For a change, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team experienced a good day of travel.

The Rainbow Warriors arrived in Logan, Utah, yesterday morning. They will face first-place Utah State today at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

"Everything was smooth; we actually got in earlier than expected, which gave the guys some extra time to rest," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "And the weather isn't too bad — didn't cause any problems."

But the 'Bows are expected to walk into thunderous conditions inside the Smith Spectrum today.

The game is scheduled to start at 4:05 p.m. (Hawai'i time), and will be broadcast via radio on ESPN 1420 AM.

Utah State is 25-3 overall and 12-1 in the Western Athletic Conference. The Aggies can clinch the WAC regular-season championship with a victory today, and around 9,000 raucous fans are expected to attend.

"It's college basketball at its best," Hawai'i forward Bill Amis said. "They have a lot of crazy fans — it's a great atmosphere. But we can't let that affect us."

Hawai'i is 13-13 overall and in sixth place in the WAC at 5-8. The 'Bows are fighting to maintain as high a seed as possible for the WAC Tournament.

Utah State defeated the 'Bows, 67-51, last month at the Stan Sheriff Center.

However, point guard Hiram Thompson was recovering from a hamstring injury and leading scorer Roderick Flemings did not start that game for disciplinary reasons.

Both players are expected to be in the starting lineup today.

"We're a different team from the last time," Nash said. "But we're going to have to be at our best because this is obviously a good team we're up against."

The Aggies are on a 32-game home winning streak, which dates to March 2007.

The Aggies feature an efficient attack that leads the conference in field-goal percentage (.497), free-throw percentage (.737) and rebounding margin (plus 7.1 per game). Utah State is also allowing the fewest points per game (60.3) in the WAC while committing the fewest turnovers (11.5).

"We've really been working hard on defense because we know Utah State has a lot of different looks," Thompson said. "We're still confident. We feel like if we bring our 'A' game, we can play with any team in this conference."