"We used our size to overpower them the last time, so we have to take advantage of that again," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "But it's not going to be as easy as the last time. They're on a little roll and feeling good about themselves."

The 'Bows beat the Spartans, 71-45, on Jan. 8 at the Stan Sheriff Center. It was Hawai'i's largest margin of victory this season, and San Jose State's worst defeat.

"It was a combination of Hawai'i's best effort and our worst," San Jose State head coach Phil Johnson said. "We'll have to do a much better job of defending them or we'll get beat like that again."

The 'Bows, who also beat Rice and Tulsa last week, are 12-5 overall and 4-5 in the WAC.

"They're running the same stuff," Wallace said of the Spartans. "But they're just doing it better."

Johnson said: "I think we're just playing harder as a team now. We have a bunch of players who have really improved as this season has gone along."

San Jose State's best player is Marquin Chandler, a 6-foot-7 senior forward. He is averaging 20.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game and was named the WAC Player of the Week on Monday.

"He's been real steady for us," Johnson said. "And the reason why we've won a couple of games lately is because other players around him are starting to take advantage of the attention that Marquin receives from other teams."

"You can't shut him out," Wallace said. "But we want to make him work for everything, and maybe force him into some bad shots."

Sensley said: "He's a big guy who has a lot of skills. He can do everything — score inside, shoot from outside — so I'll just have to be on him everywhere he goes."

The Spartans normally like to use three guards alongside Chandler and 6-10 center Matt Misko.

The 'Bows will counter with a frontline of Sensley and 6-8 Jeff Blackett at forwards, 7-foot Chris Botez at center, and 6-9 "Big Matt" Gipson ready in reserve. In the victory over San Jose State last month, Hawai'i out-rebounded the Spartans 44-25.

"We need to establish our inside game again," Blackett said. "We know San Jose improved a lot since we played them, so we're going to have to show that we improved as well."

One Hawai'i player who has improved in the last month is shooting guard Jake Sottos. He scored three points in a limited role in the victory over San Jose State. But since then, he has become a starter and is averaging 17.1 points per game in his last six games.

"I don't think there can be any surprises with the way scouting is," Sottos said. "So I'm just hoping to contribute like I have been and not do anything different."

Johnson said he is most concerned about defending Hawai'i's flex-motion offense.

"As a basketball coach, it's a beautiful thing to watch Riley's teams run that offense with all the great passing and cutting that they do," Johnson said. "But as a coach who has to defend it, it drives you crazy. They are so disciplined in what they do, you can't afford to make any mistakes."

According to Wallace, the 'Bows will also have to "self-motivate" because of the lack of interest from San Jose State fans. The Event Center has a capacity of 5,000, but only around 1,000 have been showing up to watch the Spartans this season.