Gameday: Maryland

Forty minutes of solid basketball could net Hawaii a once-unfathomable NCAA Sweet 16 appearance.

Forty minutes away from a potentially program-changing outcome.

Can you believe it? No. 13 Hawaii against No. 5 Maryland with a trip to Louisville, Ky., on the line.

So, here we are in Spokane. The ‘Bows and Terps have just taken the court for warmups. At last look, Maryland is a 7.5-point favorite.

While the Terrapins (26-8) haven’t played particularly well late in the season, Hawaii (28-5) does not face a team reeling like California was.

Maryland is big. It has above-average guardplay. And it’s healthy. A decent roster analogy might be UC Irvine, but considerably better. The Terps were No. 1 in some polls earlier in the season.

UH has done an excellent job of mitigating some of the foul trouble that’s recurred recently. But at some point it will bite the ‘Bows if they can’t avoid it. Roderick Bobbitt may well have to play all 40 minutes again.

Of course, it would help if UH catches fire from outside. In the last two games (Long Beach State and Cal) the shots haven’t been falling.

As Eran Ganot is has become fond of saying of late, “… and here we go.”

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#HawaiiMBB #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/bhi04NQUFS

— Brian McInnis (@Brian_McInnis) March 20, 2016

#MarchMadness #HawaiiMBB pic.twitter.com/rP5kPO9RPY

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— Brian McInnis (@Brian_McInnis) March 20, 2016