Brigham Young men's basketball coach Dave Rose probably couldn't have chosen a place farther away from home to go after his 100th win, but he's not complaining.
After all, the Cougars are in Hawaii.
Fresh off its 87-53 win over Idaho State, BYU (2-0) takes on former Western Athletic Conference rival Hawaii (1-2) tonight (10 p.m. MT, no local TV) at the Stan Sheriff Center, the first basketball meeting between the Cougars and Warriors since 1999.
The Cougars flew over on Wednesday and used Thursday to get acclimated to the time change. They will return Saturday and start preparations for Tuesday's home game against Southern.
"It's a big trip for us, and we are excited to go over there, and look forward to playing a good Hawaii team," said Rose, who is 99-34 in his fifth season.
The Warriors opened with wins over Southern Utah (65-48) and McNeese State (73-65) in the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic, but lost 81-75 to Northern Colorado in the classic's final. They are led by Providence transfer Dwain Williams, a point guard who averaged 17.7 points in the classic.
BYU guard Jackson Emery said the Cougars will have to avoid distractions if they hope to hand Rose his 100th win.
"I think the big thing is we just have to concentrate," he said. "It is Hawaii, it is going to be a great place, great weather. We just have to take care of our bodies. It is a time change, and a lot of travel. But also it is a big game. We have to go out there to win."
BYU is 30-13 all-time against Hawaii, but just 10-8 in Honolulu.
"They're going to be big and they're going to be good, just like they always were," Hawaii coach Bob Nash told the Honolulu Advertiser . "We obviously had some good battles with them in the past and we hope to have another one [Friday]."
