The Hawaii basketball team is on a strict diet to rid itself of turnovers.

Unfortunately for the Rainbow Warriors, UC San Diego offers a buffet of mistake-inducing presses, traps, double teams and personal-space-invading coverages.

“It’s unfortunate where we’re at,” said UH coach Eran Ganot, whose ’Bows play the Tritons this evening at LionTree Arena on the UCSD campus. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.

In losing six of the past eight games, the ’Bows committed an average of 14.7 turnovers that were parlayed into 16.9 points during that stretch.

“Our guys will tell you, our staff will tell you, we’ve worked on (ball security) and we’re going to continue to attack it,” Ganot said. “But it’s certainly disappointing. We shouldn’t be saying the same thing over and over again. We usually don’t over the years. We take it on the chest, we own it, we attack it, we improve on it. In this case, more than any other year, one issue has stayed an issue the whole year. We still have five games in conference to fix it. I know we’re capable of it, too.”

Ganot had that same optimism in preparing for last week’s game against UC Irvine. But the ’Bows committed three turnovers before attempting their first shot, with two of the steals resulting in what Ganot described as “pick-6s” — takeaways converted into fast-break layups.

The ’Bows are hopeful that rest and intensive practices this week — they had a bye on Thursday — will alleviate the self-inflicted turnovers, such as errant passes and sloppy ball-handling. Point guard Kody Williams, who did not play against UCI because of an ankle injury suffered against Long Beach State, might be available today.

Against the Tritons, ball security will be an issue for the ’Bows. The Tritons force opponents into an average of 16.3 turnovers per game. They also are the men of steal, averaging 10.3 steals per game. Point guard Hayden Gray is the NCAA leader with 3.48 steals per game. His steal-to-turnover ratio is 94-to-40. He also has more than twice as many assists than turnovers (88-40). Twice this season, Gray has made seven steals in a game.

Tyler McGhie, who is skilled in juggling and deep shooting, has made 92 3-point shots this season.

And Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, who transferred from Hawaii Hilo in 2023, is widely considered the leading contender as the Big West’s most valuable player. In the Tritons’ five-out offense, Tait-Jones is averaging 21.6 points in 15 Big West games. He is scoring at a 19.8-point clip overall. Tait-Jones is hitting 61.2% of his 2-point shots.

“The big thing is we’ve got to play better, and they’re playing well, and they’re playing at their place,” Ganot said. “They pose a lot of problems for us and every team in our league because of the way they spread you out. They have five guys who can dribble, pass and shoot.”

But UCSD coach Eric Olen expressed concern about the ’Bows’ defense, which has a taller frontcourt (led by 6-10 Tanner Christensen and 6-9 Harry Rouhliadeff) and a scheme that “does a good job forcing everybody, including us, into a lot of isolation. … We’ll try to find the balance of when to attack one-on-one and when to try to create some rotation with our offense.”

After serving a four-year transition from Division II, the Tritons are finally eligible to compete in the Big West Tournament. The Tritons are atop the regular-season standings with a 13-2 record in league play. Eight of the 11 Big West teams qualify for the league’s postseason tournament.

The ’Bows, at 6-9, remain alone in seventh place. But Cal State Bakersfield has made a push and, at 6-10, is a half-game behind the ’Bows.