As Dominic Waters was preparing for his first start of the season for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team, he noticed something familiar about Monday night's opponent, Utah State.

"They're very similar to us," Waters said. "They run a lot of the same things we do; they're a very under-control team. I think that makes for an exciting game. It'll be like a chess match."

The Rainbow Warriors will host the Aggies in a Monday night matchup that will feature friendly rivals as head coaches. Hawai'i's Riley Wallace and Utah State's Stew Morrill have been coaching against each other ever since Morrill was the head coach at Colorado State in the early 1990s.

The 'Bows are 11-9 overall and in seventh place in the Western Athletic Conference at 2-5. The Aggies are 15-6 overall and in fourth place in the conference at 4-3.

"There's some things we do the same," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "But there's little things here and there we like to do different."

One thing the 'Bows will do different on Monday is start Waters at point guard. The 6-foot-1 sophomore is usually the first guard off the bench.

"Everything is the same," he said. "I still have to go in and do my job. It's just that I get to do it at the start of the game."

Junior Matt Gibson started the first 20 games of the season, but he will not start on Monday because he skipped Saturday's practice without an excuse. Wallace said Gibson will, in effect, swap places with Waters and become the first player off the bench.

"Both guys have been playing better lately, and we'll need both of them," Wallace said.

The 'Bows and Aggies run similar motion offenses. Both teams rely on precise passing and solid screens to set up open shots.

"You're not going to stop them every time — they're too good at what they do," Wallace said of the Aggies. "But you just don't want to let them shoot for a high percentage; make them work for everything."

Hawai'i's advantage could be its full weekend of preparation for the Aggies. The 'Bows have not played since a 72-52 romp over San Jose State on Thursday.

"We had three days to get ready, and we've gone hard all three days," Hawai'i forward Bobby Nash said. "We're prepared mentally and physically and we need to be because this is going to be a tough challenge. Utah State has some great shooters."

It starts with Jaycee Carroll. The 6-2 junior guard leads the WAC in scoring at 20.8 points per game.

"It's not a one-man show," Morrill said. "You can't win with just Jaycee Carroll. But do we need him to play well? Yeah."

As proof, Utah State is 12-0 this season when Carroll scores 20 points or more, and 3-6 when he scores fewer than 20.

In an effort to portray Carroll, the Hawai'i scout team used Riley Luettgerodt during practices this week. Luettgerodt normally rotates with the starters against the scout team in practice.

"We needed to have somebody give us the look of a scorer like Carroll is," Wallace said.

Carroll and the Aggies are coming off a 79-62 road loss at first-place Nevada on Saturday.

What's more, the Aggies had to set a 3:45 a.m. wake-up call in Reno, Nev., on Sunday morning in order to get to Honolulu by Sunday afternoon. Utah State practiced in the Stan Sheriff Center Sunday evening.

"Energy is definitely a concern," Morrill said. "We're undersized and we're coming off a butt-kicking."

Hawai'i has its own All-WAC candidate at guard in Matt Lojeski. The 6-6 senior is fifth in the WAC in scoring with 17.2 points per game.

In two games against Utah State last season, Lojeski scored 29 points while Carroll had 28.

In any case, it will be the final time Morrill and Wallace match coaching strategies in Honolulu. Wallace's resignation as Hawai'i head coach will go into effect after this season. The teams will meet in Logan, Utah, on Feb. 14.

"It's hard for me to believe he's about done, because it's been so many years," Morrill said. "I think I won here one time ... that tells you how hard it is to come here and win.

"Him and I will always be friends. He's good people. You wish all coaches were made of the stuff Riley Wallace is made of."

WARRIOR FOOTBALL TEAM RECOGNIZED AT HALFTIME

The Hawai'i football team will be brought to the court and recognized at halftime of Monday's basketball game.

The Warriors finished 11-3 last season, including a victory over Arizona State in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.