Now comes the hard part for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team.

The road.

After opening the season with a 3-2 record — with all five games in the Stan Sheriff Center — the Rainbow Warriors will play their first road game Monday at Illinois.

The 'Bows are scheduled to depart Honolulu tomorrow and arrive in Illinois Saturday morning.

"We know we can play at home, now we have to see how we are on the road," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "Some guys travel well, some guys don't. We scheduled this game for this time of the year to find out where we are in terms of handling the road. We've got a lot more travel coming up, so this is like a reference point for what's to come in the (Western Athletic Conference)."

But Hawai'i will probably not play in any other environment like what's expected in Champaign, Ill.

For starters, the Fighting Illini are 6-1 and considered one of the best defensive teams in the Big Ten Conference. They are also averaging more than 14,000 fans per home game at Assembly Hall.

"The flight is difficult, getting adjusted to the time and weather is also difficult," Hawai'i junior forward Bill Amis said. "But the hardest part might be playing in an arena you're not used to and having 15,000 fans cheering against you."

The 'Bows made a similar road trip last season, losing at New Mexico before 13,500 raucous fans in The Pit.

"That was my first time going to a big gym like that, and it was a little bit of a shock at first," junior center Paul Campbell said. "We'll have to be ready for something like that again because Illinois has one of the best crowds in the nation."

Monday's game is a "return trip" for a home-and-home agreement between the teams. Illinois beat Hawai'i, 79-77, in the Sheriff Center last season.

"I don't think we'll see anything like (Assembly Hall) in the WAC, other than maybe Utah State," Nash said. "They have all their students on the floor, yelling and screaming. If we can handle this game, we can handle anything else to come."

The 'Bows will take 14 players on this road trip, and half of them will be traveling for the first time as representatives of UH.

"I'm always uncomfortable on planes because the seats are made for normal-size people," said junior Petras Balocka, who is 6 feet 8 and 255 pounds. "But it's something we have to do. We'll have two days to adjust to the climate and time zone, so that's going to be important."

If anything, the 'Bows will have the advantage of arriving in Illinois relatively early. They plan to practice Saturday and Sunday in preparation for Monday's game.

Illinois, meanwhile, will play a game against Georgia Saturday, and then have just Sunday to prepare for Hawai'i.

The Illinois-Georgia game is scheduled to be televised on ESPNU, so Nash said the 'Bows may try to watch it together.

"We're not allowed to go to the game and watch in person, but if it's on TV, we can watch it," Nash said. "We'll try to find a place where we can all sit down together."

Hawai'i will take a three-game winning streak to Illinois, including a 78-70 victory over Prairie View A&M on Monday. It was Hawai'i's highest-scoring game of the season.

"That's going to help us a lot, confidence-wise," Campbell said. "We wish we were 5-0, but we're not, so a three-game win streak is good right now. We're playing with a lot of confidence."

NOTES

Redshirt freshman Gary Satterwhite Jr. will not travel with the team because of a shoulder injury. Nash said Satterwhite will not be able to practice for at least another month.

Junior Roderick Flemings currently ranks second among WAC players in scoring with 17.0 points per game. Junior Bill Amis is second in rebounding with 9.0 per game.