If the Big West Conference portion of the University of Hawaii men’s basketball schedule was a candy bar, this week would be its cream-filled center.

With games against the conference’s two bottom-dwelling teams — ninth-place Cal Poly and eighth-place UC Riverside — this is the week at the Stan Sheriff Center for the Rainbow Warriors to fatten up before exerting themselves in the final stretch run.

At a 5-4 record just past the halfway point in Big West play and 14-9 overall, the fourth-place ’Bows have some catching up to do with the conference front-runners. Or, at least a narrowing of the gap. And the records suggest these are the teams to accomplish it against.

Between them, Thursday night’s opponent, the Mustangs (5-17), and Saturday’s foe, the Highlanders (8-17), are a combined 13-34 overall, and just 3-15 in the Big West.

here are 353 teams currently playing on the NCAA Division I level and these two teams are rated 350th and 336th based upon the Ratings Percentage Index entering the week.

By way of comparison, that puts them right in there with two nonconference punching bags you might remember from earlier in the season, Alabama A&M (349) and Mississippi Valley State (352).

If that doesn’t spell opportunity in capital letters, nothing does.

Their arrival in town comes at a most propitious time for the ’Bows on a couple of fronts. UH has lost two of its past three games and, after this week is concluded, will play four of its final five regular-season games on the road sandwiching its March 2 home finale. The road will include stops at second-place UC Santa Barbara and third-place Cal State Fullerton, not to mention a fifth-place UC Davis that is breathing down their neck. The Aggies play six of their final eight games at home.

In the Big West, a one-bid perennial for NCAA Tournament purposes with no at-large teams selected in the past 13 seasons, the regular season is all about setting up your run for the conference tournament, where that lone NCAA berth is awarded to the winner.

And that means securing a favorable seeding heading into the March 14-16 conference tournament in Anaheim, Calif., and building up some momentum for the annual all-or-nothing championship run.

This was supposed to be the year that the Big West took a big step up in strength based upon the number of returning stars. But, to this point, that hasn’t materialized. The Big West ranks 23rd among the 32 Division I conferences for performance.

Only first-place UC Irvine 21-5 (9-1 conference) has shown flashes of being formidable. But the Anteaters have also had to survive three overtime games, including one here. Meaning there could, again, be room for somebody else to catch fire and make a run in the conference tournament, as has become something of a Big West tradition.

Senior night, which is just over two weeks away now, is quickly approaching for the Rainbow Warriors. As such there is no time like the present to hit the gas pedal, because there aren’t all that many opportunities like this week remaining.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.