For the first time since 2016 and just the third time ever, the UBC Thunderbirds are playing host to the INDOCHINO U SPORTS Final 8, presented by Victory Creative Group. Run in conjunction with the women's tournament, the T-Birds' men's team will hit the court on Thursday, March 13th, in a fight for gold that will culminate in the national championship game on Sunday, March 16th.

This is the 13th appearance at nationals for the 'Birds under head coach Kevin Hanson, last playing at the tournament in the 2019-20 season where they won the bronze medal. With two silvers and two bronzes during Hanson's tenure, UBC has their sights set on that elusive breakthrough to win the program's first national title since 1972.

The T-Birds enter this year's tournament as the third seed, battle-tested after a gauntlet of a Canada West playoff run that saw them defeat nationally-ranked sides Winnipeg and Manitoba before falling to Calgary in a hard-fought Canada West Final.
 

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Their opponent in Thursday's quarterfinal is the UPEI Panthers, who emerged from a well-balanced and competitive AUS conference as champions for the first time since 2003. This is their second appearance at the Final 8 in the last three seasons, after they came inches away from upsetting top-seeded UVic in the 2023 quarterfinals.

Kamari Scott scored 32 points for the Panthers in that game, and the fifth-year guard remains a star for UPEI this time around, as he was named an AUS First Team All-Star for the first time this season. He's coming off a 24-point, seven-rebound performance against STFX in the AUS Championship game, where the 12-8 Panthers upset the 15-5 X-Men to punch their ticket to nationals.

The Panthers hang their hat on their defence, ranking first in the AUS in opponents' points per game (70.0) with by far the best turnover margin (+4.5 per game). Offensively they rank lower, averaging 75.5 points per game (sixth in the AUS) while shooting 39.4% from the field and 30.3% from deep.

UBC, meanwhile, was the third-highest scoring team in Canada West in the regular season (87.0 points per game), while also ranking fifth in points allowed (73.5 per game). The T-Birds do much of their damage inside, leading the conference in two-point field goals made (25.1 per game), shooting 56.4% on shots inside the arc.

The forward trio of Nikola Guzina, Fareed Shittu and Victor Radocaj all averaged 10 or more points in the regular season, while the team's leading scorer and Canada West First Team All-Star Adam Olsen has plenty of size for the guard position at 6'7". Shittu in particular stepped up his game in the conference playoffs, averaging 20 points and 12.7 rebounds over the three games and earning back-to-back Canada West Player of the Week awards.



Four of UBC's top nine players in terms of minutes this season (Shittu, Radocaj, Brendan Sullivan and Micah Jessie) are in their fifth and final seasons of university ball, and aiming to go out on a high at the Final 8. Toni Maric is the only player to have experienced the action and environment of the U SPORTS nationals before, having been part of the T-Birds' 2019-20 squad as a first-year.

The level of competition at the 2025 edition of the tournament will be incredibly high, with each of the eight programs hungry for a national title. The Calgary Dinos are the only program at the tournament who have won the championship in the 21st century, while the Victoria Vikes (eight) and Thunderbirds (two) are the only schools out of the eight to have won more than one national banner in their history.

The top seed at the tournament – and one of the three teams competing this weekend who are searching for their first U SPORTS title – are the OUA champion Ottawa Gee-Gees, who have won 19 games in a row in a streak that dates back to mid-November.

The Dinos sit in the second seed, putting them on a collision course for a Canada West Final rematch with the 'Birds in the semifinals, should the higher-ranked teams win both of those matchups. Rounding out the top half of the seeds are the dangerous Vikes, who won Canada West bronze and have only lost one game all season.



The rest of the deep field features the RSEQ champion Bishop's Gaiters, the AUS champion Panthers, the OUA silver medalist Queen's Gaels, and the RSEQ silver medalist Concordia Stingers.

UBC and UPEI face off in their quarterfinal bout at 8:00 p.m. (PT) on Thursday, inside the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. It's the first-ever meeting between the two programs from opposite coasts.

Should the T-Birds win, they'll face the winner of the Calgary vs Queen's game on Friday night. If they lose to the Panthers, they'll face the loser out of the Dinos and Gaels in the consolation semifinals earlier in the day on Friday.

For tickets and other information go to the INDOCHINO U SPORTS Final 8 website.