Chaminade coach Eric Bovaird sees some of the best Division I basketball talent every season at the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

He also keeps an eye fixed on the state’s only D-I program, less than a mile down the road from the Silverswords’ campus, for occasions such as today.

Neighbors Hawaii and Chaminade meet on a neighbor island for the second straight season, and sixth time ever, in an official game when they tip off at Kauai High School’s gym in Lihue at 7 p.m.

"It’ll still be daunting," Bovaird said, comparing the UH matchup to ‘Swords losses against Baylor, Gonzaga and Minnesota on Maui. "I think UH is a very quality team this year … they’re really good at all positions. I think this is the best team they’ve had since I’ve been in Hawaii (three years). You know, last year’s team, they didn’t have the best guard play … but this year, they’re a well-rounded team."

UH’s first game on Kauai could come packed with plenty of offensive fireworks for Garden Isle hoops fans. Both teams enjoy pushing the pace and average more than 80 points per game. Both are expected to press the other fullcourt at times.

The Rainbow Warriors (6-2) flew over on Friday afternoon and held a light practice at KHS’ gym, the "Raiderdome," to acclimate themselves — a shoot-around open to the public after the Kauai Red Raiders finished a game Friday night.

"It’ll be cool to see another island," UH shooting guard Garrett Nevels said before the trip. "I’ve never been over there before, so it should be a fun game playing in a high school gym. You know, it’s real compact, it’s probably going to get real loud in there. It should be fun."

UH is going for its fifth straight victory, which would tie the longest streak of wins under Gib Arnold, accomplished three times before. UH also seeks a 5-0 record in neighbor island games under the fourth-year coach. UH has played on Maui (2010, ’11), the Big Island (2011) and Molokai (2012), always right before or during the fall semester graduation week.

Neither Hawaii nor Chaminade played much defense in a 104-93 UH win on the Friendly Isle last December.

"It was a shootout, but it was intense the whole way," Arnold said. "They couldn’t stop us from making 3s and we couldn’t stop them from making 3s. We both kept shooting ’em. It was quite a game. I think the fans really enjoyed that."

Chaminade (4-3) is 4-0 against D-II competition and 0-3 vs. D-I foes. Two of the Maui teams, Baylor and Gonzaga, were ranked.

Chaminade put a scare into Minnesota in the Maui seventh-place game before the Golden Gophers pulled it out, 83-68, with some intense ball pressure.

"First of all, I think they’re really good," Arnold said. "I think they have real good guard play, they can shoot it and they play at a high pace. You know, we’re treating this game like every other game, preparing for them like any other opponent. We respect ’em. And we always talk about ‘We respect everyone, fear no one.’ And this is an important game for us."

Silverswords senior guard Christophe Varidel, a transfer from Florida Gulf Coast, shocked the Lahaina Civic Center when he scored 42 points in an opening-round loss to Baylor. But he struggled against tighter D the rest of the tourney and missed both of Chaminade’s games with knee tendinitis since.

"He was hurting (on Maui)," Bovaird said. "In fact, he’s still hurting. We’re debating whether to even take him on the trip tomorrow. He’s a game-time decision."

UH prepared as though the sweet-shooting Varidel (17-for-40 on 3s) will play. Chaminade also has scoring threats in point guard Lee Bailey (16.3 ppg) and Kiran Shastri, who scored 37 off the bench in a win over Hawaii Pacific last week.

The ‘Bows were wary of Chaminade’s bounty of scorers during practice preparation this week, though UH counters with a starting five all averaging double-figure scoring. Forward Christian Standhardinger (16.9 ppg, 7.8 rpg) leads the way despite a quiet offensive game in UH’s last outing, a 76-66 win at Northern Arizona.

It’s been so far, so good for UH against the PacWest: The ‘Bows routed Hawaii Hilo by 51 points on Nov. 21 and handled Brigham Young-Hawaii 101-85 in a preseason exhibition.

"I think Chaminade has a little more offensive firepower," said UH assistant coach Brandyn Akana, who scouted the Silverswords. "They have guys who can put up some serious points, and we’ve gotta recognize that and get out to these guys. These guys are very good and they’ve shown it, they’ve played against big Division I schools and done really well."

The last time UH played two local Division II teams in a single season was 1982 — Chaminade was one of them, and the Silverswords upset the ‘Bows 56-47 on Dec. 17, just six days before the ‘Swords’ infamous upset of top-ranked Virginia. It might help explain why UH didn’t play Chaminade again until 2003.

The last time UH lost to an in-state opponent was against Hawaii Pacific on Dec. 14, 1985, 79-69.