VANCOUVER - The no. 1 CIS ranked UBC Thunderbirds (7-0) host a pair of .500 squads out of the Prairie Division to open up the new decade this weekend at War Memorial Gym. They take on the Regina Cougars (4-4) on Friday night, followed by the Brandon Bobcats (5-5) on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. both nights.
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A look at the Thunderbirds
The T-Birds have the best scoring margin in the conference at +16.1, thanks to both their offence and defence being ranked second in Canada West. That success at both ends of the floor has translated to success in the standings, as the T-Birds lead the Pacific Division by a game after going 7-0 in the first half of the season, and are currently the number one-ranked team in the CIS.
Fourth-year guard
Josh Whyte leads the team with 19.1 points and 4.1 assists per game, and has been making big plays in the clutch all season long. UBC's second-leading scorer has been one of the team's biggest surprises this season, as third-year guard
Nathan Yu, who averaged 4.5 points-per-game heading into this year, is now averaging 14.1. Yu also leads the team in three-pointers and leads UBC guards in shooting percentage at .544.
Kamar Burke, a new addition to the T-Bird roster this year, is averaging a team-high 7.3 rebounds-per-game, followed closely by
Kyle Watson at 7.1. Watson has been especially aggressive on the offensive glass, as he is second in the conference with 3.4 offensive boards per game.
A look at the Cougars
After a slow start to the season, Regina won three of four games heading into the break to get back to .500. Now at 4-4, the Cougars are tied with four other Prairie teams three games back of division-leading Calgary.
Regina is the third-worst rebounding team in Canada West with a -6.9 margin. Kris Heshka and Jamal Williams lead the effort on the glass for the Cougars, as they are tied for the team lead with 8.1 rebounds-per-game, and they will have their hands full this weekend when they take on the T-Birds, who have the second-best rebounding margin in the conference.
Heshka and Williams will also have to shoulder a significant portion of the offensive load, as the two average 12.6 and 12.5 points-per-game respectively. Paul Schubach leads the team with a 13.6 average.
A look at the Bobcats
Like the Cougars, the Bobcats stumbled out of the gate, but got hot heading into the holiday break, winning their final four games of 2009. Now sitting at 5-5, the Bobcats are in good position to push for a playoff spot down the stretch in a division that has just one team with a winning record.
Scoring hasn't been much of a problem for the Bobcats and their fourth-ranked offence. They have the best field goal percentage of any team in Canada West, but keeping other teams off the board hasn't been so easy. Brandon ranks dead last in opponent field goal percentage, and 11th in scoring defence, surrendering an average of 80.2 points-per-game.
Danny Charlery spearheads the offence with 22.1 points-per-game, which is good enough for second in the conference. The Bobcats' next-highest scorer is three-point specialist Tarik Tokar, who averages just 11.6 points-per-game, so it's no secret who they like to give the ball to on offence.
Charlery also leads the team with 6.1 rebounds-per-game and 2.7 steals, so the T-Birds will no doubt be keeping a close eye on him Saturday night.
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