The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team is still waiting to get one of its key seniors back for "Senior Week."

Leading scorer Matt Gibson has yet to be cleared to practice with the Rainbow Warriors this week.

Gibson, a 6-foot-5 point guard, sat out Hawai'i's 79-62 road loss at UC Riverside on Saturday due to an injured left knee. He leads the team with 16.7 points and 5.1 assists per game.

"He saw the doctors (yesterday) and is going through some preliminary measures to make sure there's no structural damage," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "I'm just waiting for the medical staff to tell me what his status is."

The 'Bows are scheduled to host Idaho on Thursday and Boise State on Saturday. It will be the final two home games of the season.

Seven seniors — including Gibson — will be honored after Saturday's game.

"We just get ready like we normally would," Nash said. "Obviously, if he's not in there, that affects us. You take 16 points and five assists out of the rotation, you have to make that up somehow."

Gibson injured his knee in November, and missed the first four games of the season. He apparently aggravated the injury during Hawai'i's 70-65 loss at Fresno State last Wednesday.

Hawai'i is 1-4 this season in games Gibson has sat out.

Freshman Kareem Nitoto made his first career start in place of Gibson on Saturday, and responded with a career-high 13 points.

"I thought Kareem did a good job, statistically-wise," Nash said. "But the little things — knowing when to pass, knowing situations — that just comes with experience, and he's going to get that."

'BOWS STILL IN RACE WITH TWO WEEKS REMAINING

Hawai'i is 11-13 overall and in fifth place in the Western Athletic Conference at 7-5. Boise State is in first place at 10-3.

The 'Bows have four more WAC games remaining, including Boise State on Saturday.

"Statistically, we're still there," Nash said.

But he acknowledged it would be difficult for the 'Bows to catch all four teams above them in the final two weeks. However, he said it is important to maintain a high seed for the WAC Tournament, which is scheduled for March 11 to 15 at Las Cruces, N.M.

"We'll either be fourth or fifth," Nash said. "Hopefully, we can get above that, but we got one of those positions virtually locked up right now if we win one or two more games."

WAC TEAMS GO BUST IN ESPN BRACKETBUSTERS

Hawai'i was not the only WAC team to walk away disappointed from the ESPN BracketBusters event.

The WAC went 3-6, including surprising blowout losses by Boise State and Nevada. What's more, only two WAC teams (Nevada and Utah State) were on televised games, and both were on ESPNU.

"When you only get two teams on TV, it doesn't give you a whole lot of visibility," Nash said. "So is it worth it? That would be the question."

But Nash was more concerned with Hawai'i's schedule. The 'Bows played at Fresno State on Wednesday, then at UC Riverside on Saturday.

Every other WAC team had at least four days to prepare for the BracketBusters game, and some had a full week.

NOTES

Nash said UC Riverside will play a "return" game in Honolulu next season, probably Dec. 23. He said he wanted to schedule the game earlier, but had to work around final exam schedules for both Hawai'i and UCR. "That's another problem (with BracketBusters)," he said. "The dates are not set when you return the game."

The 2008 Rainbow Classic will be held after Christmas because of a conflict with graduation ceremonies the week before Christmas. The last three Rainbow Classics were played pre-Christmas.

The 'Bows returned to Honolulu late Sunday night after a four-hour delay at the Los Angeles Airport. Nash said his wife, Domelynne — a United Airlines employee — helped the team get on a late flight out of Los Angeles. Otherwise, the team would have been stranded for the night. "She was the MVP," Nash said.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.