The sun was shining and the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team was smiling yesterday in Fresno, Calif.

"Hawai'i weather," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "It's beautiful."

The Rainbow Warriors have been in good spirits since Saturday, when they climbed into the thick of the Western Athletic Conference race with a 71-66 victory over Utah State.

Even without playing a game yesterday, the 'Bows got more good news when San Jose State upset Utah State, 70-67.

At the top of the WAC standings, Boise State and New Mexico State now have three losses each. Hawai'i, Nevada and Utah State each has four losses.

The 'Bows, who are 11-12 overall and 7-4 in the WAC, will play at Fresno State tomorrow. The Bulldogs are 11-15 overall and in sixth place at 4-8.

"No matter what the other teams do, we still have to take care of our business," Nash said. "If we don't get the job done at Fresno State, we're back at mid-level. The only way to take advantage of another team's losses is for us to win."

The 'Bows are in business mode in Fresno. They arrived there on Sunday afternoon, and had what Nash described as "a spirited practice" yesterday at Fresno City College.

"We got in early enough (on Sunday) that we had lots of time to rest," Nash said. "We had a good, hard practice (yesterday) and then had a team dinner. We're not trying to do anything different. We're treating all our road trips like business trips."

The 'Bows are scheduled to practice tonight in Fresno State's practice gym. The Save Mart Center — where tomorrow's game will be played — will not be available until a pregame shootaround tomorrow morning.

"As long as we get in there before the game, we should be OK," Nash said. "The arena's not available for one reason or another, that's standard, even at our place. We can't let that bother us."

Hawai'i defeated Fresno State, 75-62, on Jan. 19 in Honolulu.

"They're a little different from what we saw the last time," Nash said of the Bulldogs.

In particular, Fresno State now has 6-3 junior guard Dwight O'Neil in the starting lineup. He missed 18 games — including the loss at Hawai'i — with a wrist injury. He is now averaging 10.6 points per game.

"It makes them more difficult to prepare for," Nash said. "That's one more weapon, and they already had quite a few."

But the 'Bows could have their own addition tomorrow with the expected return of senior forward/center P.J. Owsley.

He missed the last three games with an injured right knee, but participated in practice yesterday.

"This is the first time he went through a whole practice, so at this point, it looks he can help us," Nash said.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.