Warriors open Big West Tourney vs. UC Riverside

Coming full circle, the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team will open play in the Air Force Reserve Big West Conference Championship Tournament, presented by the Hawaiian Islands, against the team it started Division I action against two months ago and hasn’t seen since.

Photo courtesy Julie KimThe Warriors, 11-9 overall and seeded No. 6, will face No. 3 seed UC Riverside (13-7) at 6 p.m. Hawai’i time Thursday at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas. The game will be broadcast via live stream by ESPN3 and via radio on ESPN Honolulu (1420 AM/92.7 FM).

Way back on Jan. 8 and 9, UH split a road series at Riverside in its first two Division I games of the season,…