Montana and Hawaii have more in common than is apparent at first glance.

They defend well, enjoy balanced scoring and, perhaps most notably, want to get through today’s BracketBusters game in Missoula, Mont., quickly.

Beyond the capacity for UH to test its mettle against a very capable nonconference foe, there might not be a whole lot for either team to gain heading into their respective final few conference games. Neither Montana’s Big Sky Conference nor Hawaii’s Western Athletic Conference is expected to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

UH opens a marathon three-game road trip against the Grizzlies, who are on an eight-game winning streak and contending for their league title at 12-1. UH has won four of its past five, but that was not enough to merit the ESPN coverage awarded to the top BracketBusters pairings.

"This game, the timing’s not great for any of us, but at least we feel pretty comfortable about how our team’s been playing of late," said Montana’s sixth-year coach Wayne Tinkle, who is realistic about his team’s resume.

"I don’t know in the eyes of any potential committee what they would say about the outcome of this game either way."

UH coach Gib Arnold also hasn’t been a big fan of the BracketBusters games in his two years in Manoa, but he made an effort to look for the positives.

Can this distant departure from the WAC help the Rainbow Warriors?

"It can, it can," Arnold said after a long pause. "Our goal, obviously, is to be playing our best basketball coming into this time of the year. I think what this game brings is it gives us a chance to play a very, very good team on the road. We’re going to have to be up for this game, we’re going to have to be mentally tough. It’s got to help us, when you go into a place like that and travel … Anytime you meet a quality team, it makes you stronger."

Montana’s RPI ranks just inside the top 100, while UH recently cracked the top 200.

After laying over in Salt Lake City, the team flew in to chilly Missoula on Friday afternoon and got in a practice.

Hawaii and Montana haven’t met on a basketball court in 37 years, and never in Missoula. Playing there is a first for the entire team, except for junior forward Hauns Brereton, who was there with Northern Colorado as a freshman.

"They’ve always been a pretty big, solid team," Brereton said. "Usually the team who makes it to the (NCAA) Tournament. They got a great coaching staff, they know what they’re doing. So it’s going to be great competition.

"They got solid fans out there. They got a pretty solid arena too. That whole area, they just love Montana basketball. It will be a fun atmosphere."

The Grizzlies have averaged about 3,000 fans at the 7,500-seat Dahlberg Arena, but a larger crowd is expected for this one after a Hawaiian-themed marketing campaign.

"People realize what a great opponent Hawaii is and the fact that they’re playing their best basketball here in the last month or so," Tinkle said. "Their record doesn’t show how good a team they are, and they’re at full strength now and are playing very well. So that word’s been put out, so there’s a lot of excitement here."

UM is going for its third straight 20-win season, and ranks first in the Big Sky in most defensive categories. The Grizzlies are known to switch up their defense with varied schemes, similar to the ‘Bows.

Perhaps the most intriguing matchup of the game will be between the teams’ centers. UH junior Vander Joaquim has been the team MVP since conference play started, and leads all WAC players in league games in scoring (18.3), rebounding (10.9), field-goal percentage (.707) and blocks (2.9).

But this isn’t the WAC, and the Grizzlies’ 7-foot center, Derek Selvig, has a penchant for making opposing bigs play out of their comfort zone. Selvig thrives on the perimeter; he is a 44.8 percent 3-point shooter.

"I’m looking forward," Joaquim said of the matchup. "It’s not a problem for me to guard outside. … It actually limits my rebounds, you know what I mean? But I do like to be out there and show that I can guard, too."

Getting senior guard Zane Johnson to snap out of a recent shooting slump will be critical if UH is to pull out the road win. Johnson is shooting 7-for-33 (21.2 percent) from the field over the past three games. His scoring average dipped to 14.6 ppg, making Joaquim UH’s top scorer overall at 14.8.

But between Johnson’s potency from long-range — he needs nine 3s to tie Predrag Savovic for the UH career mark — the inside presence of Joaquim and forward Joston Thomas (14.1 ppg), and the distributing ability of Miah Ostrowski (6.6 apg), Tinkle is on guard.

"We defend the 3-point line pretty darn well; we’re gonna have to make sure that’s a key again," Tinkle said. "But not to leave our guys 1-on-1 in the post necessarily, either."

Guard Will Cherry leads UM with 15.8 ppg and is 10th in the country in steals at 2.5 per game.