A season-ending cliffhanger will be resolved when the Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara basketball teams face off on national television today at the UCSB Events Center in Santa Barbara.

Hawaii and UC Riverside are tied for third at 13-6 in the Big West behind 14-5 co-leaders UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. A three- or four-way tie could occur among UH, UCSB, UCR and UCI if the ’Bows win on the Gauchos’ senior night. A loss could drop the ’Bows to the fourth or fifth seed in next week’s single-elimination Big West Tournament in Henderson, Nev. The tournament winner earns the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s easy to say but hard to do — you can’t scoreboard watch,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “You have no control over that. If we’re doing that, we’re not going to be very good. We have things we need to get better at. We’ve got to worry about what we can control. We have to fight the human nature. It’s not easy. It’s not easy for anybody. We’ve got a smart group of guys. They know what’s at stake. They know what’s going on.”

Four of the ’Bows’ starters are averaging double-figure scoring, led by shooting guard Noel Coleman’s 12.1. Kamaka Hepa, a 6-foot-10 forward, has made a team-high 64 3-point shots on 39% distance shooting.

Bernardo da Silva, who is averaging 6.8 rebounds, started the first 29 games but missed the past two because of an ankle injury. Freshman posts Mor Seck, who has consecutive double-doubles as the starting center, and Harry Rouhliadeff have filled the void in the middle.

“It was another situation where it was ‘next man, every man,’” Ganot said following UH’s 81-55 rout of Cal State Northridge on Thursday. “I’m happy for the guys. They worked hard and they deserved it.”

After winning nine of their first 10 Big West games, the Gauchos had a stretch of three consecutive losses. “We were going through a lot of injuries,” UCSB coach Joe Pasternack said. “We had to refit the team. I think our guys are really coming together.”

The Gauchos have won three in a row entering today’s game.

Ajay Mitchell, a 6-foot-4 guard, hit the winning shot in the Gauchos’ 65-64 victory in Honolulu last month. In 19 league games, Mitchell is averaging 16.2 points with an assist-turnover ratio of 2.1.

“Ajay has poise for a sophomore,” Pasternack said. “I don’t think I’ve seen some as young as him with the poise he has. He’s having a real special year.”

Miles Norris is a 6-10 forward who is averaging 14.5 points on 43.5% 3-point shooting in Big West games.

Andre Kelly, a transfer from California, averages 6.3 rebounds.

“Every game is a big game,” Pasternack said. “I’m really excited.”

Ganot said: “We’ve been playing big games for a while. We’re battle tested.”