Petras Balocka has already made a lot of noise after just four games with the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team.

Balocka, a 6-foot-8 junior center, is second on the team in scoring with 12.3 points per game, despite averaging just 20 minutes per game. He is also averaging 4.3 rebounds per game, and leads the team in field-goal percentage at .577.

Balocka is expected to play a key role tomorrow when the Rainbow Warriors host Prairie View A&M at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"I think he brings all the qualities you want in a big man," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "He's strong, he plays physical, and he's smart."

He's also loquacious. And animated.

"He doesn't stop talking," said Lasha Parghalava, who is Balocka's teammate and roommate. "I can be in my bedroom relaxing, and he'll be in the other room still trying to have a conversation with me the whole time. I think he even talks to himself in his sleep."

The impressive part is, Balocka is still relatively new to the English language. He was raised in Lithuania, and arrived in the United States in 2002 so he could play high school basketball.

"I wanted the opportunity to play basketball and get an education at the same time, and that's hard to do in (Lithuania)," Balocka said. "The first three or four months was tough. I didn't speak any English and I didn't know anybody. It was quite an experience."

Balocka persevered through four years of high school in Georgia, and he said it made his already-tough demeanor even tougher.

"I had to learn everything so quick," he said. "After that, I was ready for anything."

Balocka signed with East Tennessee State — an NCAA Division I program — out of high school, but stayed there just one year. He transferred to Pensacola Junior College (Fla.), and was recruited to Hawai'i by associate coach Jackson Wheeler.

"I'm actually happy things didn't work out at East Tennessee because I'm here now," Balocka said. "I totally enjoy everything about Hawai'i. I have no regrets whatsoever."

Balocka is the fourth player from Lithuania to join the 'Bows since 1999. The others were Nerijus Puida, Mindaugas Burneika and Vaidotas Peciukas.

Balocka has started three of Hawai'i's first four games this season. At 255 pounds, he is the heaviest — and strongest — player on the team. It is something he's gotten used to since his days of youth basketball in Lithuania.

"I was a big boy — you could say overweight," he said. "But I was always like the bully. If you made fun of me, you better be able to run away. I just wish I would have grown a little taller."

At 6-8, Balocka often has to defend taller opponents.

"I know I'm not the tallest guy out there, so I try to use my strength to help my positioning," he said.

Parghalava said: "Petras is so strong around the basket, but he can also move his feet like a guard, so it's hard for other big guys to stay with him. If there's guys who are bigger than him, they are not as fast as him. If there's guys who are faster than him, they are not as strong as him."

Balocka is not just a brute under the basket. He has already made three 3-pointers this season, and has a free-throw percentage of .889.

"He has a good shooting touch, inside and out," Nash said. "He actually has (small forward) skills, but he's built like a (power forward). That makes him a good basketball player. He can play multiple positions."

When the 'Bows needed a key basket in the closing seconds of last week's victory over Iowa State, a play was designed for Balocka.

"I'm more useful to this team inside, near the basket," he said. "But in certain plays, if I fade out for a 3-point shot, I feel like I can hit it. I just try to do whatever it takes to help the team get the win."

The only problem has been controlling his emotions.

Balocka says he needs to tone down his comments to opponents and teammates during games.

"I have so much passion for this game, and I hate to lose," he said. "I get so fired up and sometimes I want to get everybody else fired up. But I know that doesn't work for everybody and so I need to watch what I say sometimes."

Nash said: "We want him to play with that emotion, but he just needs to keep it in check — not get out of control. He has to not be so hard on himself and his teammates. We're trying to get him to play a little more team-oriented basketball rather than him thinking he has to be the terminator every time."

Balocka has not received any technical fouls this season, but that doesn't mean he has not tested the referees. During Hawai'i's victory over Iowa State, one referee stopped the game to lecture Balocka.

"He said I was flopping and making too much noise; he said don't be Hollywood," Balocka said. "Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You just have to adjust to the referees."

For the record, Balocka may be built like a defensive lineman, but he is not interested in playing football.

He already tried.

"In high school, I tried it for one year. I played defensive end and tight end," he said. "There was even some college coaches who offered me scholarship for football. But that's not my sport. I like to watch football, that's about it. I'll stick to basketball."