Gameday: Prairie View A&M

To the Hawaii coaching staff, this one feels almost like a fourth pre-conference tournament.

UH plays a Southwestern Athletic Conference team for the second straight night in Prairie View A&M on Tuesday.

The Rainbow Warriors handled Southern 71-57 on Monday, but coach Benjy Taylor wasn’t overly pleased with the effort or execution, save from senior Garrett Nevels, who played with a cast on his right hand.

This is UH’s last game before the start of Big West Conference play. You’d expect a sharper effort, especially with 23 turnovers vs. Southern fresh on the team’s mind.

The game was slotted on the 30th as a last-ditch measure to add a game. UH’s arrangement with Southeastern Louisiana never panned out, and only a few programs remained who could still play a game. In addition PVA&M, knowing it had UH in a tough spot, asked for a spot in next season’s Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic.

UH is 16-0 all-time against current SWAC teams.

The A&M Panthers return four starters from their 11-23 team of last season, although they did make the SWAC tournament championship game the last two years in a row. They’re another guard-oriented bunch.

Roderick Bobbitt, Negus Webster-Chan and Isaac Fleming in particular will seek to bounce back from rough outings against Southern.