VANCOUVER – The battle for local basketball bragging rights is back as the UBC Thunderbirds are set to host their crosstown rival SFU Red Leafs for the storied Buchanan Cup on Friday October, 28^th with a 7:30 p.m. tip off at UBC's historic War Memorial Gym.
 
Event info and tickets on sale now
 
The storied Buchanan Cup matchup between the schools dates back to 1965 when they met each other on the basketball court, the first time playing each other in any sport. In more recent decades the meetings have been intermittent, largely due to scheduling conflicts between the two programs that compete in different athletic conferences. This year's showdown builds off the overwhelming response to last year's game which saw the rivalry renewed for the first time in five years. More than 1,600 fans headed up Burnaby Mountain in November, 2021 for a fantastic atmosphere at SFU's West Gym where the hosts topped the T-Birds by a score of 90-82.


 
The upcoming October 28^th matchup will mark just the fourth Buchanan Cup meeting over the last 12 years. Prior to last season's revival, the Cup had been in UBC's possession since a lopsided 101-71 victory in October of 2015 on the Point Grey campus.
 
The first-ever meeting was won by SFU, 61-51, and over the 56-year history of the rivalry the teams have met a total of 35 times. With so much pride on the line it's no surprise that little separates the all-time Buchanan Cup head-to-head series with UBC holding the edge in wins with 18, compared to SFU claiming 16 victories while the combatants also played to one tie.


 
"This is no doubt a really important game specifically for the basketball community involving a natural rivalry between the cross-town universities," said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. "SFU did a great job marketing the event last season and especially after having dealt with the pandemic restrictions fans were starving for some entertainment, some high-quality basketball. I think it was great to see enthusiastic alumni from both sides at the game including UBC President, Santa Ono showing up to reflect the importance of it, adding to the great atmosphere. I think as a student-athlete it's a great feeling to have this opportunity, there's a lot of local players on both teams. Once that jump ball goes up it gets ramped up and exciting things will happen. We're really looking forward to hosting it and hopefully we'll have a sellout crowd as well and provide a great night of basketball for the community."
 
The Buchanan Cup isn't your average non-conference exhibition game with the electricity and intensity that will be flowing both on the court and through the stands. It should serve as an excellent tune-up for both squads in preparation for regular season action that will soon follow.


 
"It's a great pre-season opportunity for us," added Hanson. "We know it's going to be a packed crowd; we know the passion is going to be up there, the importance for the bragging rights is there, we lost last year's event so there's obviously going to be some intensity for us to it and it certainly can act as a springboard to our upcoming regular season. The alumni certainly like talking about it and I have friends on both sides of the alumni groups and I certainly hear it from both sides. It will be an amped up game and an opportunity to see the local community, it's before the high school season can start so we're hoping to pack the place with local high school talent. It's a great reunion of people and some of the people that were at the first Buchanan Cup meeting in 1965 still attend the games and still talk about it. It's a great part of basketball history and I think any young player in attendance would love a chance to participate in an intense game with an amazing atmosphere featuring local rivals."


 
The T-Birds will be looking to reclaim the cup on homecourt featuring returning players in fourth-year guard James Woods and fifth-year forward Sukhman Sandhu, the team's first and third leading scorers from last season where they averaged 18.8 and 16.2 points per game, respectively.


 
Meanwhile, headlining for SFU will be returning third-year starting point guard David Penney along with fourth-year forward Jamal Wright looking to make their mark on the War Gym floor.
 
UBC will then open the Canada West regular season two weeks later when they host the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves for a back-to-back weekend matchup Saturday November, 12th and Sunday November, 13th with each game tipping off at 4:00 p.m. PT at War Memorial Gym. T-Birds 2022-23 Canada West schedule.
 
SFU will take part in some tournaments through November before opening their Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule on home court Saturday, December 3^rd against visiting Western Washington.

The Buchanan Cup showcase is nearly sold out and if you're unable to secure a ticket you can catch all the action on the UBC Thunderbirds YouTube channel and it will also be broadcast on channel 1999 on TELUS Optik TV.