The Oakland players have been in Hawaii for days so they probably are sunburned and jellyfish-stung and witnessed a murder at the White Lotus and the like. I've had poi two days in a row. I do not recommend being more than 10 feet from a bathroom with two days of poi in your belly, much less play hoops. So, yeah, I'm not sure how much the Oakland guys will be focused here. Then again, I quite liked UH getting +11.5 two nights ago vs. Nebraska, especially as the line closed at +8, but the Rainbow Warriors couldn't cover down just 2 at the half. Still, they are 7-2 at home with the only losses to power conference schools.

Hawaii has only lost at the Stan Sheriff Center vs. good North Carolina and Nebraska teams this season and expect the Rainbow Warriors to at least get to third place in their own tourney. A recovery of sorts should be expected from top scorer F Gytis Nemeiksa (13.7 ppg), who was held to just one point in the semifinal loss to the Cornhuskers on Monday after scoring 24 in the opening-round win over Charlotte. Meanwhile, Oakland has been involved in a pair of nailbiters already in Honolulu vs. Loyola and Oregon State and the Golden Grizzlies (who have lost four of five) might be hard-pressed to dig deep into the well for a third time in four days, far from home Play Hawaii