VANCOUVER - With only a pair of home weekends to go before the end of the regular season, time at War Memorial Gym is at a premium for the no. 2 ranked UBC Thunderbirds (12-2), therefore, they have a pair of special events on the go this weekend.
On Friday, there is the dedication of a new award established in honour of Marlowe Hanson, an avid UBC basketball supporter and father to T-Bird head coach, Kevin. On Saturday, the team is hosting Peter Mullins night at which the legendary coach Mullins will be in attendance to mingle with former T-Birds who are all encouraged to come out to the game. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. both nights.
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A Look at the Thunderbirds
The T-Birds went 3-2 in an exhibition tours of Alaska and California during the holiday break before picking up where they left off in the conference season by ringing in 2011 with a road sweep of Manitoba. The 'Birds showed resilience in holding off third quarter surges by the Bisons in both games, pushing their current winning streak to eight in the process.
Josh Whyte averaged 26 points against Manitoba last week, upping his season average to 20, good for fifth in the Canada West scoring race. It was an efficient series for him behind the arc as well, as he improved his season three-point shooting percentage to 47.5%, also fifth in Canada West.
Melvyn Mayott is shooting a cool 50.0% from three this year, tying him for the second best percentage in the conference. As a team, the 'Birds lead the league in field goal percentage and are second in three-point percentage.
Things are running smoothly on defence for the 'Birds as well. They lead the league in opponent shooting percentage as the only team holding opponents under 40.0% shooting for the year. They also lead the league in turnovers forced, averaging just under 20 per game, and in turnover margin at +4.93. The 'Birds have the luxury of choosing between two solid fifth-year guards to take care of the ball, as both Whyte and
Alex Murphy have been successful splitting time at point guard. Murphy leads the conference with a 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio and Whyte is third-best at 2.8.
A look at the Dinos
The Dinos have shown promise at times this season, but stringing good performances together has been difficult. They have split five of their six series this season, with five of their seven losses coming by double digits. Their offence averages just over 75 points, the third-worst average in the conference, and their team shooting percentage of just over 40.0% is also near the bottom of the table.
The Dinos rely heavily on Tyler Fidler both for offence and on the glass. He is the top rebounder in the conference with an average of 12.3 boards and he leads the team with 17 points per game. Unfortunately for Calgary, production drops off sharply behind Fidler in both categories. Andrew McGuinness is the only other player averaging double-digits in scoring, with 11.4 points-per-game, and he is the only Dino besides Fidler to break the 20-point milestone in a game this year. But like most of the Dinos offence, he has struggled with efficiency, shooting just .361 from the field this year.
Phillip Labongo has been emerging as a secondary scoring threat recently, breaking double digits in four of his last five conference outings. He is also shooting a team-high .453 from the field, and his 4.6 rebounds per game is second-best on the team, so he may be poised to do some damage this weekend with most of the T-Birds' attention focused on Fidler.
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