Set up on Maui

Hey all,

The Rainbow Warriors got in safely to Maui last night after practice on the UH campus.

They’ll have a shootaround at the Lahaina Civic Center prior to tonight’s game at 7 against Chicago State.

Senior forward Bill Amis, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder by average, will not be playing in this game, as he’s not ready yet coming off the stress fracture in his right foot.

Chicago State (3-9), meanwhile, has just one win over Division I competition this season. But as former CSU coach Benjy Taylor said, it’s college basketball, anything can happen on any given night.

A reminder: this game is not televised. You can listen to the broadcast on KKEA, 1420-AM or by getting live stats at the hawaiiathletics.com site.

I’ll be doing periodic updates on twitter @brian_mcinnis during the game .

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Being back on Maui was a near-homecoming for UH assistant Brandyn Akana, who is from Molokai.

Q: So you’re pretty familiar with the island?

A: High school (Molokai High), for volleyball and basketball, every weekend was in Maui with a bunch of schools. We’d go (to Maui), spend a lot of weekends, playing sports. We’d play in the Lahaina Civic. So it’s going to be fun to go back and coach there.

Is it tough to prepare for this game?
I think that’s why we did what we did early in the season. We went up to BYU-Hawaii, we treated it like a road trip, we stayed out there (for a scrimmage). It’s kind of a road game because we do have to get on a plane and sleep in a hotel. But at the same time we have some home atmosphere. Some family will be there, and fans will be cheering for us. It’s kind of a mixture, which is good. This will just help us be prepared for the season.

What are your thoughts on the Lahaina Civic Center?
Nice atmosphere, and we’ve seen it on ESPN with the (Maui) Classic, how they can pack it in and make a lot of noise. All the fans are on the floor, basically, because it’s a smaller gym. That’ll definitely get our guys excited. Talked to a lot of people on Maui, and they’re excited about it. Come and support, and see the Rainbow Warriors play.
I think these guys (our players) are very fortunate to do that, to go to another island to play a regular-season game.