‘Bows down 2 starters against UC Riverside

Hawaii coach Benjy Taylor said the Rainbow Warriors will need "all hands on deck" for their first Big West Conference road game of the season at UC Riverside on Saturday.

All hands available, anyway.

UH (13-5, 1-1 Big West) will likely be down two starters — shooting guard Garrett Nevels and swingman Negus Webster-Chan — in the matchup against the improved Highlanders (8-9, 1-2). The late start (8:30 p.m. Pacific) in UH’s only game of the week is to accommodate ESPNU TV.

Nevels made the trip and even practiced to an extent on the Riverside campus Friday as he works his way back from right hand surgery, though Taylor said, "I wouldn’t say he’s ready to play."

Webster-Chan, however, missed practices earlier in the week with what was said to be a virus. He wound up not making the trip.

That leaves UH with some interesting options.

In the first of Nevels’ previous two absences, freshman Isaac Fleming got the start in a similar smallball look to the usual starting five. But in the win over Cal State Northridge last Saturday, center Stefan Jovanovic got the nod as part of a larger lineup.

Those two, or 6-foot-11 forward Stefan Jankovic could get a look. Jankovic is coming off a season-high 15-point performance against CSUN.

"We tried a couple of different things. I don’t know what we’re going to do yet; we’re still playing it by ear," Taylor said Friday night. "Luckily for us, we’ve got a bunch of options. I have seven or eight starters, so we’ll see how practice goes tomorrow. Watch them on film and then go according to our defense."

Defense is what’s remained consistent for UH lately. The ‘Bows were successful in forcing turnovers against both Cal Poly and CSUN. UH had a program-record-tying 20 steals against the Matadors, many coming out of 1-2-2 zone pressure extending to three-quarters court.

That was what caught the attention of UCR coach Dennis Cutts the most.

"You gotta take care of the ball against them," Cutts said. "I think Benjy’s done a great job. I think they’ve taken on his personality. They’re really active at that end of the floor. If they can turn you over, get in the open floor, they’re hard to stop."

The Highlanders saw different forms of pressure in nonconference play.

"We’ve got some experienced guards," Cutts said. "This time of year, you should be confident and organized and be able to handle pressure. If you can’t, it’s going to be a tough night to slow them down."

UCR is still off to its best start since the 2008-09 season despite Thursday’s 74-61 setback at home to league-leading UC Davis.

In the loss, guard Jaylen Bland scored 29 points while connecting on seven of 11 3-point attempts.

Generally, forward Taylor Johns is the primary threat, at 16.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

Riverside’s SRC Arena seats about 2,500, and is expected to be rowdier than usual because of the national broadcast and UCR’s uptick in success.