The Matchup
The No. 4 UBC Thunderbirds continue their playoff quest by visiting the No. 5 Calgary Dinos in a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series that begins this Thursday night.
The 'Birds finished the regular season in third spot in the RPI rankings just behind the Dinos but the order was reversed when it came to the conference standings as UBC finished with a 17-3 record compared to Calgary's 16-4. Speaking of reverse, the T-Birds will be looking to reverse the outcome from the team's early season meetings in Calgary where the Dinos earned back to back victories with scores of 100-76 and 92-74 against the T-Birds in early November.
Game one tips off on Thursday February 22 at 7 p.m. PT, while game two goes Friday February 23 also at 7 p.m. PT at Calgary's Jack Simpson Gym and if a third contest is necessary it would take place on Saturday at 6 p.m. PT.
Last Action
Last weekend the Thunderbirds swept their quarter-final series over the visiting Manitoba Bisons with two straight victories by scores of 106-74 and 97-72 at War Memorial Gym.
The Dinos also swept their quarter-final series hosting the Saskatchewan Huskies with scores of 98-73 and 100-76 at Jack Simpson Gym.
By the Numbers
78 – The combined number of points scored by the T-Birds bench in last weekend's series sweep of the Bisons, showing the hosts effective depth.
42.9 – The 'Birds three-point shooting percentage in their 97-72 game two victory over the Bisons thanks to hitting 12 of their 28 attempts from beyond the arc.
Players to Watch
Taylor Browne (#5, G) – The third-year guard set a new UBC playoff record by hitting seven of his 12 three-point attempts while scoring a game high 23 points in the T-Birds series clinching win over Manitoba last Friday.
Conor Morgan (#9, F) – The fifth-year forward combined for 32 points and 27 rebounds in registering back to back double doubles in the quarter-final series win.
Coach's Take
Thunderbirds head coach
Kevin Hanson was pleased with his team's execution in their quarter-final sweep.
"There was a little bit of a feeling out process early on in both games," said Hanson. "Once the guys settled down and we got our defence in check we were able to wear them down. Then guys hit shots and you're always looking for special players making special plays like
Conor Morgan's big second quarter block in game 2 that spurred an 8-0 run for us when the game was close, that was one example of a few momentum changing instances that keyed us in the series." Hanson added. "I was also really happy with our depth players stepping up as well which has been part of our philosophy over the season. We want to play more than eight guys, we want to give breaks and reward guys for working hard and we've seen their confidence and contributions increase, they've developed nicely."
Hanson looks forward to another meeting with the Dinos this season.
"They're a very good team, they've got some talented players that are difficult matchups for anybody," Hanson continued. "They're a high scoring team, they push the ball in transition and they're very aggressive defensively so we really need to keep our turnovers down, the last time we played them we combined for 52 turnovers so that's something we need to focus on. Our shooting percentages was also low and we didn't share the ball very well but I think we've grown a lot as a team since we played them in the second weekend of conference play. They were certainly ahead of us at that time but we're really looking forward to seeing how much we have grown since early November."
