It appears the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team found a leftover cupcake for the holidays.

The Rainbow Warriors will host winless North Carolina A&T in a non-conference game tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawai'i, 6-3, may have only eight scholarship players available tonight because of various injuries.

But that's nothing compared to the problems the 0-8 Aggies have experienced.

"We can't just show up and think we're going to win," Hawai'i coach Riley Wallace said. "We're having a hard time with guys out and all that, but so are they. No matter who's out there, we're the kind of team that has to give full effort or we can get beat by anybody."

The 'Bows won't get any sympathy from NC A&T.

For financial purposes, the Aggies play most of their games on the road. Their previous four games were at Virginia Tech, Campbell, Nebraska and USC, and they lost by an average of 32.3 points per game. They also have lost at Miami and East Carolina.

"Not a lot of people would play the type of schedule we play," NC A&T coach Jerry Eaves said. "These are pay games — not winnable games. The business of basketball is different for us. We take these games to make x amount of dollars to keep our program running."

The Aggies have played only two home games this season, losing to South Carolina State by one in overtime, and to Radford by seven.

"My alma mater, the University of Louisville, would not play the schedule we have," said Eaves, who was a starter on Louisville's 1980 national championship team. "If we played their schedule in our gym, we'd have three or four wins by now."

The Aggies receive an appearance fee for most of their road games. Eaves said Hawai'i is not paying the Aggies, but will cover the airfare and lodging expenses.

"It's a chance for us to experience, Hawai'i — Waikiki," Eaves said. "And we could use it."

The Aggies are 10-83 since the start of the 2002-03 season.

This year, they have already lost three of their top players for the season.

Sean Booker, the leading scorer from last season, is out for academic reasons.

Austin Ewing, the team's best 3-point shooter, is out with a shoulder injury. He averaged 11.6 points per game in the first five games of this season.

Dejuan Morrison, the top reserve player, was dismissed from the team two weeks ago for personal reasons. He averaged 11.3 points per game.

"Basically, we started the year without our top player from last year, and then we lost two of our top three scorers already this year," Eaves said. "If we've had any kind of luck, it's been bad luck."

As far as the 'Bows are concerned, the Aggies couldn't have come at a better time.

Guards "Little Matt" Gibson and Bobby Nash will not play tonight. Gibson is still recovering from a staph infection near his chest, and Nash is out for the season with a shoulder injury.

Reserve center Chris Botez is questionable with a rib injury.

The past two days, the 'Bows have been practicing with nine players — eight scholarship players and walk-on Jack Miller.

Because of that, they have not been able to run full-court drills against a scout team.

"It makes it harder to prepare when you can't review what the other team is supposed to be doing," Hawai'i senior co-captain Deonte Tatum said. "But come game time, you still have to be ready to play."

Senior forward Julian Sensley missed Hawai'i's last game with a strained right Achilles, but he is expected to start tonight.

"We still have some guys out, so we have to prepare for this team like they're Michigan State," Sensley said. "We can't let that 0-8 record fool us."

The 'Bows will start a frontcourt of Ahmet Gueye at center, and Sensley and "Big Matt" Gipson at forwards. If the 7-foot Botez is not cleared to play, there will be no other true "big men" to back up the starters.

"We just have to play smart and play good (defense) without getting into foul trouble," Gipson said. "We want to get 20 wins this season, so every one counts."

Wallace said he is concerned because the Aggies like to play an up-tempo style with full-court pressure defense.

"They're athletic and they get after you," Wallace said. "We've had problems with teams like that in the past."

NOTES

The full name of the school is North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. It is in Greensboro, N.C.

Hawai'i will host the University of Pennsylvania in another non-conference game Thursday.

UH MEN'S BASKETBALL

WHO: HAWAI'I (6-3) VS. NORTH CAROLINA A&T (0-8)

WHERE: STAN SHERIFF CENTER

WHEN: Today, 7:05 p.m.

TICKETS: $22 lower level seats, $18 for upper level adult seats, $5 for upper level youth seats (ages 4 through high school), $3 for upper level UH students, $5 for Super Rooter/Manoa Maniacs seats. Parking is $3.

TV/RADIO: Live on KFVE (Ch. 5) and KKEA (1420 AM).

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.