An icy reception awaited the Hawaii men’s basketball team north of the USA-Canada border.

The wooden flooring of the Rogers Arena, site of today’s BC Basketball Classic between UH and No. 22 Gonzaga in Vancouver, British Columbia, wasn’t quite finished when the Rainbow Warriors arrived for their scheduled practice on Friday afternoon.

In the years since the NBA’s Vancouver Grizzlies left for Memphis, Tenn., the 19,700-seat arena has been the home of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. For basketball, the court goes directly over the ice.

"When we first got on there the floor was really slippery, really cold. Had a lot of condensation on it," UH coach Gib Arnold said in a phone interview. "We weren’t able to really go hard at the beginning; then after a while it kind of dried up and we got everything worked out. We were able to go that last hour."

The ‘Bows (1-0) did some final scout work for what will likely be their toughest test until the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in late December. For over the last decade, Gonzaga (2-0) of the West Coast Conference has been the standard to which all mid-majors aspire.

The Bulldogs pose several challenges, none bigger than the frontcourt combination of 7-foot, 260-pound senior center Robert Sacre and 6-foot-7, 240-pound junior forward Elias Harris.

Through two games, Sacre, of Vancouver, is averaging 18.5 points and 10.0 rebounds, and Harris 15.0 points and 9.5 boards.

Behind that tandem, the Zags averaged a nation-best 44 free throws per game in their first two contests. Their 33 free-throw makes per game also leads the country.

"Both are phenomenal players. It’s as good a front line as you’ll see in America," said Arnold, who thought both could be first-round NBA Draft picks.

"We do have some schemes in where we’ll double down off of guards, but you know, we gotta be careful there, too. They have a kid who hit nine 3s last game."

That would be freshman guard Kevin Pangos, who has a team-best 22-point average after that outburst against Washington State in the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon on Monday. Sacre added a 13-for-13 night at the free-throw line.

Keeping the thin UH frontcourt out of foul trouble could be problematic, but junior center Vander Joaquim was confident.

"I think we’ll do fine. It’s going to be an exciting game against a very good team. I’m just going to play," Joaquim said. "In the summer (with Angola), we played a bunch of guys just like (Sacre)."

The crowd figures to be vocally behind the Bulldogs and favorite son Sacre. Pangos and a third Zag are Canadian, too.

UH’s top offensive player, senior guard Zane Johnson, scored a team-high 24 points in UH’s season opener, an 86-67 win over Cal State Northridge on Tuesday.

This is the fourth meeting between the schools and the first since 1998, when UH defeated Gonzaga 78-70 in a second-round NIT game played at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Zags lead the series 2-1.