The game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. (Hawai'i) time and will be televised live on KFVE. A red-clad crowd of around 10,000 is expected at the Save Mart Center.

"They've got a lot of new faces and we have a lot of new faces," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said of Fresno State. "We have our work cut out for us because they've got some good athletes like they always do."

The 'Bows are 8-0 for the first time since the 1973-74 season. The Bulldogs are 6-3.

Fresno State beat Hawai'i twice last season, although many of the central characters from those episodes are no longer around.

"We matched up well with Hawai'i last time," Fresno State head coach Ray Lopes said. "But it looks to me like Hawai'i will be a tougher matchup this time. Their size is such an advantage — they're a good rebounding team."

According to Wallace, the key matchups will come on defense. In particular, the 'Bows must figure out how to stop Fresno State's center Musatafa Al-Sayyad and shooting guard Ja'Vance Coleman.

Al-Sayyad, a 6-foot-9 senior, had his two best games of last season against Hawai'i. He had 37 points on 14-of-18 shooting, and 26 rebounds in the two wins.

"You can't stop him completely, but we want to at least make him work for everything he gets," Wallace said.

Chris Botez, UH's 7-foot center, will draw the initial assignment of defending Al-Sayyad.

"He's going to be as tough a guy as any I've seen this year," Botez said. "He likes to play physical, so I just need to try and get him away from the basket."

Al-Sayyad is averaging 12.0 points on 60.9-percent shooting, and a team-high 8.2 rebounds per game.

"It was nothing about Hawai'i (last season)," Al-Sayyad said. "I just went out there and played hard. They have the same identity this year. New players, but same things, so I want to go out and play hard again."

Coleman, a 6-3 sophomore, is averaging 19.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, and leads the WAC with 29 3-pointers in his first season with the Bulldogs

Julian Sensley, Hawai'i's 6-9 junior forward, will draw the initial defensive assignment against Coleman.

"He shoots it from anywhere," Sensley said. "When somebody has a green light like that, you have to be on your toes the whole time. I just have to try and use my size against him and try to deny him from even getting the ball."

The Bulldogs are equally concerned about some of their specific defensive assignments. In particular, Lopes said he is concerned about UH forwards Sensley and Jeff Blackett.

"We use a lot of freshmen, and one of them will probably have to guard Blackett," Lopes said. "And Sensley is tough for anybody because he can do so many things. Hawai'i is so good at executing their offense, so that's the area I'm worried about."

The 'Bows got a brief scouting report on the Bulldogs from former Fresno State head coach Jerry Tarkanian, who is a long-time friend of Wallace and watched the UH practice last night.

"He said that this Fresno team keeps fighting, and that the Coleman kid is for real," Wallace said. "But we're ready. We got our rest, we relaxed a little bit today and the atmosphere here will help keep us pumped."