The Hawaii basketball team gets a second shot at a second-place team tonight in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

After knocking off UC San Diego in overtime on Thursday, the Rainbow Warriors play host to UC Davis. The Aggies are 15-8 overall, 10-2 in the Big West, and feature a dynamic backcourt of Elijah Pepper and Ty Johnson.

“We’re very fortunate because those two are our hardest workers,” UCD coach Jim Les said. “They set an example on and off the floor every day for what we want our basketball culture to look like. They’re hard working. They’re high character. They’re really good ambassadors for our university. It’s a pleasure to be around them and coach them and guide them and mentor them.”

On Thursday, the ’Bows were without point guard JoVon McClanahan, who had suffered a shoulder ailment during practice. But point guard Juan Munoz hit a tying 3 with 11 seconds left in regulation, wing Ryan Rapp sank two 3s in overtime, off guard Noel Coleman pestered Bryce Pope into 1-for-7 shooting, and forward Justin McKoy seized control with three big defensive plays and power drives to the rim.

“I was impressed,” Les said. “You kind of find out the makeup of a team when you go through some adversity and have some challenges. I thought (the ’Bows) showed a tremendous amount of will and heart (Thursday) night. l’m sure that’s breathing a huge breath of confidence in their play. We know it’s going to be a huge challenge for us coming here. We’re excited for that challenge, but we were very impressed with how they played. We know they’re going to bring it back on Saturday, so we have to be ready.”

On Thursday, UCSD set its offense to overdrive, attacking the lane for 52 paint points. It was the third time in five games the ’Bows were burned for 50-plus paint points. The Tritons hit 64.3% of their 2-point shots. The ’Bows’ post rotation has narrowed since 7-foot-1 Mor Seck suffered a season-ending ACL injury two weeks ago.

But UCD presents a different type of threat. Pepper, a 6-foot-4 guard, is the leading scorer in league games, averaging 21.7. He has drained 38.6% of his 3s. Overall, Pepper has converted 90.7% of his free throws.

Pepper has benefited from the Aggies’ development program.

“He was not on a big-time AAU team,” Les said. “He was not on the big sneaker circuit. But his team, in certain events, played some of the big-time AAU programs. And what we loved was his competitive fire. He competed at a really, really high level. He obviously was very skilled. But the intangibles of how hard he played and how hard he competed were really intriguing.”

Johnson, a 6-3 guard who began his career at Loyola Chicago, is averaging 17.1 points and 4.1 assists in Big West games.

“We were fortunate to get him,” Les said. “He had a lot of people banging on his door. We’re fortunate he felt comfortable at UC Davis. And even with the advent of the transfer portal, he had some opportunities to leave. He’s a loyal young man and wanted his UC Davis degree. He wanted to see his career through at UC Davis. He turned down some really sizable offers to do that. We’re certainly happy he did.”