Before the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team can take on one of the bullies of college basketball, it must first test its skills against a little brother.

The Rainbow Warriors will host Hawai'i-Hilo in an exhibition game tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center. The result and statistics will not count for either team, but that does not make it any less significant.

"No matter what, we play to win. That's our first option," UH-Manoa head coach Riley Wallace said. "What we can do within the process of winning the game is the second option. I want everybody to play, but how the game goes will dictate that."

Wallace said he is still not settled on a starting lineup, but the five expected to start tonight are Deonte Tatum at point guard, Matt Lojeski at shooting guard, Julian Sensley at small forward, "Big Matt" Gipson at power forward, and Ahmet Gueye at center.

"It's not like those five will play the whole game," Wallace said. "You'll see a lot of guys, I'm just not sure how it will play out."

Among the others expected to see significant playing time are center Chris Botez and guards "Little Matt" Gibson and Bobby Nash.

Sensley, a 6-foot-9 senior, said: "This will be a good test for us. And because we're playing an in-state school, there's a little bit of a rivalry. And with Jeff Law there, the coaches probably got their own rivalry thing going."

Law is beginning his eighth season as head coach of the Vulcans. He was a former part-time assistant at UH-Manoa, and was recently a finalist for the still-vacant assistant coach position under Wallace.

"We're ready to play somebody else," Law said. "I just don't know if we're physically ready to play somebody of the caliber of Riley's team."

The Vulcans had one of their best seasons in school history last season, finishing 25-4 and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament.

They lost the top three scorers from last season, but are still ranked No. 23 in the NCAA-II preseason poll.

"It's going to be difficult to maintain what we did last year because we just don't have the same depth," Law said. "We want to win this game, and we're going to play to win, but we're not very deep, so it's going to be a difficult task."

The Vulcans' top two players this season sat out last season. Senior guard Justin Griffin is back after redshirting last season for personal reasons; senior forward Joe Travis had knee surgery last season, but is now healthy.

The 6-4 Griffin averaged 12.6 points per game during the 2003-04 season. The 6-7 Travis averaged 14.4 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds per game in 2003-04.

The other expected starters are 6-4 guard Justin Dobson, 6-6 forward Terrance Troupe and 7-foot senior Alex Graham.

"Anything can happen, that's why we're preparing for this game like they are the No. 23-ranked team in the country," Wallace said.

After tonight, the 'Bows will have one week to prepare for their season-opener against Michigan State, a Final Four team last season and the No. 4-ranked team this season.

JUCO FORWARD SIGNS FOR NEXT SEASON

Alex Veit, a 6-9, 200-pound forward at Monterey Peninsula College (Calif.), signed a national letter of intent yesterday to play with Hawai'i-Manoa starting in the 2006-07 season.

"He has tremendous hops — can really jump," Wallace said. "On the perimeter stuff that we need, he can shoot the ball. You can throw alley-oops to him, he's that kind of an athlete."

Veit averaged around 10 points and six rebounds per game as a freshman last season.

"He's a highly skilled athlete and we're counting on him a lot more this season," MPC head coach Blake Spiering said. "He has all kinds of ability — he can shoot the 3 and play with his back to the basket."

Veit is the only player expected to sign with the 'Bows during the "early" signing period. Hawai'i has four more scholarships to offer for the "late" period next April.

"It was very important to get him," Wallace said. "We have guards (returning in 2006-07), we needed more size. To get one early was really a relief."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.