The only noise surrounding the Hawaii men’s basketball team on Saturday was of the Rainbow Warriors’ own making.

Gib Arnold’s team pressed on with an officiated intrasquad scrimmage in the echo chamber that is Klum Gym, paying little heed to recent talk of possible university self-sanctions or judgment by the NCAA before the Nov. 14 season opener.

"I think they’re kind of tired of hearing about it, and they just want to play," Arnold said of his players. "As do we all. We just want to play. We just want to get to our season and enjoy it. Enjoy playing college basketball. So I think they did great (blocking out distractions)."

After the scrimmage, point guard Niko Filipovich shared similar sentiments.

"We don’t let that type of stuff affect us," the redshirt freshman said. "We know what we have to do every day. Come here, we work hard. We act like nothing has happened outside. This is our time. And we realize that is something out of our control. And the NCAA, or the UH athletics director (Ben Jay) … he has to do what he has to do. That’s his job. But it doesn’t affect us at all, especially the players. So we block everything that didn’t have to do with basketball out."

Filipovich has gotten an expanded look as a ballhandler of late with Quincy Smith out the past week with a sore back. Filipovich and junior Roderick Bobbitt went head-to-head for two of three separate scrimmage periods.

"I thought Bobbitt was really good today, in particular," Arnold said. "He did a nice job running his team and finishing. And I thought Niki also, who was running his team, did an outstanding job. I thought both those guys got their teams into offense. Didn’t turn it over, and facilitated tempo, which is exactly what I asked them to do."

The coach said recent X-rays on Smith’s back were negative for damage but the team would get an MRI to play it safe. Smith, last year’s backup point guard, fell hard on his back in the team’s first real officiated scrimmage.

Though he is benefiting from extra reps, Filipovich said he would prefer Smith be healthy to boost the team’s overall strength. A pesky defender at 6 feet, Filipovich wants to instill a "don’t quit" mentality in his teammates.

Meanwhile, UH’s frontcourt is shaping up after some key injuries made for plenty of smallball earlier in the preseason.

The Rainbows’ star forward, Isaac Fotu, was steady while playing most of the 38 total minutes of scrimmage time. The preseason All-Big West pick shot 9-for-15 from the field, 2-for-4 on 3-pointers and 7-for-8 at the free-throw line for a typically efficient 27 points and six rebounds with varying teammates.

In the post, true freshman Sammis Reyes sought out contact like a long-lost friend, though it’s clear the 6-foot-6 Chilean is behind the curve after missing most of this month with a fractured pinkie toe.

Missouri transfer Stefan Jankovic was much more aggressive than in the previous Saturday’s scrimmage, when he’d just been cleared to play fullcourt after experiencing knee soreness. The 6-foot-11 stretch power forward went 3-for-6 from distance, including a couple makes from NBA range.

Jankovic is expected to miss the first 10 games of the season while he completes a second full redshirt semester. He arrived at UH in January.

"For me it’s just getting prepared and make sure in (mid)-December I’m ready to help the team win," Jankovic said. "That’s the biggest thing, that I don’t come in and affect them negatively, but positively and contribute. Do whatever I can. I don’t have an ego, I’ve never had one. I just want to win. I want to make the (NCAA Tournament). So whatever is asked of me, that’s my thing. I just don’t want to come in and ruin chemistry."

Arnold made it clear that every practice is a chance for someone to make an impression.

"I’ve told the guys multiple times, every second you step on the floor is time to show me something," he said. "I think you either move up or you move down every time you play, and it’s all about competition."