LONG BEACH, Calif. — If anything, Riley Wallace is certainly being put to work in his final season as head coach of the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team.

Wallace was the only Hawai'i coach available for practice last night as the Rainbow Warriors prepared for tomorrow's non-conference game against Long Beach State.

Associate coach Bob Nash and assistant coach Alika Smith could not participate because both were suffering from flu-like symptoms. Also, associate coach Jackson Wheeler is not with the team in California because he is recruiting in other states.

"It's been a while since I've had to do something like that," Wallace said. "But there was a time when I ran the whole practice just like this, and that was even with my assistants there, so it's not new."

The 'Bows lost at Utah State, 58-50, Wednesday to drop to 14-12 overall and 5-8 in the Western Athletic Conference. They departed Logan, Utah, yesterday morning and arrived in Long Beach in the afternoon.

Because of the travel — and the lack of coaches — Wallace kept last night's practice light and short (around 90 minutes). Mostly, the 'Bows tried to tune up their offense after their season-low output at Utah State.

"The good thing about this game is Long Beach doesn't know our stuff," Wallace said. "So we just have to work on the fundamentals, and run our offense the way we're supposed to."

Nash is primarily in charge of Hawai'i's defensive strategy, and Smith scouts the opponents. Smith and director of basketball operations Eran Ganot prepared a scouting report on Long Beach State prior to last night's practice, so the 'Bows were able to go over some of the 49ers' tendencies.

"For the short amount of time we were in (the gym), we got a lot done," Wallace said.

The 'Bows are expected to do more tonight, when they get to practice in Walter Pyramid — the site of tomorrow's game. Last night, they practiced in an auxiliary gym.

Wallace said he was not sure if Nash and Smith would be available tonight.

In any case, Hawai'i will have to get well soon. The 49ers are 18-6 overall and in first place in the Big West Conference at 9-2. They are also 10-0 in the Walter Pyramid this season.

"We have two days to prepare for them and they have two days to prepare for us," Wallace said. "But this is a game that could help us. That's a good team, and if we can pull it off, it's a quality win."

BRACKETBUSTERS GETTING TOO BIG FOR WALLACE

Tomorrow's game is not officially part of the ESPN BracketBusters, because it was not one of the 13 games selected for broadcast on one of the ESPN networks.

There were 102 teams in the field — including Hawai'i and Long Beach State — and only 26 were selected as BracketBusters teams.

"They've expanded it way too much," Wallace said. "There were only a couple of conferences involved the first couple years and we got some good exposure out of it. Then, all these other conferences wanted in, and so now it's watered down."

However, it will still help with scheduling since Long Beach State will have to play a "return" game in Honolulu next season.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.