All the talk this week about sellout crowds and student sections at the University of Hawai’i basketball games have been great, but the bottom line is this: the Warriors need to win a game against Long Beach State on Saturday night to keep pace atop the Big West Conference.
Hawai’i is off to its best start since the glorious “Fabulous Five” season of 1971-72, with an overall record of 16-2. The Warriors are 5-0 in the Big West, and a half-game behind 6-0 UC Irvine (the Anteaters play UC Santa Barbara on Saturday).
Long Beach State is 10-12 overall and in third place in the conference at 4-3.