To launch the new year, the Hawaii basketball team hit the refresh button.

The Rainbow Warriors are set to practice today after taking three days off from basketball-related activities. There is an 11-day break between Sunday’s 91-51 rout of Maine and Thursday’s Big West opener at Cal State Fullerton.

“We feel pretty good about getting to the place where we have the opportunity to recharge and to really focus on us for a stretch,” said head coach Eran Ganot, who was on medical leave for 51 days before returning to coach against Maine. “We won’t get these kind of gaps when things get crazy in league with travel.”

UH’s spring semester begins Jan. 13. “For a stretch, it’s all hoops,” Ganot said. “We’re hoping to take advantage of that, bearing in mind that they need to recharge.”

It had been a challenging fall semester for the ’Bows. Guard Ahmed Ali withdrew from school because of a medical condition. Guard Junior Madut was forced to delay enrolling at UH because of the waiting period in confirming his eligibility. Owen Hulland, one of three 7-foot centers, suffered an ankle injury. Point guard Drew Buggs went to California after his mother died. And Ganot went on a medical leave.

But after a slow start, Buggs is now leading the Big West with 5.7 assists per game. Madut has joined the ’Bows, and Hulland has resumed practicing.

“Perspective is everything,” Ganot said of the 9-5 ’Bows. “The team’s been through a lot. I’m proud of everybody in our program for fighting through and getting to the point now with a stretch to get ready for conference. There are a lot of bright moments. Some young guys were thrown in the fire, which could have been tough in the short term. But you can see some of the confidence coming. The hope is it will help in the long term.”

Freshmen Justin Webster and Bernardo da Silva have played well the past two weeks. Webster, who can play the point and wing, scored 16 against Washington and is averaging 11.7 points the past three games. Da Silva scored 17 against UTEP and, in his first start, held Maine’s center to zero points.

Ganot said Zigmars Raimo has adjusted in his move from center to power forward. Ganot also praised Eddie Stansberry for breaking out of a slump in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. Stansberry is both prolific (16.9 scoring average) and durable (36.8 minutes per game, sixth most nationally).

Ganot said Madut has been helpful in practice. “People forget we haven’t really had normal practices,” said Ganot, referencing the fall-semester workouts. “We were down three guys with Junior, Owen and Ahmed (not practicing). That limits what you can do in practices. To have 14, 15 guys (practicing) has been nice. Junior is in shape and ready to go. He has to pick up a lot of things he missed.”