The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team wants to take its season-opening confidence and run with it.

The Rainbow Warriors will host McNeese State today at 5:05 p.m. in what is expected to be a fast-paced game.

"We watched some film on them and they like to press and get up and down the court," Hawai'i point guard Hiram Thompson said. "I love playing in games like that. It definitely makes for a fun game."

Today is the second day of the three-day Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic.

The Rainbow Warriors defeated Southern Utah, 65-48, on Friday; McNeese State lost to Northern Colorado, 101-73.

The four-team tournament is following a round-robin format, and the championship will be awarded to the team with the best record after the three days.

"I love the tournament atmosphere," Hawai'i junior guard Jeremy Lay said. "Three games in four days sounds hard, but that's fun to me."

The 'Bows used only eight players in Friday's victory, with several playing multiple positions.

Thompson, for example, started at point guard, but also shifted to shooting guard and small forward.

"I was prepared to do that in practice," Thompson said. "It wasn't something I had to do just for that game. We've been preparing for that with all our injured guys."

Senior Roderick Flemings also had to play three positions in the opener — he started at small forward but also filled in at power forward and center.

"That's the beauty of having guys who are multi-talented," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "When you have injuries like we do, guys have to move around to help the team."

Hawai'i will again have to play without two key post players. Starting forward Bill Amis is out indefinitely with a foot injury; reserve center Douglas Kurtz has to sit out the first six games of the season as part of a NCAA penalty for an eligibility issue.

Still, McNeese State head coach Dave Simmons is concerned about Hawai'i's size, particularly 6-10 center Paul Campbell and 6-8, 265-pound forward Petras Balocka.

"We think our guards are our strength, so we want to play up and down," Simmons said. "We can't afford to let (Hawai'i) play half-court. They're just going to pound it on us inside."

The 'Bows shot just 40.7 percent from the field in their victory over Southern Utah, including 18.8 percent from 3-point range. However, Hawai'i held Southern Utah to 39.1 percent shooting, including 33.3 percent from 3-point range.

"That did a lot for our confidence," Lay said. "We didn't shoot the ball the way we wanted to. At times, we were stagnant on offense, but we were good the whole night on defense that got us the win. Now we know that even if our shots are not falling, we can turn to our defense to get us through."

However, if today's game becomes fast-paced, Nash said he will have to rely more on his depth.

The Cowboys used 13 players in their up-and-down game against Northern Colorado.

"We ended up with guys playing extended minutes, so the bench is going to be even more important this game," Nash said.

MONDAY MADNESS

The Rainbow Classic will conclude tomorrow when the 'Bows host Northern Colorado in an 11 p.m. game.

The late-night start accommodates ESPN's College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.

"Any time you can get on national TV, it's good," Nash said. "It doesn't matter what time. We had the same time slot last year and I got a lot of calls from people telling me they stayed up to watch."

UH students will have free admission, and all seats are general admission. Also, the person who creates the most creative sign using the ESPN acronym can win a trip to Las Vegas.