ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Even after a forgettable first road trip, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team can still be thankful.

The Rainbow Warriors returned home yesterday, in time for Thanksgiving dinner. Their appetite may have been diminished following an 89-60 loss at New Mexico on Wednesday, but they have until Tuesday to build the hunger back.

"We're just looking forward to going home and playing that next game against Coppin State (on Tuesday)," senior Riley Luettgerodt said after Wednesday's game. "The best way to forget about this one is to go out and win the next one."

The 'Bows, who are 1-3, don't necessarily want to forget the entire trip.

Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said he wanted the 'Bows to be tested early in the season against a good team with loyal fans in a high-altitude city.

They got all of that and more Wednesday as a raucous crowd of 13,518 at The Pit delighted in the Lobos' blowout of the 'Bows.

"If you can come into The Pit and play in this atmosphere ... we can play anyplace else now," Nash said.

Wednesday's crowd was probably the largest and loudest the 'Bows will play in front of all season.

What's more, Albuquerque is situated around one mile above sea level, so the 'Bows got to experience the thin air that will also await them in several cities in the Western Athletic Conference.

"New Mexico State, Utah State, those are places with great crowds and altitude," Nash said. "But we can look back at this experience and say, 'hey, we've done this before.' We took our lumps this time, but hopefully we'll learn from it and get better because of it."

The 'Bows can also point to Dec. 27 as a target date to gauge their progress. That's when New Mexico will travel to the Stan Sheriff Center for the Honolulu portion of the home-and-home series.

"We have to look at Coppin State first," Luettgerodt said. "But, yeah, we do get a second shot (at New Mexico) and we definitely want to play them again."

New Mexico found holes in Hawai'i's defense all game, shooting 61 percent from the field, including 75.9 percent in the second half. The Lobos also made 12 3-pointers — more than any opponent had against Hawai'i all last season.

"They shoot 75 percent (in the second half), that's unheard of, and you're not going to see too many teams do that," senior forward Bobby Nash said. "But we didn't do a lot of things we were supposed to do to stop them."

As senior guard Jared Dillinger said: "It was everything we saw on film and in the scouting report. We just didn't do a good job of stopping them."

Perhaps Hawai'i can take comfort in knowing that New Mexico is 6-0 this season, with the six wins by an average margin of 26.2 points per game.

"That's a team I wouldn't be surprised is in the NCAA (Tournament) at the end," Dillinger said.

Hawai'i will actually get a chance to avenge two of its losses this season.

After the Coppin State game, the 'Bows will play at San Diego on Dec. 2. The Toreros beat Hawai'i, 73-72, in the season opener Nov. 9.

"We get a chance to see these guys (New Mexico) again, as well as San Diego," Bob Nash said. "So we'll see how much progress we've made as a team."

WAITING FOR GIBSON TO RETURN FROM INJURY

Aside from a collective bruised ego, the 'Bows returned home relatively healthy.

Senior point guard Matt Gibson, who has yet to play this season because of an injured left knee, did not travel with the team.

He has not been cleared to practice since the injury occurred in early November, and his status is still considered day-to-day.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.