VANCOUVER – The UBC men's basketball team are set to open the Canada West regular season this weekend when they welcome the Saskatchewan Huskies for consecutive games on the Point Grey campus.
 
It all begins with what promises to be a boisterous atmosphere with generations of blue and gold fans and alumni packing historic War Memorial Gym this Friday, October 26^th for the third annual Courtside festival with tip off at 8:00 p.m. following the women's game that starts at 6:00 p.m. The teams get right back at it on Saturday night for the second of back to back meetings starting at 7:00 p.m.


 
The T-Birds dealt with significant turnover in the off season, most notably in losing standout graduating starters Conor Morgan, Phil Jalalpoor and Luka Zaharijevic but have softened that blow with the recruitment of two stars returning home from NCAA division 1 ball. This season the 'Birds will rely on the new additions of veteran 6-foot-4 scoring guard Jaden Cohee, a Langley, B.C native who transferred from Southern Utah University. While also returning north of the border was sharpshooting 6-foot-2 guard Manroop Clair who transferred from Seattle University but has yet to be able to make an impact with his new teammates due to a nagging hamstring injury that has sidelined him through the exhibition season.
 
These teams did not meet in last year's regular season but did square off just over a year ago in pre-season action where it was UBC securing a 92-72 win
 

Last Action

 
The T-Birds who were voted the No. 2 ranked team in the Canada West coaches pre-season poll finished with a 6-1 record in exhibition play which included three straight wins. Two of those victories coming last weekend at the Alberta Golden Bears invitational where UBC managed an 81-73 win over the Brock Badgers followed by a convincing 107-70 decision over the Lakehead Thunderwolves.
 
Meanwhile the Huskies who enter the season as the No. 5 ranked team courtesy of the CW coaches pre-season poll also finished their tune-up games on a good note last week with an 88-56 win over the MacEwan Griffins on Friday followed by an 88-61 triumph over the Nippissing Lakers.
 

By the Numbers

 
89 – The average amount of points the T-Birds scored through seven pre-season games with the high point coming in last weekend's 107-70 victory over Lakehead. The 'Birds have been focusing on a balanced offence in the early going by spreading the ball around in order to have several double-digit scorers per game.
 
72 – The average amount of points that UBC allowed through seven pre-season games as the T-Birds also paid attention to playing better defence and showed signs of being more aware without the ball.
Players to watch

Players to Watch

 
Jadon Cohee (#12, G) – The fourth-year guard and marquee transfer is leading by example with his new squad as he averaged a team high 21 points per game in the pre-season.
 
Grant Shephard (#10, F) – The second-year forward is expected to have a break out year leaning on his unique set of tools. The 6-foot-10 native of Kelowna, B.C., averaged the second highest amount of points per game in the pre-season (15.5) and routinely displays his athleticism and an impressive ability to run the floor.


 

Coach's take

 
"We're pleased with where we are right now," said long-time UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. "We had a successful pre-season and we intentionally wanted to make it a tougher pre-season than in previous years so we loaded up on the eastern teams playing five Ontario schools and one from Quebec (Laval). We wanted a different brand of basketball and I think our guys responded well as it is a different style, we had a chance to play a lot of different players and combinations on the road. We put them in more difficult situations than just playing a home series in the pre-season and hopefully that prepares us well for the upcoming campaign."
 
Coach Hanson also weighed in with what he expects from the visiting Huskies.
 
"They're a very good team, their starting crew in particular are very explosive and offensively orientated as their averaging a lot of points coming out of the pre-season," added Hanson. "They've got guys that can shoot the ball and their marquee guys are really talented and their role players are very effective so I think they have a lot of solid pieces to be a contending team this year."