The University of British Columbia Athletics

Vancouver, BC - The Thunderbirds travel to Edmonton this weekend with a tough task awaiting them in their quarter-final matchup. Before them lies a berth into Canada West Final Four but there is the daunting prospect of the University of Alberta standing in their way. Alberta are a perfect 12-0 at home and 20-2 for the regular season. In their sole meeting with the Thunderbirds this season, which took place here in Vancouver, the Golden Bears triumphed with a 77-61 win.
 
These two teams have squared off in the playoffs in each of the last four years. In eight meetings over that span, UBC have triumphed five times, all at home, and are 0-2 in Alberta's Saville Community Sports Centre.
 
UBC have had a tough time this year replicating last season's success. A trip to the CIS National Championship and a Canada West Championship were fantastic accomplishments but seem distant memories in a season that has been a struggle from start to finish. Largely the same squad returned to compete in this year's Canada West but a large number of injuries and a slow start to the season meant it was only on the final weekend of the season that UBC clinched the last playoff spot available.
 
At one point in their last game UBC had just eight healthy players able to take the court. In recent weeks Jordan Jensen-Whyte, David Wagner, Tonner Jackson, Luka Zaharijevic have all missed time due to injuries and Connor Morgan, who was a major contributor last year, has yet to play a minute this season. Getting as many of those players back, fit and raring to go will largely determine their chances against the nation's 3^rd ranked team.
 
Jackson and Wagner are both part of the starting unit while Jensen-Whyte has split starting duties at the point guard position with Isaiah Solomon this season. An already imposing opponent, the Thunderbirds will find Alberta that much more difficult to beat without half of their starting five. 
 
Alberta's success comes largely from their well-roundedness; in virtually every major statistical category the Golden Bears do not lie outside the top five. They lead the conference in steals and in field goal percentage and have a top three offense and defense. Victoria and Alberta have the best scoring margins of any teams in the conference and it's not even close. Both these teams outscore opponents by an average of 15.6 points a game; the next best team, Saskatchewan, lies way back at just 6.6 ppg.
 
Jordan Baker leads Alberta in scoring (17.6 ppg) and rebounding (8.2 rpg) as well as blocks and steals but is also surrounded by a talented, complimentary support cast. Youssef Ouahrig, a second-year guard from Quebec, is seventh in the conference for assists and is largely responsible for Rob Dewar's high field goal percentage (.571), good for sixth in the Canada West. Kenneth Otieno was a Canada West First Team All-Star last season and provides scoring and three-point range off the bench, while Joel Friesen returned from injury in January and in just 12 games has contributed 27 assists, 19 three-pointers and 164 points.
 
This weekend's matchup is a best-of-three series with games on Friday at 6:00pm PST, Saturday at 6:00pm PST, and a Sunday game at 3:00pm PST if necessary.