In golf they call it "moving day," that critical point at which fortunes either rise prominently or fall precipitously on the tournament leaderboard.

In Big West Conference men’s basketball, they are entering a somewhat similar juncture, the portion of the schedule that will do a lot to separate the contenders from the pretenders.

And, if you are the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, things are definitely looking up and — for the time being — not at a 7-foot, 6-inch opponent, either.

Beginning with Thursday’s game with Long Beach State and Saturday’s meeting against Cal State Northridge, the 14-5 (3-2 conference) ‘Bows have an opportunity to put some room between them and much of the tightly bunched pack in the Big West.

Just as the Big West schedule dealt UH a challenging beginning with four of its first five games on the road, now comes the potential payback: six of the next eight games in the increasingly deafening Stan Sheriff Center.

The time-honored rule of thumb is that to be a contender in this conference, or most any other, you need to split on the road and clean up at home. Thanks to last week’s mainland sweep of UC Davis and UC Irvine, the ‘Bows are poised to do that, having evened their conference road record for the season at 2-2 to take the edge off that head-shaking 0-2 start.

Now it becomes all about holding serve on the home court, a place where the ‘Bows are 10-2 this season and, truth be told, a tip-in away from being 11-1.

UH is playing its best basketball of the season and not a moment too soon, either. Now it has the opportunity to expand on that three-game winning streak.

To put it in perspective, the ‘Bows haven’t won more than five league games in any conference in succession since the 2003-04 season.

Not by coincidence, that was the last time UH played in a major postseason event, the National Invitation Tournament.

To get back to the NIT, UH needs to win the Big West regular-season title, since it figures to lack the Ratings Percentage Index numbers to get there otherwise.

To get beyond, to the promised land, the NCAAs, a destination not visited since 2001-02, requires capturing the conference tournament championship. And winning the regular-season title would set up the seeding nicely.

Meanwhile, three of UH’s main threats at this point, UC Irvine (4-1), Cal Poly (4-2) and Long Beach State (3-2), all have some road work to do.

The Anteaters face five road challenges in the next seven games. Cal Poly leaves 54-year-old Mott Gym, aka "The Big Ugly," for three of its next five, as do the 49ers.

UC Santa Barbara (3-2) has five of seven at home, but one of those road trips is to these shores next week.

The ‘Bows have worked hard to climb off the deck and put themselves right smack dab into the thick of the Big West picture. With this upcoming stretch, they can hang a nice frame on it.

———

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820