Scott Fisher put it bluntly, as the Hawaii basketball assistant coach tends to do.

"This time of the year, if you don’t come to play, you’re not going to win," Fisher said.

UC Santa Barbara, Fisher’s alma mater, is expected to bring the edge of a desperate team — and a weapon not yet seen firsthand by UH — into the Stan Sheriff Center tonight. How the Rainbow Warriors respond to the Gauchos could determine if third-place UH earns a favorable seed going into the league tournament in two weeks.

After tonight, there is only one remaining home game, Cal Poly on Saturday. Time is running out on the regular season, something the Gauchos fully understand.

They badly need wins to stay ahead of Cal State Northridge (UH’s road opponent next week) for eighth place and the final berth to the Big West tourney.

"There’s been a large sense of urgency on our part for about the last four weeks," UCSB coach Bob Williams said. "We just haven’t responded very well to that sense of urgency. Is it growing more? Yeah. You either jump now, or you’re not going to jump."

UH jumped all over UCSB on the backboards in a 78-73 win at the Thunderdome on Jan. 26, winning that battle 45-30. Christian Standhardinger had 10 offensive boards as part of a 31-point, 16-rebound night.

A huge asterisk deserves to go on that game, however, because Gauchos sophomore center Alan Williams missed it with knee and hamstring injuries.

Williams (17.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.3 blocks per game) is one of the best per-minute rebounders in the country. He’s back now, though his health is said to be at less than 100 percent.

"You look at our first game, Christian alone had 10 offensive rebounds. We smashed them on the boards," said Fisher, who did the scouting report on his old team. "We can’t expect it to be that easy with 280 pounds in the middle of the key … that’s a huge addition to their team."

UH center Vander Joaquim is one of three seniors (along with point guard Jace Tavita and swingman Hauns Brereton) playing the final home games of their careers this week. Joaquim is eager to match up against Williams. Both players have 10 double-doubles this season.

"I hear he’s a pretty good player," Joaquim said. "He’s putting up some good numbers in conference. I’m excited to play and can’t wait to get out there."

Standhardinger, UH’s top scorer (16.2) and rebounder (8.1) tossed a vote of confidence to his fellow big man in the game’s pivotal matchup.

"Of course, that will change the game and Vander will have all his hands full to guard him," Standhardinger said. "I think Vander’s ready for the matchup, I think we’re all ready."

UH coach Gib Arnold expects plenty of pick-and-roll action with Williams. UCSB also places at least three shooters around the perimeter at any given time, but the Gauchos are without second-leading scorer Kyle Boswell (shoulder), a 43 percent 3-point shooter.

"They like to hit him on the roll," Arnold said. "We’re going to need to make sure we’re really able to fight over those ball screens and guard those well. They’re going to go to it a lot … especially down the end of the game."

Coming off a thoroughly entertaining execution of "Star Wars Night" in an 84-50 win over Northern Arizona last Saturday, UH will try to top it with "Olympic Night." Fans are encouraged to dress in togas and bring flags of their favorite UH international player.

"We’re going to top it every time," Arnold said. "It’s just going to get better … every game’s a party. So we’re going to party this week."