As many Hawai'i people know, the best way to recover from a loss in Nevada is to work hard and earn it back at home.

That's the approach the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team is taking.

The Rainbow Warriors will try to avenge a loss to Nevada when they host the Wolf Pack tonight.

"We had a good week of practice, I thought the guys were focused on the task at hand and really worked hard," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "If we play like we practice, it should be a better game this time."

Nevada defeated Hawai'i, 74-63, last month at Reno, Nev.

The 'Bows are 12-11 overall and tied for sixth place in the Western Athletic Conference at 4-7. The Wolf Pack is 14-10 overall and in second place in the WAC at 7-4.

"This game will be a lot different," Hawai'i leading scorer Roderick Flemings said. "Up there, we had to deal with the altitude and we kind of let up as a team. We're playing a lot better now, and it's at our place."

Tonight will be the third game in a three-game homestand for the 'Bows. Hawai'i routed Fresno State (69-43) and Idaho (71-49) last week. It is the first time in the modern history of UH basketball (since 1963) that a Hawai'i team held back-to-back opponents under 50 points.

"I think Hawai'i might be playing better than anybody in the league right now, including (first place) Utah State," Nevada head coach Mark Fox said. "They're pounding people here. They're dominating the backboards and defending well, so we'll have to play a lot better than we did the last time."

It could help that Hawai'i had a full week to prepare.

"It'll be nice to have them come here on short notice instead of the other way around," Hawai'i forward Bill Amis said. "We need to make sure we have a good start and keep running our stuff the way we have been the last couple of games."

Amis sat out the last game with a sprained right ankle, but is expected to play tonight.

"The only question is whether we start him or not," Nash said. "But he'll get his minutes."

Meanwhile, the Wolf Pack arrived in Honolulu yesterday afternoon after winning a road game against San Jose State, 80-68, on Thursday.

Last week, Nevada lost home games to Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State.

"We knew we were young and so we knew there was going to be some adversity," Fox said. "But (Thursday) was a good win for us. Even though we had a rough week last week, I think we're a better team than we were a month ago."

The Wolf Pack is led by 6-foot-9 power forward Luke Babbitt, who is the leading candidate for WAC Freshman of the Year. He leads the team in scoring with 16.4 points per game, and rebounding with 7.4 per game.

Nevada has won the last six meetings with Hawai'i, a streak dating to the 2005-06 season.

"They've owned us the last couple years," Nash said. "They've done a good job here and there, so we need to figure out a way to turn it around."