"Just being at home helps in a lot of ways," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "You can see how much more energy the guys have in practice."

The Rainbow Warriors lost at Texas-El Paso, 71-70, last Thursday, and then at Boise State, 80-76, last Saturday.

Hawai'i, which opened the season 8-0, is now 10-5 overall and 2-5 in the Western Athletic Conference. The five losses are by a combined 11 points.

"You can't get too down; you have to look at the positives," Wallace said. "So one way to look at it is, we're 11 points away from being undefeated and being ranked in the top 15 in the country."

In reality, the 'Bows are on a three-game losing streak and have dropped to eighth place in the 10-team WAC.

The last time a Hawai'i team lost as many as four consecutive games was during the 1999-2000 season.

"Talent-wise, we're as good as any team in the league," junior forward Julian Sensley said. "We just have to learn how to play a whole game. Once we figure that part out, we'll work our way back to the top."

Wallace has been juggling the starting lineup this season, in part because no player has been consistent throughout.

"We still need to find five guys who play hard at the same time," Wallace said. "I thought we'd find it by now, but we haven't. The only good part is it keeps everybody on the team working for a spot."

Wallace said the goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament is still intact for the 'Bows.

"We can still win a lot of games," he said. "Winning the (regular-season) league title might be out of reach, but if we get it together, we can get back in the race."

It starts on Thursday when the 'Bows host Rice at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Owls are 10-5 overall and in third place in the WAC at 5-2.

WAC basketball may get ESPN Monday slot

ESPN is looking at the WAC to possibly fill its "Big Monday" late-game slot, perhaps as soon as next season.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson confirmed yesterday that he has had "ongoing discussions" with ESPN.

"We've certainly made it clear to them that we are ready to fill the Big Monday spot," Benson said. "It's an ideal exposure opportunity for us."

The Mountain West Conference is currently featured in the late-game time slot on ESPN. Those games start at midnight on the East Coast.

If the WAC were to take the spot, the starting times for Hawai'i's home games would not be affected. However, road games could start as late as 11 p.m. in places such as Louisiana Tech.

"It doesn't matter; you have to do it," Wallace said. "If you want the exposure, you have to be willing to give in to some things. Any time you can get on TV, it's good for your school and it's good for the league."

Benson said: "It's probably too early to make any kind of official announcement, but ESPN has gone on record as saying that they are seriously looking at the WAC."