Benjy Taylor and Russell Turner might have to reach deep into their respective bag of tricks for this one.

Both Hawaii and UC Irvine enter Thursday’s game at Irvine’s Bren Events Center at considerably less than full strength.

Foot and ankle injuries have laid both teams low. Aaron Valdes, Mike Thomas and Isaac Fleming fall under varying degrees of "questionable" for UH, while 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye, point guard Alex Young and 6-10 big man John Ryan could miss the game for the second-place Anteaters, who are looking for the season sweep of the fifth-place Rainbow Warriors.

Taylor went all the way to the end of his bench when he was reduced to six available players by the end of last week’s win over Cal State Fullerton. He might have to do so again if one or more of his aforementioned hoopsters cannot go.

"I got no problem with that," he said Wednesday in a phone interview from Irvine. "I’ve got nine guys that can start. … We’ll be just fine. We’d like to have everybody, of course. I’m sure they (Irvine) would like to have everybody too. But the guys that we’re going to play, I just want to make sure that they’re healthy. We still have some guys … if they’re not healthy, I gotta make some decisions as the head coach. Because we’re playing well, we’re trending upward, I don’t want to have them injure themselves even further."

UH got in a practice at UCI late Wednesday to prepare for the first of two road games this week. Taylor said his team is preparing for UCI’s complete roster.

Valdes (team-highs of 14.2 points and 5.3 rebounds) is the likeliest to play of the three. Fleming, UH’s top producer off the bench, is described as doubtful.

For UCI, Ndiaye has missed 17 of the past 19 games with foot problems. Young went out three games ago and Ryan got hurt in UCI’s 70-63 road loss at UC Riverside last Saturday.

"It happens," UCI’s Turner said of the injuries. "That’s life, that’s basketball. That’s sometimes the way it goes."

Taylor said he’d stick with the pressing style that UH has become known for around the Big West. UH is third in the country in steals per game (10.4), led by point guard Roderick Bobbitt, who tops the nation in total steals at 88.

The UH coach was primarily concerned with Irvine’s 3-point shooting (.404, 13th nationally) and rebounding prowess.

"They got some older guys, experienced guys," Taylor said. "You can’t make mistakes. … We can’t shoot ourselves in the foot this second game."

UH forced 17 turnovers against the balanced Anteaters at the Stan Sheriff Center on Jan. 24, but when UCI beat the pressure, it scored easily; it shot 51.9 percent and prevailed 78-72 in holding off a late UH run with timely 3-point shots (10-for-15). Senior forward Will Davis had 17 points and eight rebounds and Ryan hauled in 10 boards in making up for the absence of the towering Ndiaye.

"We got enough guys to compete and play, and that’s what we plan to do," Turner said of the rematch. "We expect it to be a tough game. Hawaii’s proven to be a good team. They present a different challenge than most other teams in our league, just from the way they defend and attack you and try to take the ball away from you. So, we need to do a good job against that. If we can, then we’ll have a great chance to win. If they can turn us over and get easy baskets, then the probability of victory goes to their side."

Since UH joined the Big West in 2012, the ‘Bows and ‘Eaters have split each season series so far.

UH actually had the last word at the Bren Center last season, spoiling the Anteaters’ raucous homecoming. Keith Shamburger banked in a desperation 3 from the top of the arc to send the game into overtime, where UH won it 90-86.

This time, it’s being promoted as a "White-out" game. The first 3,000 fans at the 6,000-seat Bren are to receive rally towels.

"Hopefully we don’t need any crazy shots at the end of regulation like last year," guard Garrett Nevels quipped this week. "It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be all their fans, everybody in that gym’s going to be against us."

Valdes, Thomas and Fleming represent 32 points per game, or a little less than half of UH’s 72.7 scoring average.

"I’m just going to play the game how it comes," Nevels said. "Obviously Aaron’s our leading scorer, Isaac always brings points off the bench. But I mean, (if) they’re out, I’m not going to assume that I have to score more. I’m just going to play how it comes. Make plays, get stops, just keep doing what it takes for us to win."