VANCOUVER – After enjoying a week away from game action the No. 4 ranked UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team returns to close out 2018 portion of the Canada West schedule this weekend in hosting the Mt. Royal Cougars for back to back meetings.
It begins on Friday, November 30 with a 8:00 p.m. tipoff with the follow up affair going one night later on Saturday, December 1 with a 7:00 p.m. start time at historic War Memorial Gym.
For the opening game the 'Birds will be celebrating their second annual Festive Friday, signifying the last day of classes and inviting fans to get into the holiday spirit. Fans are encouraged to wear a seasonal sweater or some holiday colours while cheering on the 'Birds.
For more information on Festive Friday, visit:
https://gothunderbirds.ca/sports/2017/11/23/festive-friday.aspx
It's the first regular season meeting between the two schools in almost two years dating back to late January 2017 when the 'Birds earned two victories in Calgary with scores of 81-60 and 88-79.
Last action
Ahead of the bye week the 'Birds last action came on home court where they increased their winning streak to six straight games with convincing and well-rounded efforts in getting past the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack by scores of 88-60 and 98-78.
The Cougars (6-4) are hitting the road with some confidence after sweeping MacEwan on home court by scores of 87-79 and 92-83.
Players to watch
Mason Bourcier - (#13, G) The second-year guard had a pair of very impactful outings in helping the T-Birds sweep the weekend series over TRU two weeks ago earning a double double in both victories. Bourcier scored 15 points while adding an impressive 10 rebounds and five assists on Friday night before following that up with 18 points, 10 assists and four rebounds on Saturday evening.
Manroop Clair – (#3, G) The fourth-year guard continues to be explosive offensively, earning a team high 21 points in back to back victories over TRU two weeks ago and combining for 42 points over the weekend. This included Clair being especially dangerous from beyond the arc in Saturday's 98-78 win over the Wolfpack where the Surrey, B.C native shot a clinical 50 percent, hitting five of his 10 three point attempts.
Coach's Take
"As coaches, we do a lot of analysis of our own team and our own team," said UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson. "Having that week off was good for us for two reasons one was to try and get some guys healthy as we had the flu bug going around the team and second to give us a chance to catch up on some video watch ourselves and make some adjustments of what we need to work on. You know I think we are growing our goal was to get better every day and every week and I think we've shown signs of that. We're still trying to find out how we can be better on Saturday's so we've tried to put in a few adjustments to clean that up but I think there has been some really key performances from players and we're looking forward to getting fully healthy.
Hanson also shared his thoughts on what he expects from the visiting Cougars this weekend.
"They're a confident team, they're actually one of the older teams in the league with a lot of third, fourth and fifth year guys capable of putting points up on the board," added Hanson. "I think they've got a great coaching staff that always comes up with some inventive looks on the floor that can make a difference so we're looking forward to it. Having that week off there's an awful lot of anxiety and distraction with the pressures of final exams and the excitement of the upcoming holiday break so we're hoping the boys can be focused for two games here and continue to show signs of improvement as a team."
