Gameday: Long Beach State

As golden opportunities go, it doesn’t get much better for Hawaii tonight.

The Rainbow Warriors already had borderline-sellout crowd behind them at the Sheriff Center for Long Beach State. Then, UC Santa Barbara went and shook up the Big West.

The Gauchos won by 16 at UC Irvine tonight, ending the Anteaters unbeaten streak at home and dealing them their first loss in conference play (6-1).

That means UH (16-2, 5-0) is the last unbeaten team in the Big West and can move into sole possession of first place after tonight if they take care of business at home. The Rainbows are favored by 8.5 points over the 49ers (10-12, 4-3).

As of 20 minutes before tipoff, there were about 300 tickets left unsold.

Expect Aaron Valdes to make his return, likely off the bench, as Isaac Fleming has continued to practice with the first team this week. The top three stealers in the BWC (Roderick Bobbitt, Quincy Smith and Fleming) face off against a bunch of sharpshooters in LBSU, who make nine 3s a game.

You’d expect the UH coaches to work Valdes back in gradually, but you never know.

Maryland transfer Nick Faust is coming off a 34-point outburst in an OT win over UCSB, while diminutive point guard Justin Bibbins can also fill it up.