"In my six or seven years that I've been coming to Hawai'i, this is the first time the weather's been bad," Tulsa head coach John Phillips said. "But that's no surprise considering the way our season's been going so far."

Tulsa will play the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team tonight in a match-up of teams trying to end losing streaks.

The Rainbow Warriors return to the Stan Sheriff Center after losing three games on their last road trip. Tulsa is on a seven-game losing streak.

"You can just about throw out the records when we play Tulsa," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "Our styles are similar, so it's always a good game."

The 'Bows are 17-8 overall and in fourth place in the Western Athletic Conference at 9-5. The Hurricane is 7-17 overall and in ninth place in the conference at 3-11.

Both teams are looking to better their positions for the WAC Tournament, March 9-13.

"These next two games are our last home games, so we need to take care of both," Wallace said. "We need to get our energy and our momentum back, and it all starts here at home."

In keeping with recent tradition, UH officials are promoting the game as a "White-Out," and all fans are encouraged to wear white tops. The previous two meetings between Hawai'i and Tulsa in the Sheriff Center were also "White-Out" games, with the 'Bows winning both.

Logan Lee, UH's sophomore point guard, will experience his first White-Out tonight. In Hawai'i's last two road losses, he played in front of 10,000 maroon-clad fans at Southern Illinois, and then 12,000 fans wearing orange and blue at Texas-El Paso.

"Those gyms were packed and their fans definitely helped them," Lee said. "If we can get our gym packed, it will help us that much more."

Hawai'i beat Tulsa, 73-71 in double overtime in Tulsa, Okla., last month. It was the first loss in the Hurricane's current losing streak.

"That's hard to figure," Wallace said. "Because they're still a good team. I guarantee you they won't be in a funk when they come here."

Tulsa opted not to practice yesterday because the Sheriff Center was not available because of the UH men's volleyball match.

"We lost the double-overtime game to Hawai'i and then we lost another double-overtime game to Rice, and our guys got really discouraged after those losses," Phillips said. "But we're at a point of the season where we have to make a run in the (WAC) Tournament, and so our guys are committed to doing that starting (tonight)."

The game will feature two of the conference's top shooting guards in Hawai'i's Michael Kuebler and Tulsa's Jason Parker.

Kuebler, a 6-foot-4 senior, ranks second in the WAC with 18.6 points per game, and leads the conference with 72 3-pointers.

Parker, a 6-2 senior, is fourth in the WAC with 17.8 points per game. He scored 26 in the loss to Hawai'i last month.

"He kind of lit us up last time, so we'll have to play better defense," Lee said. "We're going to have to execute a lot better on both ends."

The 'Bows worked on several new schemes yesterday, but Wallace said "we just want to be ready for anything down the line."

• Martin hurt: UH senior forward Phil Martin injured his left ankle during yesterday's practice, and his status is in doubt for tonight's game.

Martin has started 95 consecutive games at power forward, a streak dating to his freshman season. He is averaging 10.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game this season.

Martin has also played in 119 games in four seasons, which is one short of the school record held by Phil Lott. If Martin is not able to play, junior Jeff Blackett will likely start in his place.

"I think (Martin) will be all right," Wallace said. "It didn't look that bad."

Martin has injured that same ankle in each of the previous two seasons, but did not miss any games.

"It doesn't feel as bad as the other times I hurt it," Martin said. "But we'll see what the doctors say."

He is scheduled to have the injury examined this morning.