It is either a nightmarish slog through some of the farthest-flung corners of the country, or an epic quest for wins.

The Hawaii men’s basketball team is choosing to address its longest road trip of the season as the latter.

UH will log nearly 11,000 miles getting to the hard-to-reach locales of Missoula, Mont.; Las Cruces, N.M.; and Ruston, La., over the next 10 days. The Rainbow Warriors (15-10) play Montana (19-6) in a BracketBusters contest on Saturday, then remain on the mainland for next week’s Western Athletic Conference games at New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech on Thursday and Saturday.

"I think it’s an adventure. Traveling 11,000 miles, we got three stops. Three big stops," junior forward Hauns Brereton said. "I’m just excited to go and compete against three different teams. I’m looking forward to it."

The ‘Bows have reason to be confident. They’ve won four of their last five overall, and are 3-2 in WAC road games, including wins in their last two.

But this trip is not on par with treks to Idaho and San Jose State.

Direct flights? Not a chance. After two flights to get to Missoula — UH departed Thursday night for a layover in Salt Lake City — buses will come into play on the next two stops, with Texas the linking point.

"That New Mexico State-Louisiana Tech trip is long, and you add in Missoula, which is not really close. So yeah, I think this is definitely the longest road trip of any Division I team in the country this year," UH coach Gib Arnold said. "This has been the longest for me."

The caliber of opponents, too, will test UH each step of the way.

Big Sky Conference powerhouse Montana is on an eight-game winning streak and is 10-2 at Dahlberg Arena. UH has never beaten New Mexico State in Las Cruces, and the ‘Bows dropped a 74-70 decision to LaTech in Honolulu last month.

With all that said, Arnold and his players were keeping it positive after their final practice before leaving.

"It’s a long trip, and against three very, very good teams," Arnold said. "So, it’s going to be tough. But this team has done a good job on the road. This team is mentally strong. … They believe they can go in there and win on the road. I think it’s going to be a really good challenge for us. I’m actually looking forward to it. I think it’s going to be fun. I think the mind-set on this team will be that the road is an adventure and a chance to get better. A chance to get us mentally stronger. Those are all good things"

UH has been paired up with some distant opponents in its 10 years of BracketBusters — Kent State in Ohio (79-78 win in 2003) and Southern Illinois (66-62 loss in 2004) being the main examples. And those were also inconveniently wedged between WAC road games.

With five days between the Montana and NMSU games, there is guaranteed to be down time.

For point guard Miah Ostrowski, the time spent outside games and practices in unfamiliar territory boils down to one thing.

"We need to get rest and get our legs for each game," the tri-captain said. "That’s going to be an important key. Stay fresh, and we’re going to play these guys (at their) home, so they’re going to be rested, they’re going to be doing the same things they do daily. We gotta be ready."

Wallace has UH on radar

Former UH coach Riley Wallace, the selection committee chairman for the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, said Thursday he is keeping a close eye on his former school, among many other midmajors, for invites to his tournament should they not make it to the NCAA Tournament or NIT.

"This next week or so will tell a lot of stories on all of them," Wallace said.

Wallace said he’s spoken to UH athletic director Jim Donovan "to lay the groundwork" on UH playing in the 24-team CIT for the second straight year.

"They’ve gotta win games down the stretch," Wallace said.

UH played two financially successful home games in the pay-for-play tournament in 2011, defeating Portland 76-64 and falling in a 77-74 heartbreaker to San Francisco.