This from the Honolulu paper:
Hawaii will need a team effort tonight against Texas-El Paso. The Miners' 8-12 record is deceptive, according to Rainbows coach Riley Wallace.
"On any given night, they can play with anyone in the league," said Wallace. "Some teams match up better and they obviously do with us.
"We had a tough game at their place earlier, won by two. They have three starters back from a team that beat us twice last year. They're a better offensive team than Boise, so we know we have to be ready for them."
Thursday night, the Miners fell behind by 22 at halftime at San Jose State. Junior forward Roy Smallwood scored nine points as UTEP opened the second half with a 17-2 run, but it wasn't enough to prevent his team from losing its 11th consecutive road game, 67-62.
On Jan. 3, Hawaii opened its conference road schedule with a 70-68 victory at UTEP, just the fourth win in 22 games at what is now the Don Haskins Center. Senior guard Predrag Savovic scored 29 points, hitting five 3-pointers, in the victory.
Savovic has had several big games against the Miners. Last year, he scored his career high (31) against them and, as a sophomore, he had a combined 45 points in the two games with UTEP.
"They're just another team, but they are a good team," said Savovic. "I enjoy playing against good teams. It's just another game, but we need to keep winning."
Hawaii, 9-1 in Western Athletic Conference play for the first time, is two wins away from what would be Wallace's fourth 20-win season. It would be the first time since 1997-98 that the Rainbows reached that milestone.
"A 20-win season is always good, but we have to think better than that," said Wallace. "We've put ourselves in this position and we want to get in (the NCAA Tournament) on our own merits at the end.
"Some might say that our record is due to strength of scheduling. But this is the same (WAC) schedule as before and we didn't win those games. We've got a good team, one that plays better against better teams."
If there is a downside to the Rainbows, it's their tendency to play down to the level of their competition. Hawaii has struggled against the bottom teams in the WAC, most recently Thursday against Boise State."
------Of course, it could still be a blowout, but I'm gonna side with UTEP and the ghosts of Timmy Hardaway for a small play LOL. Good luck to all though.