Wolf Pack fans are well aware of the Nevada football team's struggles at Hawaii, where the team has lost seven straight games to the Warriors.
But that's nothing compared to the difficulties the Hawaii basketball team has had in Reno. The Warriors are 0-14 all-time at Nevada and get their last crack to win at Lawlor Events Center at 7 p.m. today.
The game is Hawaii's final conference contest in Reno before the Warriors move to the Big West for basketball next season, when Nevada moves to the Mountain West.
Both would like to depart the WAC with a regular-season championship. Both are undefeated in conference play heading into this key early-WAC season showdown.
"They're definitely contenders for the WAC title," Wolf Pack forward Olek Czyz said. "They're a dangerous team. They beat ranked Xavier and other teams. ACC teams. They're dangerous. They're big. They have good guard play. They have a really good shooting guard."
The Wolf Pack (13-3, 3-0 WAC) has won its past 10 games for the first time in five seasons. Hawaii (10-6, 2-0) has won eight of 10 after a slow start to the season.
The Warriors' resurgence has coincided with the return of point guard Jeremiah Ostrowski, who doubles as a wide receiver on the Warriors' football team and didn't join the basketball roster until the seventh game of the season.
Hawaii was 2-4 before Ostrowski joined the team but is 8-2 since. Preseason all-WAC honorees Zane Johnson (15.3 ppg, 3.1 3-pointers per game) and Vander Joaquim (13.2 ppg, 9.9 rpg) also have picked up their play of late. During their recent hot stretch, the Warriors have beaten then-No. 14 ranked Xavier and Clemson. Their two losses have come to No. 19 UNLV by five points and Auburn by three points.
"Hawaii is a very physical team," Wolf Pack coach David Carter said. "They have four starters back from last year. We know it's going to be a physical game. We know it's going to be a different kind of game. With their size, they can play man-to-man, they can guard you, so we have our work cut out for us. We're going to have to control the defensive rebounding. We can't allow them to get too many offensive rebounds. And we almost have to control the tempo a little bit. They like to play more half court to get it inside to their big guys."
Since WAC play began, the Wolf Pack has feasted on zone defenses. It torched San Jose State's matchup zone for a program-record 16 3-pointers Thursday and also succeeded against zones in wins over Idaho and Utah State.
Carter said he thinks Hawaii will play a variety of defenses to try and slow down a Wolf Pack offense that is shooting 50.7 percent from the field in its past five games and 48 percent from 3-point range in WAC play.
"I anticipate them playing man-to-man, maybe a little junk defense," Carter said. "The other night they played a triangle-and-two, a box-and-one. So, I'm anticipating something different than your typical man-to-man or 2-3 zone."
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