Matt Gibson wants to take a bite out of Utah State

People seem to either love or hate Hawaii guard Matt (Honolulu Ink) Gibson -- on the court that is. The Rainbow Warrior fans eat him up. The followers of opposing teams take one look at his collection of tattoos and aggressive style of play and spew venom towards the young man. Yes, even at The Event Center (San Jose) where the basketball equivalent of the church mouse is able to slumber uninterrupted far too often.

However, if Gibson swapped uniforms, the roles would be reversed right down the line. Right?

Yes, Gibson has tried the patience of former coach Riley Wallace and current mentor Bob Nash more than a time or two but the young man is truly a Warrior/warrior. We'd want him on our team. For those who question his intestinal fortitude, read on:

Resting Gibson would be like pulling teeth
Dayton Morinaga
Honolulu Advertiser
Februay 14, 2008

Matt Gibson would rather have root canal surgery than lose another game.

He knows how much both can hurt.

Gibson, the leading scorer for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team, has undergone five dental procedures in the last two weeks, including a root canal surgery yesterday.

"I don't know what's going on," he said. "Every time they fix one, another one starts hurting. I hope this is the last one because I can't even sleep at night. It feels like my mouth is on fire."

Gibson said he underwent two surgeries in three days last week, but still played with pain on the left side of his mouth during Hawai'i's 88-68 loss at Nevada last Saturday.

"I even skipped the pre-game (meal)," he said. "But it didn't hurt as much as the loss did."

He said yesterday's surgery should not affect him for Saturday's showdown against first-place Utah State.

"You know me, I'm going to play no matter what," he said.

Hawai'i, which is 10-12 overall and 6-4 in the Western Athletic Conference, will host the Aggies at 7:05 p.m. Saturday in the Stan Sheriff Center.

Utah State, which beat Hawai'i 86-80 last month in Logan, Utah, is 18-7 and 8-2.

The 'Bows will need Gibson to be at his best if they want to climb higher than their current fifth-place spot in the WAC.

Since the WAC season started in January, Gibson is averaging 19.0 points and 5.9 assists per game. He had 25 points and eight assists in the loss at Utah State on Jan. 3.

"I thought we played well at their place, but we still came out with the loss," Gibson said. "Now they have to come to our place and I like to think that we should be the favorite against any team here..."