The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team will get a break from the rigors of the Western Athletic Conference, but it will not be a break from work.

Less than 24 hours after a disappointing 70-65 WAC loss at Fresno State, the Rainbow Warriors were in Riverside, Calif., yesterday, preparing for tomorrow's nonconference game at UC Riverside.

"It's not going to help us move up in the WAC, but we still want to win," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "It gets us closer to .500, and we want to get as many wins as we can. We're treating it like a big game."

Hawai'i is 11-13 overall and in fifth place in the nine-team WAC at 7-5. UCR is 6-17 overall and is tied for seventh in the nine-team Big West Conference at 3-9.

"We don't know much about them; we're still looking over some film," Nash said. "They're a little undersized and young, but they have some decent athletes who give maximum effort."

UCR is 6-4 at home, including an 85-76 conference victory over UC Irvine on Wednesday. The 85 points tied a season-high for the Highlanders.

"They're coming off a good win, so I'm sure they'll be confident," Nash said.

UCR also played a rugged nonconference schedule, including road losses at USC, Gonzaga, Texas Tech and Minnesota.

Tomorrow's game could have been part of the ESPN BracketBusters, but it was not selected for one of the 14 nationally televised games.

Nash said the event has become worthy only for the teams selected for a national broadcast.

"We're basically spending three extra days on the road," Nash said. "That's three days that our guys are missing classes. For me, it doesn't do a whole lot of good. All we're getting out of it is one return game next November or December."

UCR will have to play a nonconference game at Hawai'i next season. But Nash noted that the February game is always more difficult than the November/December return game.

"We had two weeks to prepare for this trip," he said, noting that the game was announced on Feb. 4. "They'll have a couple months to get ready for the return game next (season)."

What's more, Hawai'i has been the road team for four of the six years of the BracketBusters.

"Teams don't want to come to Hawai'i in the middle of their conference season," Nash said. "So we become the victim and have to make extended road trips."

The 'Bows departed Honolulu on Sunday, and are scheduled to return home this coming Sunday.

"We have the guys in study hall for a couple hours every day," Nash said. "But it's not the same as being in class."

The 'Bows will practice — and conduct study hall — again today in Riverside.

"We realize we let one slip away at Fresno," Nash said. "So we're working hard to make up for it here."