VANCOUVER – After just over a month away from Canada West conference action the No. 4 ranked UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team opens the 2019 portion of their schedule this weekend in hosting the UBC Okanagan Heat for back to back meetings.
It begins on Friday, January 4 with a 8:00 p.m. tipoff followed one night later on Saturday, January 5 for a 7:00 p.m. start time at historic War Memorial Gym.
It's the first regular season meeting between the two schools in almost a year, dating back to late January of 2018 when the 'Birds earned consecutive victories of 73-47 and 84-63 in Kelowna.
Last Action
Ahead of the extended holiday break the T-Birds (9-1) extended their winning streak to eight straight games thanks to convincing back to back victories over the Mt. Royal Cougars by scores of 94-77 and 113-83.
The Heat (5-7) hit the road trying to halt a four-game slide and are coming off dropping two home court losses before the break in falling to the UFV Cascades by scores of 92-62 and 80-60.
Players to Watch
Grant Shephard – (#10, F) The second-year forward combined for 46 points and 14 rebounds in helping the 'Birds sweep the Cougars in their last outings of 2018. This included a game high 29 points and eight rebounds in the 113-83 victory over MRU on Saturday, December 1.
Patrick Simon – (#11, F) The fifth-year forward combined for 28 points and 17 rebounds in back to back victories over the Cougars ahead of the holiday break. This included registering the lone double double in the T-Birds 94-77 victory over MRU on Friday, November 30 where Simon scored 10 points and added 10 rebounds.
Coach's Take
"I think we got on a pretty good run there with a relatively new squad playing together," said T-Birds head coach
Kevin Hanson of his squad winning eight straight games heading into the holiday break. "I think we saw a lot of good things on the offensive end and defense is still a work in progress, we have some talented players that are offensively oriented and over the month of December and early on here we've really focused on the defensive side of things. You're going to see us be more aggressive as we've changed a couple of tactical things and we hope it's going to pay off here heading down this busy stretch."
Hanson also previewed what he expects from the visiting Heat this weekend.
"The Heat are fighting hard and they have some offensive weapons as evidenced by them averaging 75 points a game," added Hanson. They play a lot of zone which is something we haven't seen a lot of this year and they're in a desperate time right now needing to win some games to keep pushing for playoffs so we know they'll be coming in hungry and we need our guys to be hungry as well. Every game is important down the stretch here and the next five weekends will come at us very quickly and we're trying to focus on us and make ourselves better."
