Weary and worn, the Hawaii men’s basketball team has one last chance to stop its unraveling on an unforgiving road trip.

New Mexico State left the Rainbow Warriors’ morale in tatters with a 115-73 shredding on Thursday in Las Cruces, N.M., in which UH absorbed its second-worst WAC loss in program history.

As bad as the last game was — and since UH gave up its largest point total in 14 years, it was plenty bad — the fourth-place Rainbows can salvage their pride heading into next week’s two-game final homestand with a win today at sixth-place Louisiana Tech.

"It would mean a lot to us. It’s a difficult road trip, and we haven’t played our best ball," UH coach Gib Arnold said on the phone from Louisiana. "This would be a great boost for us, picking up a game in WAC on the road. … It would mean a lot to us to get a win, and we intend to do just that."

The ‘Bows made the arduous, two-flight, one-bus journey from El Paso, Texas, to Ruston, La., on Friday. There wasn’t enough time for a full practice on arrival, but Arnold said the coaches got in some scout work on the Bulldogs throughout the week in El Paso. The early start (3 p.m. Central time) could also prove troublesome.

UH managed a season-salvaging win in Ruston last season, sparked in part by the emergence of Miah Ostrowski at point guard.

Ostrowski and shooting guard Zane Johnson were out with illnesses during LaTech’s 74-70 win in Honolulu on Jan. 19. Meanwhile, LaTech freshman guard Raheem Appleby (14.2 points per game) lit up the ‘Bows with 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting.

"We beat a short-handed Hawaii team out there," first-year LaTech coach Michael White acknowledged. "We played very well, our kids deserved the win, but at the same time they were short-handed and we knew that. They’re much different offensively and defensively with both of those guys back. So we’ll spend almost more time watching film on their last few games, rather than the game that we already played against Hawaii, because it’s going to be very different."

LaTech, winner of three straight, offers a contrast of styles with NMSU. The Bulldogs are much smaller, but offer a slashing game from positions 1 through 5.

"You go from a very, very huge team to a guard-oriented team in LaTech," Arnold said. "The kid Appleby had a phenomenal game against us and is a really, really good young player. They really drive it, spread you out and put it on the floor. They’re the third team we’ve played on the road that’s on a pretty good run right now. They’re playing good ball."

UH’s defense — once its calling card this season — will have to drastically improve. In losses to Montana and NMSU on the 10-day, near-11,000-mile trip, UH has allowed its opponents to achieve 104.5 points per game on 59.2 percent shooting.

Preventing another opponent triple-double would help. Montana’s Kareem Jamar (21 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) and NMSU freshman Daniel Mullings (28 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) lit up the ‘Bows in consecutive games, meaning UH has the dubious distinction of allowing one-sixth of the 12 triple-doubles in NCAA Division I this year.

At the other end, NMSU’s lengthy athletes extended Johnson’s recent frustrations as he was held to single-digit scoring for the fifth straight game.

White was understanding, saying he still considered Johnson one of the WAC’s best shooters and UH’s frontcourt of Vander Joaquim (14.6 ppg, 9.7 rpg) and Joston Thomas (14.0 ppg) "probably the most talented front line in the league."

"You’d like to think that they’re a little worn down from the travel, as we are when we go out West," he said. "But I don’t expect to get out to a big lead against those guys. They’re very good. They’re coming off a game that they didn’t play particularly well. You would think their staff would have them very prepared to go to battle tomorrow. I think last night’s score at New Mexico State is not very indicative of how good Hawaii really is."