GAME NOTES: Following losses on Monday in the opening round of the Gulf Coast Classic, the Marist Red Foxes and the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors will square off in the consolation portion of the bracket Tuesday at Germain Arena.

Marist has limped to an 0-3 start this season, which featured a three-point defeat at Bucknell in the team's opening contest, then a loss to Army in the team's first home contest. The Foxes are coming off a 58-43 defeat at the hands of Florida Gulf Coast in their last outing on Monday.

Hawaii started the season with a 2-0 record before the team lost its first game to High Point. Then the Warriors won two more games to achieve a 4-1 mark, but a loss to San Francisco Monday, 88-73, set the team back with its second defeat of the season.

This contest on Tuesday will mark the first time Hawaii and Marist will ever meet on the basketball court.

The common denominator through three games for Marist this season has been a sluggish offense, and that was absolutely the case when the Red Foxes took on Florida Gulf Coast on Monday. Marist struggled to a 29 percent shooting touch in the first half, and finished the game shooting just 32 percent from the floor. Not one player could score in double digits for the Red Foxes, who were led by nine-point efforts from Manny Thomas and Phillip Lawrence in the defeat. Eric Truog pulled down a team-best six rebounds, and Chavaughn Lewis dished out four assists.

Khallid Hart leads Marist this season with a 24.5 ppg average, but the guard was seriously missed Monday as he sat out with a foot injury. The Red Foxes should learn how to adapt without Hart considering the team's scoring suffered greatly without him in the lineup. Lewis (15.0 ppg) should have taken over the scoring workload, but instead he managed just six points in the game. Marist desperately needs to up its 59.0 ppg average as a team, and then cut down on its 69.7 ppg allowed mark.

San Francisco only held a four-point lead over Hawaii at the end of the first half Monday, but the Dons came out firing in the second half to ultimately down the Rainbow Warriors. Hawaii shot just 6.7 percent from the field on the night, and could only make 7-of-21 from 3-point range. Aaron Valdes notched a team-high 18 points in the defeat, while Mike Thomas chipped in with 13 points and Roderick Bobbitt added another 10 as the Warriors allowed San Francisco to shoot 47.5 percent from the floor.

Valdes leads a group of three Hawaii players in double-digit scoring, netting 15.7 ppg already through six contests of the regular season. Garrett Nevels adds in 10.7 ppg, and Bobbitt chips in with 10.3 ppg this season. The Rainbow Warriors are netting 74.5 ppg this season, while surrendering 68.8 ppg to opponents. Valdes's 5.8 rpg mark is also a team high, while Bobbitt's 33 assists is by far the most on the team.

If Hart can't go again, the Red Foxes are in trouble. Even with Hart and Lewis on the floor healthy, the two of them can't do everything by themselves. They need a supporting cast, and they don't have that this season. Hawaii should be able to outscore Marist's sub-par offense.