Need to Know

If the No. 8-ranked UBC Thunderbirds want to make history by winning the 2016 Accelormittal Dofasco CIS Men's Basketball Final 8 on their home court, they're going have to go through the very best the country has to offer in the No. 1-ranked Ryerson Rams.
 
Their quest for national glory will get underway on Thursday, March 17, as the 'Birds and Rams will tip off at 8:00 p.m. (PT) at the newly upgraded Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
 
The full tournament schedule, as well as the seeding breakdown, can be found here.
 

Last Week

The Thunderbirds came away from the Canada West Final Four with a bronze medal, but should carry plenty of momentum into their showdown with Ryerson. After falling to the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in the conference semis, the 'Birds rebounded with a monster 101-72 win over the Manitoba Bisons to take third place.
 

By The Numbers

0.875 – That's the percentage of three pointers that forward Conor Morgan (Victoria, B.C.) drained against the Bisons. Morgan went 7-of-8 from beyond the arc against Manitoba, en route to 28 points, the second-highest mark of his career (29 vs. Regina – 01/13/16).
 
881 – By the time Thursday rolls around, that's how many days it will have been since UBC was awarded hosting responsibilities of the 2016 national tournament, going back to October 18, 2013. The team, and the school, has been waiting for a long time.

44 - The current 'Birds will try to repeat the accomplishment of the 1972 Thunderbird squad, who won the national tournament at UBC with an 87-80 win over the Acadia Axemen.
 

The Matchup

It's been four-and-a-half years since the Rams and 'Birds last squared off, as UBC took down Ryerson 85-84 on October 14, 2011, at the pre-season Waterloo Naismith Tournament.
 
In this year's edition of Ryerson, the 'Birds will be facing arguably the hottest team in the country, as the Rams knocked off two perennial powerhouses, the Ottawa Gee-Gees and Carleton Ravens, on back-to-back nights to claim the OUA Championship and top overall seed in the national competition.
 
The Rams also feature one of the deepest scoring attacks in the country, as their First-Team OUA backcourt duo of Aaron Best and Adika Peter-McNeilly has the club scoring 89.3 points-per-game, third in the CIS.
 
For information on all the other programs in the national tournament, we've created a brief guide.
 

Coach's Take

"I think it's very positive right now," said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson of his locker room's atmosphere leading into the tournament. "It's been a long build-up for us. For seven other teams, they've only had a few days to think about it and be that excited, but we've been at that level for a long time, and now it's just about getting out there to play. Everybody's anxious to get it going, and it's going to be nice having our home crowd behind us. It's time to go."

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