"I don't like losing, and I think I got my message across this week," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "It was a hard week for everybody and I'm hoping we come out and have a good showing because I don't think anybody wants another week like this."

The Rainbow Warriors experienced their first two losses of the season last week. They are 8-2 overall and 0-2 in the Western Athletic Conference.

Wallace tested his players' eardrums at practice this week in stressing the importance of tonight's game.

"We lose this one, we're all but out of it," Wallace said. "Because we dropped two to start, we can't drop anything at home."

San Jose State is on a six-game losing streak, and is 3-8 overall and 0-2 in the WAC. But it still won't be easy for the 'Bows.

The Spartans have traditionally caused problems for Hawai'i, regardless of the records.

Phil Johnson has a career record of 28-68 as head coach at San Jose State, but he is 3-3 against Hawai'i. Johnson and Wallace have been opposing each other since they were rival head coaches in the Oklahoma junior college system in the 1980s.

"He knows me and I know him," Johnson said. "We know how we're going to play. There are no secrets. This is a game that there are no tricks."

But there will be some changes — for Hawai'i, at least.

"Big Matt" Gipson will make his first start of the season tonight at power forward in place of an ailing Jeff Blackett. In essence, they will be switching roles, with Blackett becoming the first "big man" off the bench.

Blackett missed three days of practice this week because of a skin infection near his chest, and a stress fracture in his foot.

"He'll play," Wallace said. "And we don't lose too much with Big Matt in there,"

Gipson, a 6-foot-9 junior, will be tested early. His initial assignment is to defend San Jose State's Marquin Chandler.

Chandler, a 6-7 senior, leads the Spartans in scoring with 20.0 points per game, and in rebounding with 7.7 per game.

"Anybody who averages 20 a game in Division I has offensive skills," Wallace said.

Johnson said of Chandler: "He's become a much better player, and it's just through hard work. (But) we're searching for some other guys. We need one or two other guys, at least, to get us some point production."

Gipson's size will continue to give Hawai'i a height advantage over its opponents. He will start alongside 7-foot center Chris Botez and 6-9 Julian Sensley. The starting backcourt will be 6-5 "Little Matt" Gibson and 6-3 Deonte Tatum.

The Spartans will counter with a frontcourt of Chandler, 6-10 Matt Misko and 6-5 Michael McFadden.

Hawai'i is averaging 36.2 rebounds per game, while the Spartans are last in the WAC with 29.4 per game.

The Spartans also rank last in the WAC in scoring with an average of just 58.4 points per game, but part of that is by design.

"They slow it down and they pick their spots when they like to push it," Sensley said. "It seems like they just want to trade baskets with you so they have a shot at the end."

If it does come down to the end, the 'Bows have already experienced several last-minute outcomes. Both Hawai'i losses last week at Fresno State and at Nevada were decided in the final minute.

"Our mental state is a big concern," Wallace said. "We can't let them dictate the way the game is played. We're at home, we need to be in charge."

If anything, the Spartans are even more road-weary than the 'Bows. Tonight is San Jose State's fourth consecutive road game.

"We knew when they released the schedule that we'd go through one of the most difficult challenges probably of my coaching career when we hit this stretch," Johnson said.