VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (3-3) return to homecourt for the first time in three weeks when they host the Alberta Golden Bears (3-3) for back-to-back contests this weekend beginning with a 7:00 p.m. tip off Friday, December 2^nd, followed by a 6:00 p.m. start Saturday December 3^rd at War Memorial Gym.
 
the T-Birds look forward to re-familiarizing themselves with home court, returning with a 3-3 record following two weekend series splits, first against Trinity Western University and most recently visiting the Mount Royal Cougars.
 
Last Friday UBC relied on a balanced attack en route to downing the MRU Cougars 82-69. James Woods led the way with 19 points, five rebounds and three steals while the total team effort saw Sukhman Sandhu, Triston Mathews and Brian Wallack all record double-doubles in the triumph. Sandhu added 18 points and 13 rebounds, Mathews chipped in with 16 points and 13 rebounds while Wallack stepped up with 14 points and 12 rebounds.


 
The rematch was a different story on Saturday night as the 'Birds struggled in hitting just 34 percent of their field goals while also not feeling it from beyond the arc in making just four of 25 three-point attempts in dropping a 77-70 decision. Wallack scored a team high 20 points while he and Sandhu just missed out on finishing the contest with double-doubles for a second consecutive night. Wallack just one rebound shy at nine total while Sandhu was in the same boat with 11 points and nine rebounds. Triston Mathews and Tobi Akinkunmi each added 10 points for the visitors.
 
"It is always tough to play the same team back-to-back nights, especially when you are on the road," said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. "Add to that, MRU had a bye weekend prior to playing us and that always gives a team the extra week to prepare and rest. Both games at Mt Royal were a grind and bottom line is that we did not execute on the defensive side of the ball. Their top scorers found a way to score and we need to be able to stop the oppositions best producers. This has been a staple of ours in past years and is a focal point as we move forward. There are some very talented scorers in our league and we must be able to defend. From an offensive perspective we had low assist totals for the style of play we would like have. In order for us to be successful we need to be willing to share the ball and play as a team. On Saturday night we missed a lot of open shots and layups.  We can make a lot of excuses for that but bottom line is we need to be able to finish and find ways to put the ball in the hoop. If the offensive isn't going, you need to be able to get stops and create different scoring type of situations."


 
Meanwhile the Golden Bears come to town with an identical 3-3 record to the 'Birds and similarly split their last weekend series hosting the UVic Vikes. Last Friday at the Saville Community Sports Centre, Alberta dropped a 92-71 decision to the Vikes where Isacc Simon was the leading scorer in a losing effort with 18 points. The Bears rebounded the next night on home court with a 89-84 result thanks to some sharper shooting from beyond the arc hitting 10 of 28 three point attempts, good for 36 percent a 12 percent increase from the previous night. Alberta also took advantage of spread out scoring with Adam Paige registering a team high 20 points, Abdullah Shittu pouring in 19 points and Lars Ishimwe adding 17 points in the win.
 
"Alberta is a very talented team that are very proficient from three-point land," added Hanson. "They try to spread you out and find mismatches to attack.  They are always entertaining games when we play them so we are hoping for big crowds and are expecting some very entertaining basketball."
 
The T-Birds will be motivated to play in front of their home fans again for just their second home series of the season so far and final two-games ahead of the extended holiday break. The Golden Bears will also be re-familiarizing themselves with War Memorial Gym as it will be their first visit to the Point Grey Campus since January 13 and 14, 2017, nearly six years ago.
 
"It feels like we have been on the road for a long time so we are looking forward to coming home and playing in War Gym," concluded Hanson. "It's been a long time since Alberta has played in our gym so it's nice to finally have the chance to play them here."
 
For more information and ticket availability check here.
 
You can also watch all the action on Canada West TV.