MILWAUKEE, Wis. — It's already being described as a "trip from hell," and it was freezing over last night.

What that means for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team will be determined today when the Rainbow Warriors play a non-conference game at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The game is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. (Hawai'i time) at the U.S. Cellular Arena.

The Rainbow Warriors took 20 hours to get from Honolulu to Milwaukee, and they were greeted with temperatures below 20 degrees yesterday.

"It's been a trip from hell and you could see how tired the guys were today," Hawai'i coach Riley Wallace said after last night's practice. "Obviously, we need to get rested and get our energy back. We all need another good night of rest."

Because of several flight delays, the 'Bows did not check in to their Milwaukee hotel until 6 a.m. yesterday. They were originally scheduled to check in late Thursday night.

The trip started when they met at the Stan Sheriff Center at 6 a.m. on Thursday.

"I thought I was going back home to Senegal," junior forward Ahmet Gueye said. "I thought we were never going to get to the hotel."

The worst part was a 3-hour wait on the plane after it landed at Chicago's O'Hare airport. Because of heavy snow, several flights were delayed and so planes had to wait in line for gates to open.

"You try to sleep, but when you're cramped up like that, it's hard to get comfortable," 7-foot center Chris Botez said. "You could feel the drowsiness in everybody today. It was like nobody had their legs because it was such a long night."

It was also a cold night — as low as 12 degrees. Many of the 'Bows practiced with an extra shirt under their practice jerseys, and reserve guard John Wilder wore a full lycra bodysuit.

As if all that wasn't enough, the 'Bows must now play a UWM team that returns four starters from last season's 26-6 team that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

"We can't make any excuses," senior co-captain Julian Sensley said. "It's cold, the air is thin, and having to sit on a plane for all those extra hours is tough on the body. But that's the road. We've had to do it before."

Today's game is a "return" for last season's ESPN Bracket Buster, when the Panthers beat the 'Bows, 87-81, at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"They have a lot of experience back, but we feel like we're improved, too," Wallace said. "So it should be another good one."

The Panthers lost their leading scorer and head coach from last season. Ed McCants scored 20 as a senior in the victory over Hawai'i last season. Coach Bruce Pearl capitalized on last season's success and accepted a job at Tennessee.

"I feel like I bring my own style to this program, and we're making progress," first-year UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "We'd like to be 5-0, but the fact that we're 3-2 is still a decent start. We lost two on the road to two very tough teams."

The Panthers' only losses came at No. 7 Memphis, and at Tennessee Tech. Hawai'i is 3-1, with its only loss on the road at UNLV.

"I think they'll try to play us the same way UNLV did — try to put a lot of pressure on us," Sensley said. "They have a lot of good athletes, and they play real physical, so we have to be ready for it."

Jeter said he is concerned about Hawai'i's size. The Panthers have four players taller than 6-5 on their roster. The 'Bows start four players taller than 6-5.

"They're bigger than us at every position, and every guy on that team can score," Jeter said of the 'Bows. "And Sensley is a tough match-up for anybody. He's 6-9 and he can score from inside and out."

Jeter is familiar with Hawai'i starting point guard Deonte Tatum, who is from Milwaukee. When Jeter was an assistant coach at UWM, he tried to recruit Tatum.

"I have a lot of respect for 'Te, and I'm glad to see he's doing a good job there," Jeter said. "It'll be fun to see him on the court again."

The 'Bows are expected to have several hundred fans in attendance tonight, most of them friends and family members of Tatum and Matt Lojeski, who is from nearby Racine, Wisc. Around 20 members of Wallace's family in Illinois are also expected to attend.

"We'll have our fans, but not as many as (UWM), so it's still a road game," Wallace said.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.