Hawaii has a date with a college basketball blue blood.

A Nov. 28 game at UCLA — just the Rainbow Warriors’ second all-time date with the Bruins — is unquestionably the highlight of the men’s basketball 2018-19 schedule. The slate, which includes 18 home games, was announced Wednesday.

“To be able to take our team to play the UCLA Bruins at the famed Pauley Pavilion will be a great opportunity to play an elite program on the road and also allow us to stay in Southern California where we have ties both with our roster and their families and our recruiting niche,” UH coach Eran Ganot texted the Star-Advertiser from Australia, where the team is in the midst of its Down Under foreign tour.

The nationally televised Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Dec. 22, 23, 25) is the home highlight. UH will open against UNLV, then meet either Colorado or Indiana State on Day 2.

Ganot said his team’s nonconference strength of schedule has improved over his three past seasons, and “we have a chance to continue that trend this coming season.”

“We continue to make it a priority to improve the schedule as well as gain exposure at the national level,” he said, noting the game against UCLA, an 11-time national champion, will likely also be on national TV.

UH will open the season Nov. 9, three days after the new NCAA-allowed start date, against Portland in the round-robin Outrigger Rainbow Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbows follow with Division II Humboldt State and North Texas of Conference USA the next two nights. A non-Division I team has not been a full participant in the Rainbow Classic, formerly UH’s signature event, since the early 1970s.

“Always excited to host the Rainbow Classic. Thankful for all Outrigger has done for us,” Ganot said. “We had a late scramble as a team exited but looking forward to getting our event (scheduling) done earlier in the future.”

Following a Nov. 18 home date with Northern Arizona, UH heads to the Wooden Legacy tournament in Fullerton, Calif., for three games (Nov. 22, 23, 25) starting with Utah on Thanksgiving. It will stay in the area until the UCLA game.

UCLA won the schools’ only meeting to date by 20 points at Pauley on Dec. 9, 2000. The Bruins went 21-12 (11-7 Pac-12 ) last season, including 14-2 at home, compared to UH’s 17-13 and 8-8 in the Big West.

UH’s remaining stand-alone nonconference games are UH Hilo (Dec. 8) — marking the fifth time in six years UH plays two Division II teams — Mississippi Valley State (Dec. 16), and Alabama A&M (Dec. 29). The Rainbows begin their 16-game Big West schedule at home vs. Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 9.

“Conference play will be really exciting as most teams return quite a bit,” Ganot said.

UH gets first tour win

The Rainbow Warriors picked up their first victory on their Down Under tour Wednesday night, defeating the Centre of Excellence 70-52 in the capital of Canberra behind 14 points from freshman center Mate Colina — a former COE academy player — and 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists from point guard Drew Buggs.

UH is 1-2 on the tour heading into its final game in Sydney against the professional Sydney Kings.

Meanwhile, the Rainbow Wahine basketball team remained unbeaten in its own tour of Australia, moving to 3-0 by edging Diamond Valley 68-66 in Melbourne. The Wahine were outscored 18-4 in the fourth quarter but held on heading into their finale in Sydney.