Riley Wallace had a 101-degree temperature, and flu-like symptoms on Thursday in Las Cruces, N.M.

Yesterday, in Ruston, La., he said he felt fine.

"A 24-hour bug, I guess," he said.

Wallace is hoping his University of Hawai'i men's basketball team can recover just as quickly for today's Western Athletic Conference game at Louisiana Tech.

Today's game is scheduled to start around 3 p.m. (Hawai'i time) at the Thomas Assembly Center. Hawai'i is 9-5 overall and 0-1 in the WAC; the Bulldogs are 3-10 and 1-0.

The Rainbow Warriors lost their WAC opener at New Mexico State, 92-86, on Thursday.

Yesterday, they endured two flights — El Paso, Texas, to Dallas, and then Dallas to Shreveport, La. — and then a one-hour drive to get to Ruston.

"We had a little delay out of El Paso (Texas), but everything else went OK," Wallace said. "We knew coming in that this was going to be a tough trip travel-wise, so the guys were prepared."

The team arrived in Ruston around 6:30 p.m. (Central time), and then went through a two-hour practice late last night.

"It was actually a pretty good practice," Wallace said. "The guys had energy, which was a good sign after the traveling. I think they know they played a good game (on Thursday), so nobody's down."

The 'Bows will need another good effort against a LaTech team that blew out San Jose State, 92-56, on Thursday. Prior to Thursday, the Bulldogs had been averaging 58.5 points per game.

"I really don't know where that came from," Wallace said. "The only thing I can figure is that San Jose was dead tired, because they played at Duke (last Saturday) and then had to come all the way back here (to Ruston).

"But it also shows how scary (LaTech) can be. Any time you can beat a team like that in this conference, it's saying something."

The Bulldogs rely on a balanced attack, and forward Chad McKenzie is the only player averaging double-figure points at 12.6 per game. The 6-foot-7 senior is also the only player to start all 13 games this season.

LaTech has apparently been struggling to find a right combination, as 10 different players have started at least one game this season.

"A lot of them are similar-type players," Wallace said. "Quick, good athletes. They don't have that one guy who can hurt you, but they can put any five guys on the floor, and all five can score."

The Bulldogs have defeated Hawai'i five consecutive times, dating to the 2003-04 season. LaTech won those five games by an average of 2.0 points per game.

"It's always close with them," Wallace said. "But that's their style. They like to slow you down and make you work for everything. They have those good athletes, so they play solid defense. They want to wear you down and beat you late in the game."

The good news for Hawai'i is that rebounding machine Paul Millsap gave up his senior season at LaTech and is now playing for the NBA's Utah Jazz. Millsap, who led the NCAA in rebounding during each of his three seasons at LaTech, averaged 19.5 points and 15.2 rebounds per game in six career meetings with Hawai'i.

This season, the Bulldogs do not have any player taller than 6-7 on their roster.

"Our bigs have to be ready to play because that was the difference against New Mexico State," Wallace said.

New Mexico State's big trio of 7-foot Martin Iti, 6-9 Hatila Passos and 6-9 Tyrone Nelson combined for 31 points on 13-of-17 shooting against Hawai'i on Thursday.

Hawai'i's big trio of 6-8 Ahmet Gueye, 6-8 P.J. Owsley and 6-11 Stephen Verwers combined for 17 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Starters Gueye and Owsley fouled out.

"Ahmet just had one of those games," Wallace said. "Nothing was going right. But he'll be back. He looked ready to go at practice (last night)."

But the most telling statistic from Thursday's loss was the free throws. New Mexico State went 25 of 35 from the line to Hawai'i's 10 of 12.

"You can't blame the officials," Wallace said. "We just weren't in position a lot of times, especially our bigs."

Hawai'i normally employs a man-to-man defensive scheme, but relied primarily on a 1-2-2 zone to stay close against New Mexico State. Wallace said he may use the zone more often the rest of this season.

"Our guys are more comfortable with it now, so we can use both man and zone," Wallace said. "We'll probably use both (today)."

The 'Bows are led by senior Matt Lojeski, who scored 22 in the loss at New Mexico State. He is now ranked third among WAC players in scoring average at 18.1 points per game.

Lojeski, a 6-6 shooting guard, has scored 20 points or more in seven games this season.

Riley Luettgerodt, a 6-5 junior, has also been a key contributor recently. He scored 33 points in his last two games, including 16 off the bench at New Mexico State.

Wallace said he will stick with his normal starting lineup and reserve rotation.

Hawai'i should have a slight size advantage today with 6-5 Matt Gibson at point guard, Lojeski at shooting guard, 6-6 Bobby Nash at small forward, Owsley at power forward, and Gueye at center.

Luettgerodt, Verwers and Dominic Waters will be the first players off the bench.

NOTES

Reserve center Todd Follmer, a 7-foot sophomore, will miss his second consecutive game because of the death of his grandfather. Follmer left the team before Thursday's game to be with his family in California. Wallace said he was not sure when Follmer would rejoin the team because funeral services are still pending.

Today's game will not be televised, but a video Webcast is available through www.wac.tv for $5.95.

Today's game will be broadcast live on radio on ESPN 1420AM.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.