VANCOUVER - The CIS No. 5 UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team will look to take the momentum from last week's thrilling home wins on the road to Thompson Rivers this weekend.
The T-Birds clash with the TRU WolfPack on Friday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. in a series with big playoff implications.
Both games will be webcast on
CanadaWest.tv
GAME TIMES
Fri., Jan. 13 - No. 3 UBC at Thompson Rivers (8 p.m. at the TRU Gymnasium, Kamloops)
Sat., Jan 14 - No. 3 UBC at Thompson Rivers (7 p.m. at the TRU Gymnasium, Kamloops)
No. 5 UBC Thunderbirds
2011 conference record: 6-2 (2nd, Pacific Division)
2011 CIS ranking: 5
Last week: beat Alberta 82-71 (OT), beat Saskatchewan 69-60
Streak: 2 wins
The T-Birds should feel fortunate to have come away from last weekend with two wins against Alberta and Saskatchewan. As head coach
Kevin Hanson put it, "A lot had to go our way to get those wins," but even though the team is capable of better performances, the T-Birds also displayed some impressive qualities that should help them make another deep playoff run this year.
One of those qualities is the team's resilience in pressure spots late in games. Against both Alberta and Saskatchewan, the T-Birds took their play up a notch in the clutch, particularly during their impressive late fourth quarter stretch and last-second alley oop to force overtime against the Golden Bears.
With a backcourt of rookie shooting guard
Malcolm Williams and newly-converted point guard
Nathan Yu, you might expect ball movement to suffer in big pressure spots offensively. But Yu scored 15 points and had four assists in the fourth quarter and overtime to lead the comeback against Alberta, and Williams pulled the trigger on the perfect alley oop pass at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
Another impressive aspect of that weekend for UBC was the team's ability to shut down their opponent's main man. Jordan Baker averages better than 20 points and 10 rebounds for Alberta, but the T-Birds held him to six points on 2-of-10 shooting while forcing seven turnovers out of him. They faced another 20 point-per-game man in Jamelle Barrett of Saskatchewan the next night, and held him to 17 points on 4-of-20 shooting.
They have yet to earn a road win though, so translating those positives into success in Thompson Rivers this weekend is an important step for this team.
Thompson Rivers WolfPack
2011 conference record: 5-5 (4th, Pacific Division)
2011 CIS ranking: -
Last week: beat Winnipeg 84-68, lost to Manitoba 78-86
Streak: 1 loss
The WolfPack settled for a split at home last weekend, beating a struggling Winnpeg team before losing to now-6-4 Manitoba. That is a home loss against a beatable team that may very well end up haunting the 'Pack, as they now sit one game out of a playoff spot in the Pacific Division. They are still in position for a wildcard, and with four weeks of conference games still ahead, anything can happen, but they face a tough schedule and will likely end up barely making or barely missing the playoffs, so every game is huge for them.
They boast the second-highest scoring offence in the league thanks to Canada West scoring leader Justin King and his 25.6 points per game, but they also give up more points than all but two teams in the Canada West. Their perimeter defence is respectable, and they are a top-five team in terms of three-point defence, but they are weak in the interior thanks to the graduation of 7"2 centre and 2011 CIS Defensive Player of the Year Greg Stewart.
This year, nobody in the Canada West blocks fewer shots than the WolfPack, and their field goal defence inside the three-point line is among the worst in the conference.
At just 6"4, King is also one of the top rebounders in the conference, only behind UBC's
Kamar Burke with 10.7 boards, but as a team the WolfPack are just average rebounders, and will be tested this weekend by the T-Birds' top-ranked rebounding group.
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