Gazes were held at eye level and strides were confident.
The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors — at least in the short walk from the Stan Sheriff Center to the team bus waiting outside — appeared poised to take the next step. Namely, pick up a road win to inject themselves back in the Big West Conference race.
UH (12-5, 1-2 BWC) plays at last-place UC Davis on Thursday and first-place UC Irvine on Saturday. The team flew out for Northern California on Tuesday afternoon.
"It is harder and more difficult, but we’re going on the road to prove something this time," sophomore forward Isaac Fotu said. "Prove that we are a contender in this conference and try to get road wins."
UH went 0-2 to open league play in road games at Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge two weeks ago. In frustrated response, the ‘Bows blitzed UC Riverside 100-69 at the Sheriff last Saturday for their first conference win.
The bottom line: The ‘Bows must solve their road woes to catch up with the likes of early leaders Irvine (3-0), Cal Poly (3-1) and UC Santa Barbara (2-1).
Scoring your most points in a Big West game, even against the projected last-place team in the Highlanders, has a way of restoring hope. After its Christian Standhardinger-led outburst (27 points and 11 rebounds), UH is back up to 20th nationally in scoring at 81.8 points per game.
"We gotta refocus ourselves," said senior captain Brandon Spearman, who is coming off an 18-point, seven-rebound night. "Going back on the road is going to be tough, once again. But I’m pretty sure my team is more than ready this time. … I can definitely see it in everybody’s faces. Everybody’s focused and ready to accomplish these wins."
In the Riverside game, the ‘Bows jumped out to a 15-1 lead and never looked back. It was similar in some respects to the 77-65 hurting Cal Poly put on UH in San Luis Obispo on Jan. 9 — a fast start and consistent shot-making that never allowed the visitor to get back in it.
UH coach Gib Arnold said that contest was "definitely a wake-up call," and pointed out his team came out with a much better effort in the Northridge game, a 79-78 loss two days later.
"Obviously we’d like to have an aggressive mentality going into every game," Arnold said just before boarding the bus. "Road trips are no different. We gotta make sure we get our rest and prepare like we would any other game, and then bring it from the jump ball. It’s a big part of setting the tone on the road; you can’t get behind on the road like you can (at home) and rely on the crowd to get back into it. You gotta jump out on them and then obviously stay with them. Give you a chance to win at the end."
That formula hasn’t worked out lately; the ‘Bows have dropped five straight Big West road games dating back to last season.
"I think we have a bad taste in our mouth from the last road trip we went on," Fotu said. "We’re not just going in there to win at least one. We’re going to win both games, hopefully."
Senior center Davis Rozitis, who missed the Riverside game due to academic ineligibility, made the trip but is doubtful to play against UC Davis, Arnold said.
