If it weren’t already, then getting a point guard needs to be Job One on the University of Hawaii basketball team’s recruiting list this year.

And, if it were, it surely took on added urgency in the wake of a 74-70 loss to Louisiana Tech on Thursday night.

That message was graphically driven home in a hail of 17 turnovers and struggling offense with the incumbent point guard, Miah Ostrowski, on the bench in a sweat suit due to a staph infection.

With shooter Zane Johnson out battling stomach flu, the Rainbow Warriors were missing their entire starting backcourt. But it was the absence of the littlest ’Bow, the 5-foot, 9-inch Ostrowski, that was the most acute for the 10-8 (2-2 WAC) ’Bows to overcome against the Bulldogs.

Doing without Johnson’s 15.1 points a game was tough. But the absence of the sure-handed, clutch Ostrowski was telltale. For he is the Western Athletic Conference’s leader in assists (9 per game) and tops in assist/turnover ratio (3.38) and makes the offense hum in prime time.

There are reasons — like Thursday night’s 17 turnovers against 13 assists — the ’Bows are 18-8 over these past two seasons when Ostrowski starts or plays significant minutes and 11-13 when he doesn’t.

You saw what it meant in the final seconds when the ’Bows had the ball and a timeout to use and, without a floor general or instructions from the sideline, Trevor Wiseman put up a hurried shot.

For UH — and a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of about 4,250 — it made for the most pointed reminder yet of what they reluctantly lose after this season when Ostrowski’s eligibility expires. It was a wake-up call that the time is fast approaching when they must plug in somebody else to a role Ostrowski has held for the better part of two seasons.

The ’Bows have other guards, but try as they might, none suited to be pure point guards of the caliber they are going to need to compete for titles in their soon-to-be home, the Big West Conference. And nobody currently on the roster that has so far shown the capability to fill Ostrowski’s Adidases.

Ostrowski’s arrival from the football team, where he had been a slotback, was heaven-sent for a UH team in need these past two seasons. Truth be told, the ’Bows have gone far too long without an honest-to-Anthony Carter point guard.

You probably have to go back to Mark Campbell (2001-’03) for the last real Division I point UH has had to guide it. That’s a luxury the ’Bows can ill afford if the program is to advance the way it should.

At times Thursday night so much did the ’Bows miss Ostrowski that it seemed everybody tried to pitch in, even 6-foot, 10-inch center Vander Joaquim, who drove the ball the length of the court at one distressed point in the second half. Alas, he was whistled for UH’s 14th turnover.

But the point was already made: UH needs a point guard in its immediate future.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.