SASKATOON, Sask. – The UBC Thunderbirds (6-2) won their fourth straight game with a smothering 83-52 victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies (1-7) on Saturday evening.

After some first-half shooting struggles, the T-Birds were dominant on both sides of the ball in the second half of the game, outscoring Saskatchewan 49-21 to pull away with the comfortable win.

Nikola Guzina and Nylan Roberts formed a two-headed monster for the blue and gold, leading the team in scoring and on the glass. Guzina finished with a game-high 22 points, on a hyper-efficient 10-13 from the field, and added five rebounds. Roberts followed his career-best outing on Friday with a tidy 19 points on Saturday, along with a game-high six boards.



The T-Birds defence came out strong, as they held the home side without a point for nearly the first four minutes of the game. However, the 'Birds struggled to score in their own right, missing all six of their three-point attempts during the first quarter, and seeing their early 6-0 lead quickly disappear once the Huskies finally got their first basket. The teams finished the opening frame tied 16-16.

Three minutes into the second quarter, Saskatchewan briefly took the lead. Free-firing wing Dylan Miller knocked down one of two first-half threes to put the Huskies up 21-20. All seven of Miller's first-half field goal attempts were from beyond the arc.

As the half went on, the 'Birds started leaning more heavily on leading scorer and 2024-25 Canada West All-Star Guzina. The big man took full advantage of the Huskies refusal to double-team him, putting up a game-high 14 points in the first half, and restoring a small UBC advantage by the end of the second quarter, 34-31.

The third quarter was defensive masterclass by the T-Birds. UBC effectively used zone pressure to make Saskatchewan overtly uncomfortable, with the Huskies offence looking stagnant and often settling for difficult jump shots.



Yet, it took until there was four minute left in the frame for the 'Birds to gain any significant separation, courtesy of the first-year who sealed Friday's win, Zeru Abera. Abera make a great defensive read to jump in for an improvised double team and swipe the ball cleanly, then went coast to coast for a tough layup through contact, before drawing an offensive foul and generating a turnover seconds after the Huskies inbounded the ball.

That sequence extended UBC's lead to a new game-high of nine points at 43-34. The blue and gold would finish the third quarter leading 51-38, having allowed just seven points since the half.

The 'Birds put the game away with a run to start the fourth. A 13-point spree, in which UBC went 5-5 from the field, saw the lead quickly balloon and become insurmountable. After Friday's near comeback by the Huskies, T-Birds coach Phil Jalalpoor took no chances in this one, keeping Guzina on the court right to the end of the 83-52 win.



UBC will make one more road trip next weekend ahead of the winter break. The team heads to Kelowna for a back-to-back set with the UBCO Heat (3-6), the first game tipping off at 5:30 p.m. (PT) on Friday, November 28.