The conferences, the coaches and the players are all different.

Yet one thing is the same between Nevada and Hawaii — there’s still something on the line. In the latest hoops matchup between the two old Western Athletic Conference foes, they meet in a nationally televised late-night affair today to settle the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic title.

The Rainbow Warriors and Wolf Pack each improved to 2-0 on the young season Sunday while competing in the round-robin tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center. Behind point guard Roderick Bobbitt, Hawaii led Coastal Carolina coast to coast in a 74-63 victory, while Nevada beat up on Montana State 83-62.

Nevada struggled last year in the Mountain West and hired a big-name coach, Eric Musselman, after a 9-22 season. New UH coach Eran Ganot went against the Pack regularly as a Rainbow assistant in the 2000s.

"It’s a terrific program with a great tradition from a really good conference," Ganot said. "I’ve told people before this that they were an underrated team coming into this event. They return basically everybody, added a great freshman class and I have a lot of respect for Eric Musselman. I’ve known him a long time. So we have pretty much a traditional championship-type game — and how great is that to have two good teams going at it this early in the season."

The Wolf Pack will bring an athletic, bruising physical style to bear, one that was overwhelming for its first two foes.

Many of the ‘Bows played in last year’s midnight game, a 62-54 loss to High Point. It will be televised again on ESPN2 as part of the College Hoops Tip-off Marathon.

"We love that," said guard Isaac Fleming, who had seven points and four assists off the bench Sunday. "The student section will be a lot more (alive) and just a bigger atmosphere, knowing that we play so late and so there ain’t really too much to do. It’s the place to be."

UH negotiated it’s game Sunday effectively, never trailing against Coastal Carolina, the two-time defending Big South tournament champion, which committed 20 turnovers.

An afternoon crowd of 3,255 saw UH improve to 2-0 for the fourth straight season. Bobbitt scored 23 to go with five rebounds, four assists and four steals.

"My position, I’m the quarterback of the team and I have to make sure that my teammates are comfortable, and I get the ball to them in comfortable situations," Bobbitt said. "When it’s my turn, then I’m ready to score the ball, pass the ball, whatever. I’m willing to do whatever I need to do for this team to win."

Bobbitt played all 40 minutes after going 39 on Friday, an 11-point win over Montana State in which he had a career-high 14 assists. So far he has just three turnovers.

"Today (40 minutes) wasn’t the objective, but we had to adjust and make it work," Ganot said, noting guards Fleming and Quincy Smith picked up some early fouls.

"You’re talking basically three turnovers in 80 minutes," he added. "That’s unbelievable. He’s running the team, he’s controlling huddles. It’s fun to watch as a coach. And credit him."

Aaron Valdes scored 12 points and Smith 11 for UH.

The transition into Ganot’s system and out of last year’s freewheeling style is ongoing. Midway through the first half, Valdes tried to lob the ball to himself off the glass on a drive into traffic. It resulted in a turnover and a quick trip to the bench.

"I looked at him and he looked at me and said, ‘I know,’ " Ganot said with a smile. "We were all on the same page (with that) and let’s move forward."

UH used a 14-1 run bridging the halves to go up 47-33, then Bobbitt connected on his fourth 3 — a career best — for a 20-point lead.

Chanticleers guard Elijah Wilson heated up late, hitting three 3-pointers to get CCU (0-2) within 68-58.

UH made enough free throws in the final 3:35 — 11-for-18 — to maintain the lead as CCU went to fouling to make up the gap.

Many times, the Chanticleers guards tried to attack the Rainbows off the dribble, to mixed results.

"It wasn’t really like a challenge, it was more so just trying to stay in front of them, not letting them get inside your hip and just keeping them front," Fleming said.

HAWAII 74, COASTAL CAROLINA 63

CHANTICLEERS (0-2)

RAINBOW WARRIORS (2-0)

Key — fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; r: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.
Halftime — Hawaii 41, Coastal Carolina 33
3-points goals — Coastal Carolina 8-25 (Wilson 4-7, Wiggins 2-3, Enanga 1-2, Shaw 1-5, Trapps 0-1, Ray-St Cyr 0-2, Diagne 0-5). Hawaii 9-25 (Bobbitt 4-7, Tummala 2-3, Valdes 1-2, Smith 1-3, Fleming 1-4, Drammeh 0-1, Thomas 0-2, Jankovic 0-3). Steals — Coastal Carolina 8 (Ray-St Cyr 4, Wiggins 2, Enanga, Enanga). Hawaii 9 (Bobbitt 4, Smith 2, Fleming, Jankovic, Tummala). Blocked shots — Coastal Carolina 4 (Diagne 2, Ray-St Cyr 2). Hawaii 1 (Valdes). Turnovers — Coastal Carolina 20 (Wiggins 5, Wilson 5, Shaw 3, Enanga 2, Curtis, Diagne, Freeman, Ray-St. Cyr, Trapps). Hawaii 13 (Fleming 4, Thomas 2, Valdes 2, Bobbitt, Jankovic, Smith, Tummala, TEAM). Technical fouls — none. Officials — Mark Fulton, Ian Caldwell, Juan Corral. A—3,255.