Gameday: Texas Tech

For the first time ever, Hawaii will try to mess with Texas … Tech.

This would seem to be a winnable stand-alone road trip for the Rainbow Warriors. They’ve played well at home, and Texas Tech is by no means a powerhouse. (Yes, the Red Raiders defeated two power conference teams in the Puerto Rico Tipoff, and their only loss was by 10 to then-No. 16 Utah.)

Texas Tech is favored by 6.5 points — the first time UH was not the favorite this season.

The 11 a.m. (HST) game is televised on Fox Sports Prime Ticket (Oceanic ch. 1228). As usual, the game will be on 1420-AM radio.

The Red Raiders have their main 6-10, 260-pound center available (Norense Odiase) but backup big man Isaiah Manderson is unavailable today as he ponders his future there, according to what TTU coach Tubby Smith told media on Friday. That could help UH.

The biggest threat is guard Devaugntah Williams (18.8 ppg) a 6-foot-4 power guard in a similar mold as Nevada’s Marqueze Coleman. It’ll be interesting to see if he attacks the Rainbows in similar ways as Coleman — a high ball screen followed by a hard drive at the rim, daring anyone to stop him.

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If you happened to look up UH’s RPI numbers at RealTimeRPI.com, you might have been in for a surprise. UH, despite what was projected as a poor strength of schedule so far, is 12th nationally in RPI at the moment.

How, you might ask? Well, Montana State just picked up wins over San Jose State and Wyoming. Nevada is 4-1, with its only loss to UH. And Coastal Carolina and Nicholls State are rated in the 100s, not up in the 200s or 300s.

Overall, UH’s strength of schedule to this point is rated at 64th. That probably won’t hold, but it’s interesting to note.

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Congrats to Nick Rolovich on the Hawaii football job. You’d expect a little more excitement at the stadium today for UH-ULM.