GAME NOTES: Facing off against each other for the second time in less than 10 days, the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors test the San Jose State Spartans in Western Athletic Conference action at the Stan Sheriff Center tonight. The Spartans enter this outing with back-to-back wins over the likes of Santa Clara and Nevada back on Thursday night at home. Prior to those couple of victories, SJSU fell to this same Hawaii squad at home by a score of 85-79 on January 5th. As for the Warriors, they've managed to post just four wins in 11 opportunities at home so far this season. On Saturday night, the squad hosted Nevada and was treated to a 77-59 setback by the Wolf Pack, the second loss in the last three games for the Warriors. Hawaii leads the all-time series with the Spartans by a count of 21-8 entering this meeting, claiming victory in each of the last 10 encounters. The last time SJSU won out on the island was in February of 2003 with a narrow 55-54 decision.

Despite shooting just 8-of-14 at the free-throw line and missing all five chances behind the three-point line in the second half, the Spartans still played well enough to set down the Pack by two points last week. C.J. Webster hit for a team-high 17 points on 7-of-11 from the field, while Chris Oakes and Tim Pierce contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively, with the trio also collecting a combined 20 rebounds along the way. The squad got by with just 39.7 percent accuracy from the field and 2-of-12 beyond the arc on the night. One of three players to have started every game this season for the Spartans, Justin Graham leads the group in scoring with his 12.7 ppg and is also first with 50 assists, although he has managed to post 73 turnovers as well. Pierce and DaShawn Wright check in with 10.9 and 10.1 ppg, respectively, for a team producing just 65.6 ppg. If not for opponents making just 61.4 percent of their free-throw chances, those teams would be scoring considerably more than their 70.1 ppg at the moment.

Except for Matt Gibson who finished with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field on Saturday night, the offense for the Warriors really didn't show up against Nevada in Honolulu. Gibson added seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, but was also guilty of six of the team's 13 turnovers. The team as a whole made a mere 37.5 percent of its field goal attempts, 3-of-21 beyond the arc and 8-of-14 at the free-throw line in the setback. Even though he missed the first four games of the season, Gibson has now asserted himself as the go-to guy for the Warriors, leading them in scoring (16.4 ppg) and also coming up with a team-best 54 assists in just 11 games. Bobby Nash (15.7 ppg) has watched his shooting percentage dip to 40.2 percent, and yet his accuracy beyond the arc is a modest 36.7 percent. Considering Nash is also the top rebounder for the Warriors with a shade over five boards per game, he continues to show how a player can get it done both inside and out.

For too many seasons the Spartans have been the team holding down the bottom of the standings in the WAC, but this year the squad seems to have some of the pieces it needs to cause a few upsets here and there. With Hawaii playing so poorly at home, a win for SJSU would not be out of the question.