Hawaii basketball guard Drew Buggs’ value rating, similar to his jersey, is No. 1.

In the first eight games, the Rainbow Warriors scored 44 more points than they relinquished when Buggs was on the court. That equates to an average point differential of plus-5.5 per game.

“That’s a good stat,” coach Eran Ganot said. “What’s more important than that? How does the team do when you’re out on the floor?”

Of the 102 lineup combinations, the ’Bows’ two most productive — plus-12 and plus-9 — involved Buggs.

“He definitely helps us,” forward Jack Purchase said. “He has great vision. He uses his awareness very well. It’s fun to watch him thread the needle with some passes. … That’s what I love about Drew the most — the way he throws his passes fools the other defenders. They don’t know what he’s going to do, and all of a sudden we’re scoring.”

Buggs, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, often is paired with 5-9 senior Brocke Stepteau in a two-point attack. Stepteau usually defends the opposing point guard, enabling Buggs to pick up the shooting guard or wing, and then swoop into the lane for rebounds.

Buggs averages 7.3 points, 5.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds. His 13 offensive rebounds are second to post Zigmars Raimo’s 17.

“He fills the box score,” Ganot said. “And he takes charges.”

Two seasons ago, Buggs redshirted as a freshman while recovering from knee surgery. Last season was his first as a point guard.

He said he has worked extensively on his ball-handling, using two-ball drills to improve his left-handed drives.

“Playing other sports, like football, really helped,” said Buggs, who was a quarterback, receiver and cornerback at Long Beach (Calif.) Poly High.

His father, Andrew Buggs, was a defensive back at Iowa State.

“You see a guy who has a nose for the ball, and you see a guy who’s a physical point guard,” Ganot said of Buggs’ transcendent skills. “He likes contact. With ball screens being such a big part of the game now, it’s also a physical part of the game. He has the ability to be strong in the paint and make the right reads.”

During the offseason, Buggs studied videos of last season’s games.

“I noticed how teams were guarding me, and the kinds of reads I needed to make,” he said. “I watched a lot of film from last season. I just worked on those things I saw from those games because I knew I would see them again this year.”

Purchase has had a close view of Buggs’ maturation.

“When he first came here, he had his ACL (rehabilitation) and he didn’t play for the first few months,” Purchase said. “And all of a sudden he’s out on the court and — wow — this kid is pretty good. Over the last couple of years, he’s gotten better and better every day. If he can become a lock-down defender and keep improving on offense, like he does, he can be one of the best players to come out of UH.”