Barring a drastic rule change before tipoff tonight, the Hawaii basketball team won’t be able to start 10 players.

That puts coach Eran Ganot to a decision. Comparable talent spread across the roster has meant competitive practices, and plenty of head-scratching when it comes to the Rainbow Warriors’ projected rotation for the 8 p.m. preseason exhibition against Hawaii Pacific at the Stan Sheriff Center.

“The good thing is we have a lot of guys who can make a contribution for us,” the third-year coach said. “At the end of the day, you can’t play them all, but you can certainly play more than we have the last couple years. … I think that’s an advantage for us right now.”

The exhibition, which doesn’t officially count, follows the UH women’s hoops 5:30 exhibition against Hawaii Hilo. A general admission ticket covers both contests.

The men return 10 players, many with starting experience, from last year’s 14-16 campaign. Two players, forward Mike Thomas and guard Drew Buggs, are coming off injury redshirt seasons and have made cases to head up their positions. And two newcomers, Brandon Thomas and Samuta Avea, have received regular looks with the first group in practices.

Incumbent point guard Brocke Stepteau has also worn a green jersey with the first unit in recent days. Two other 2016-17 starters, guard Sheriff Drammeh and forward Jack Purchase, have at times donned the white of the second unit.

Purchase was UH’s third-leading scorer and a Big West honorable mention pick after hitting 72 3-pointers but now might be coming off the bench.

“I’m all for the team. Whatever I need to do,” Purchase said. “Different people will be in for different situations. I don’t know what the starting lineup’s going to be … wherever it is, I’ll contribute and do my part.”

No matter what happens in tonight’s dry run, UH still has time to tinker prior to the Nov. 10 regular-season opener vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

A best guess right now at the first five? Buggs, a redshirt freshman, at point guard, sophomore Leland Green at shooting guard, sophomore Brandon Thomas on the wing, fifth-year senior Mike Thomas at power forward and senior Gibson Johnson at center.

“I think that’s the tell-tale sign of a good team,” said Johnson, UH’s second-leading scorer (11.4) and rebounder (4.8) last year behind the departed Noah Allen. “If you don’t know for sure who your starters are, that means you’re either really bad or you’re really good. Because, you either have no players to go to, or you have so many options that you don’t know what to do with them. And I think right now, we have guys that if our starter went down, there would be no drop-off.”

The 3 position is UH’s biggest question mark. Thomas or junior Sheriff Drammeh could fill it in a three-guard lineup. There’s the 6-6 freshman Avea, a young but traditional wing who’s looked impressive at times this preseason. Or Ganot could turn to the 6-9 Purchase in a bigger lineup.

HPU is coming off its finest season as an NCAA II member. The Sharks went 29-3, earned a No. 2 West Region seed in the NCAA tournament and advanced to the round of 32, where they were upset by Chico State. However, they lost their nucleus led by guards Chauncey Orr and Connor Looney.

“You don’t get any points for what you did last year,” said 12th-year coach Darren Vorderbruegge. “It’s a new group. … I’m pretty sure I’ve never had a group with no returning seniors. So we went out and got some.”

HPU added three D-I transfers — forward Albert Christensson (Central Arkansas), Niksha Federico (San Diego State), and, most notably, Larry Lewis Jr. (Hawaii). The power guard Lewis was a reserve for last year’s ’Bows.

“It’ll be interesting, obviously,” Ganot said. “But we’re big fans of Larry and we’ll be rooting for him.”