There is still time for one last regular-season road statement for Hawaii.

If UH is to take the Big West Conference tournament title next week, it will have to win three times in three days in Anaheim, Calif. One of the best ways for the Rainbow Warriors to announce they are capable of doing so? Finishing with their first winning conference road record in over a decade might do nicely.

The last time that happened was in 2001-02, when the Rainbows went 6-3 on the road in the Western Athletic Conference against such foes as Tulsa, UTEP, SMU and Rice. Incidentally, that was the last time the ‘Bows captured a conference tourney title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Fourth-place UH will improve to 5-3 in conference away games if it can find a way to get past past second-place UC Santa Barbara on Thursday. Hawaii needs this game if it is to have any chance at moving up to the third seed. The Gauchos are still chasing UC Irvine (11-3) for the regular-season championship.

UCSB’s Bob Williams, the dean of Big West coaches in his 16th season, thinks his team will have to play a markedly better game than in their 75-64 defeat of the ‘Bows in Honolulu exactly a month ago. In that one, UCSB hit several timely 3-pointers to beat the shot-clock buzzer and pull away late.

"I think they’re playing as well as anyone in this league on the road," Williams said of UH. "So, I think both teams want to find a way to get themselves a win and get a little momentum going into the Big West tournament."

Both teams are shooting for a 20th victory, the standard barometer for a successful season across much of the college basketball landscape. That would represent a first for fourth-year UH coach Gib Arnold.

"We have a couple chances to get it. So obviously we’d like to have more than 20," Arnold said. "One of our players brought it up in the huddle (Monday) and another yelled out, That’s not enough!’ I like that. They’re thinking past that. You know, but again, you gotta go one at a time and it’d be a great honor to get that and keep that going."

If that is to transpire for UH before Saturday’s senior night against Cal State Fullerton at the Stan Sheriff Center, the ‘Bows must do a better job of corralling Big West Player of the Year frontrunner Alan Williams. The 6-foot-7, 275-pound junior leads the league in points (21.6) and rebounds (11.6). He amassed 20 points, 17 boards and five blocks in Honolulu, while sophomore swingman Michael Bryson had the biggest 3s as part of an 18-point night.

UH sophomore forward Isaac Fotu is looking for some redemption, not only for his last showing against the much beefier Williams (an uncharacteristic 7-for-16 shooting) but for a quiet night in UH’s last outing, a 63-61 loss at Long Beach State on Feb. 27. Fotu, UH’s second-leading scorer and rebounder (15.4 and 6.3), was saddled with foul trouble and finished with eight points and two rebounds.

"We knew he was going to be tough to guard, but he just seals so well and you have to have another man helping or else it’s game over for you, I think," Fotu said of Williams. "(On offense). I’m just going to keep going at him again. I was getting to the rim pretty easy, but I just wasn’t finishing. So I’m just going to continue to attack him and everyone else as well."

Williams led the country in rebounding until foul trouble limited him to 16 minutes of play (in which he still grabbed 10 boards) in UCSB’s last game, a 67-54 win at UC Davis on Saturday.

UCSB point guard Zalmico Harmon has mastered the Gauchos’ four-out, one-in offense. Over UCSB’s past 11 games, he has an immaculate 56 assists against five turnovers. He and UH point guard Keith Shamburger (league-best 5.5 assists per game) have dueled for the assist lead most of the season, but Harmon has been far and away the most efficient at a 4.45-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, second in the nation.

"It’s amazing. It’s an incredible assist-to-turnover ratio," said UH assistant Scott Fisher, who prepared the scouting report on his alma mater. "I think he’s their most improved player since the last time we played them. They’re getting more out of him than what we’d like to see."

The one Gaucho UH managed to neutralize at the Sheriff was bench sharpshooter Kyle Boswell (10.3 ppg), who was held without a 3-pointer for the first time all season. Boswell (.427) trails only UH’s Garrett Nevels (.434) in 3-point percentage among Big West players.

UH prevailed at the Thunderdome last year, 78-73, behind Christian Standhardinger’s 31 points and 16 rebounds. Williams missed that game with an injury.