Stylistically, neither Hawaii nor UC Irvine have much resembled their preseason selves.

The Rainbow Warriors lost Isaac Fotu, their best big man, to the pros, and reinvented themselves under coach Benjy Taylor.

The Anteaters, meanwhile, have made do without the tallest player in Division I basketball, 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye, for long stretches of the season because of foot problems.

Irvine, the defending Big West regular-season champion and preseason pick to repeat, has adapted when necessary without Ndiaye and brings a three-game winning streak into Saturday’s matchup with UH at the Stan Sheriff Center. Ndiaye is described as being "day to day" by UCI, though coach Russell Turner expressed some doubt Friday that Ndiaye would play.

UH prepared as though the Senegalese behemoth will be in action.

"They’re two different teams when Mamadou’s in and when Mamadou’s out," Taylor said. "But, both teams are very good, so we’ll have our work cut out for us."

UH kept itself in the thick of the Big West race with an 84-76 defeat of first-place UC Davis on Thursday. It also moved the ‘Bows to 6-0 coming off a loss.

Winning Saturday would potentially be as big as Ndiaye, as UH plays its next four games on the road.

UCI could be the most balanced team in the league, with four players averaging either 11.1 or 11 points. They tend to go 11 deep, while UH typically plays eight or nine. Defensively, the ‘Eaters prefer a 2-3 zone anchored by Ndiaye and bolstered by the athletic Will Davis II.

When he’s in, Ndiaye is a shot-blocking force and is capable of dunking while barely leaving the ground. When he’s resting or sidelined, UCI is capable of going small and picking up the pace with a solid corps of guards led by Alex Young and Luke Nelson.

They’ve been effective either way. Irvine is shooting a crisp 48.1 percent from the field, including 39.2 percent on 3s. Both marks are second in the league to UC Davis.

Ndiaye, a preseason all-league pick, has played in only seven games while dealing with foot problems. Even when he’s played, it’s been for an average of just 18.1 minutes per game.

He re-injured his left foot last week and missed the past two games, but Irvine has adapted without him and hasn’t lost since dropping its Big West opener at home to Long Beach State.

UCI steamrolled Cal State Northridge 80-49 in the Matadome on Thursday. The Anteaters, who committed just seven turnovers, have Nelson back from a facial fracture that kept him out six games.

"We’re still going to try to get after them, as we always do, every team," said UH point guard Roderick Bobbitt, who is in the top 10 nationally with nearly three steals per game. "They know about the defense, but it’s a different thing when they come in and they actually have to go against it."

Turner realizes that’s where the game might swing, as it did for UH against Davis with a 38-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

UH’s season average of 17.9 turnovers forced per game is 4.6 more per game than the Big West’s second best in that category — Irvine at 13.3.

After posting 18 steals against the Aggies (UH’s third-most this season), the ‘Bows are up to 10.3 swipes per game.

"We know Hawaii’s going to (focus) on creating turnovers and specifically steals to ignite their transition game," Turner said. "We’ve got guys who can control the ball really well — we just haven’t consistently done that. So I think we’ve been really good at it in certain games, I think last night we only had one turnover in the first half. And there’ve been other times where we haven’t been as good. So we’re going to have to play very well in order to contend with what Hawaii does against us, but I think we present them some challenges too."

Taylor said he’d go with the same starting lineup he used against Davis: Bobbitt, Garrett Nevels, Aaron Valdes, Stefan Jankovic and Stefan Jovanovic. It shifted Mike Thomas and Negus Webster-Chan to the bench for the first time all season.

"I like that group," Taylor said. "We need energy. I like the energy we’re bringing off the bench right now, with Mike and Quincy (Smith) and Isaac (Fleming) of course."

Thomas responded positively with 13 points on 3-for-3 shooting from the floor and 6-for-6 at the line.

"I was excited about it," Thomas said. "Bench guys are supposed to bring energy and that’s what my main role is on this team. Energy. Go out there and fight on defense, get loose balls, hustle and make baskets when I can."

The 6-7 Thomas said if he must match up with Ndiaye, he’ll "stay low."

Alumni game in works

A UH men’s basketball alumni game is being finalized for Feb. 14, before the 7 p.m. UH game vs. Cal State Fullerton at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The game would pit alumni against alumni. A UH spokesperson said fans will be admitted to the game with a CSF game ticket.