the shooters and everything.”;

UH closes its 21-game home slate with Nevada (16-10, 8-4) on senior night this Saturday. With a 9-10 mark at the Sheriff, UH has taken the most losses there in a season since 13 in 1998-99. The eight-game overall slide is the longest since 1987-88.

Balocka is one of five seniors trying to make a stand for a third WAC win before UH finishes up league play in a huge game at Boise State on March 4 and at Idaho on March 6.

“;(We respond with) the same thing we do after every loss,”; Balocka said. “;That's come back in the gym and work hard and try to get one more game, you know what I mean. Every game is a new opportunity and that's how we gotta look at it.”;