Could this be the night the Hawaii men’s basketball team wades out to the deep end?

To this point of the 2012-13 season, the Rainbow Warriors have relied predominantly on a shorter, six-man rotation to win four of their first six games.

It’s possible some diversification is in order against Pepperdine of the West Coast Conference.

UH coach Gib Arnold, who assisted at Pepperdine for four seasons (1999 to 2003), voiced confidence in his mostly untested bench on Friday.

"It depends upon personnel, it depends on the game, which guys come off the bench and how many minutes they play," he said. "We’ll always try to play to their strengths. I like the way the bench is kind of evolved. I’m actually very confident in the bench, a lot more than I was a couple weeks ago."

Beyond sixth man Isaac Fotu, reliable bench production has been sparse. Backup point guards Garrett Jefferson and Manroop Clair, freshman wings Ozren Pavlovic and Brandon Jawato and center Davis Rozitis have seen little more than spot appearances. That is until Jefferson broke out with 22 effective minutes in last Saturday’s 77-63 loss at No. 24 UNLV, UH’s only nonconference road game of the season.

Arnold hinted that a strong week of practice from several of those players might have earned them an increased role against the Waves and beyond.

At present, five players — Christian Standhardinger, Vander Joaquim, Brandon Spearman, Hauns Brereton and Fotu — account for 64.4 of UH’s 73.5 points per game. Starting point guard Jace Tavita is 10th in the country with 7.0 assists per game.

Joaquim missed roughly a practice and a half this week when teammates on two occasions made contact with his right knee — the joint recovering from a preseason MCL tear.

The big man pledged he’d be ready against a Waves team that, stylistically, is drastically different than the fast-paced Runnin’ Rebels.

"They’re really patient on offense. We’re looking forward to stepping up," said Joaquim, who had UH’s only 3-point hit in 18 team attempts vs. UNLV. "We lost the last game, so we should take it personal."

Since going for a career-high 24 points in the season-opening win over Maryland-Eastern Shore, senior wing Brereton has seen his production dip every game since, including four points in the desert. He is 8-for-37 over the past four games.

"I’ve been working before and after practice every day on (my shot) since the first game it was bad for me," Brereton said. "Just waiting for it. Sometimes you gotta be patient with yourself. … We’re all hoping it comes back soon."

Pepperdine is riding a high tide, having won five of six. The Waves are 2-1 against Big West teams this year, including a 62-40 defeat of UC Riverside on Wednesday.

A win at UH would give the Waves their best record through nine games since the 2004-05 season.

Tonight could easily become a possession-by-possession grind. Both teams hold opponents to low field-goal percentages, UH at .375 and Pepperdine at .384.

"They’re meat and potatoes. They like to grind you out in the halfcourt, and let their guards score or get in some pick-and-pop situations," said UH assistant Benjy Taylor.

Four Waves scored in double figures in their 73-67 win over UH last season at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif. In that game, Joaquim was assessed a personal foul, then given two technicals, resulting in an automatic ejection. However, Pepperdine coach Marty Wilson, a former Waves guard, said Joaquim was his top concern again.

"We have a lot of new bodies, but overall we have better team chemistry. We share the ball better. Let’s hope it makes for a better chance to win," Wilson said.

Fifth-year senior guard Lorne Jackson leads Pepperdine with 16.3 points per game coming off a season lost to an ACL tear. The Waves are fully healthy now.

There will be a UH team autograph session after the game.