OTTAWA – A breakthrough last season saw the UBC Thunderbirds reach the CIS men's basketball championship final for the first time since 1986. This evening, the program will be searching for another milestone in the 2010 national title game as they will be gunning for their first CIS banner since 1972.

Standing in their way will be the Saskatchewan Huskies who upset the T-Birds two weeks ago at the Canada West Final Four en route to their first-ever CW title. The Huskies, who beat the no. 1 ranked and host Carelton Ravens in the semi-finals, are the hottest team in the nation with a 16-2 record since the start of the new year.

Tonight's match-up, which can be seen live on TSN2 at 3:30 p.m. PT, will be the first all-Canada West final since 1996 and ensures the W.P. McGee trophy will head west for the first time since Alberta won in 2002.

While Saskatchewan is making their first trip to the national title game in just their fifth appearance at the Final 8, UBC is in their seventh Final 8 in the last eight years.

The T-Birds, who were the top-ranked team in the country for eight of the 14 CIS Top Ten polls,  have won three straight games and nine of their last 10.

UBC's two wins at this year's Final 8 have seen similar scripts, with a pair of sluggish first halves put to rest thanks to dominant runs over the final 20 minutes.

In Friday's quarter-final win over Lakehead, the 'Birds opened the second-half with a 21-0 run to erase a six-point deficit and in last night's semi-final win over the Calgary Dinos, they used a 17-2 run early in the fourth to seal the win.

As has been the case all season, the T-Birds are getting solid production from their entire roster during the first two games of the tournament.

Josh Whyte, the 2010 CIS MVP, leads UBC with 14.5 points per game and he directs an offence that has eight players averaging 5.5 points or more per game.

Fifth-year Blain LaBranche sits second on the team in scoring (13.5 ppg), while forward Kamar Burke is third with 11.5 points and a tournament high 9.5 rebounds per game.

UBC ranks second in the tournament in field goal percentage (49.5%) and despite taking the least amount of field goals, they still rank in the top half of the field in scoring (78 points per game) thanks to their tournament-low in turnovers (11.5 per game) and solid free-throw shooting (71.6% on 26 attempts per game).

The Huskies, on the other hand, have ridden guards Michael Linklater and Showron Glover who rank among the tournament leaders with 18 and 17 points per game respectively to big leads early in games. Despite allowing both of their OUA opponents, Windsor and Carleton, back into the games late in the fourth, the Huskies have escaped with a pair of impressive wins.

Troy Gottselig, Michael Lieffers, and Nolan Brudehl have been doing most of the work for Saskatchewan in the paint. The trio is averaging 31.5 points and 22 rebounds per game.