The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team can thank the ever-expanding world of cable television for a scouting assist last night.

Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash and his staff watched Nevada play at San Jose State last night on ESPN Full Court — a station for college basketball junkies.

The Wolf Pack and Spartans happen to be the next two opponents for the Rainbow Warriors.

Hawai'i will host Nevada in a Western Athletic Conference game tomorrow at the Stan Sheriff Center. The 'Bows will then host San Jose State on Monday.

"It's an advantage for us," Nash said. "We get to look at the film (last night) and put something in for our practice (today). That's big."

San Jose State upset Nevada, 62-60, last night.

The Wolf Pack, which missed a potential winning shot in the closing seconds, is scheduled to make the trip from San Jose, Calif., to Honolulu today. Nevada is scheduled to arrive here this afternoon, and will practice at UH tonight.

The 'Bows, meanwhile, have not played since last Saturday, and have been preparing for the Wolf Pack since Monday.

"The travel and the schedule ... it is what it is in the WAC," Nash said. "We have to go through it. So when we can be rested at home, we need to make the most of it because we'll be going back on the road ourselves soon."

Nevada, which is 8-6 overall and 0-1 in the conference, is the four-time defending regular-season WAC champion. However, the Wolf Pack already have more losses now than it had all of last season, when it finished 29-5.

'BOWS MAKING THE MOST OF FREE OPPORTUNITIES

Instead of making his players shoot hundreds of free throws over and over during practice, Nash prefers to have them make a few after completing running drills.

"Like game conditions," Nash said. "When your legs are tired, when you're breathing hard ... that's when you need to knock them down."

As a result, the 'Bows rank second in the WAC with a .749 percentage. Only Utah State — which ranks third in the country at .791 — is better.

It helps that the 'Bows have two of the best free-throw shooters in school history in seniors Matt Gibson and Bobby Nash.

Gibson has a .852 percentage this season, and .811 for his career. Nash has missed just four free throws this season (35 of 39) for a .897 percentage.

The UH record for best free-throw percentage in a season is .874 by Chris Gaines in 1988.

"You just have to stay focused and let your mechanics lead the way — use the same routine every time," Bobby Nash said. "You can't be distracted by what's going on in the stands, or what the other team is saying to you. A lot of it is mental, just staying focused."

Nash said he has followed the same routine "forever" — five dribbles with the right hand, and then shoot.

Gibson also has his own toe-tapping routine.

"It's about finding a rhythm," Bobby Nash said. "And you have to be confident."

OSTROWSKI WILL FOCUS ON FOOTBALL FOR NOW

Former Punahou star athlete Miah Ostrowski will become a full-time student at UH-Manoa next week, but he does not plan to walk-on with the basketball 'Bows.

"I haven't talked to (Nash)," he said. "But I don't think it's right to join the team now. They already have their chemistry."

Ostrowski is on a football scholarship at UH, so he said that sport will be his primary focus. He was a grayshirt for the football team this past season.

"Football is my priority," he said. "And with everything going on with the program right now, I have to wait and see what's going to happen before I do anything else."

Ostrowski was an all-state player in both football and basketball at Punahou. He was selected to The Advertiser's all-state first team for basketball during each of his four years.

Ostrowski said he would still like to play both sports at UH, but only if the new football coach — and Nash — allows it. Nash has said in the past that Ostrowski needs to join the football Warriors first before even thinking about UH basketball.

"I don't even know who my football coach is going to be — hopefully it's somebody who's already on the staff," Ostrowski said. "But I'm going to wait and see how things go, and then talk to the coaches about what they want me to do. If the football coaches want me to only play football, then I have to listen. But I do want to at least try both if the coaches let me."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.