Brian Swane, Special to Canada West
EDMONTON – And then there were four.
After a terrific quarter-final round that saw a pair of series decided in a winner-take-all Game 3, the Canada West men's basketball playoffs have come down to the semifinals.
The defending Canada West and U SPORTS champion Calgary Dinos host Saskatchewan, while Alberta takes on UBC in best-of-three series, looking to advance to next weekend's championship final and earn an automatic berth in the upcoming U SPORTS Final 8 in Halifax.
You can watch every CW game all post-season on Canada West TV.
No. 4 Saskatchewan (11-9 reg. season, 2-0 playoffs) -AT- No. 1 Calgary (20-0, 2-0)
- Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary
- Game 1 – Thursday, 8 p.m. MST
- Game 2 – Friday, 8 p.m. MST
- Game 3* - Saturday, 4 p.m. MST*
For a third straight year, the Dinos and Huskies are crossing paths in Calgary during the Canada West post-season. The Dinos defeated Saskatchewan 2-0 in a best-of-three quarterfinal last year, after an overtime win over Saskatchewan in the 2017 bronze medal game. Most recently, the Huskies visited Calgary for two games in November, losing both by an average margin of 30 points. Both teams swept their quarter-final series at home last weekend: Saskatchewan beating Regina in Saskatoon, while Calgary downed Winnipeg in two games at Jack Simpson Gym. The Dinos have won 21 straight conference games at the Jack, spanning the regular season and playoffs. Saskatchewan guard Lawrence Moore averaged 19.8 points to rank second in Canada West, while his teammate Joseph Barker was No. 2 with 9.8 rebounds per game during the regular season.
No. 3 UBC (17-3, 2-1) -AT- No. 2 Alberta (15-5, 2-1)
- Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton
- Game 1 – Friday, 8 p.m. MST
- Game 2 – Saturday, 7 p.m. MST
- Game 3* - Sunday, 5 p.m. MST*
The Golden Bears and T-Birds both had to rally after losing Game 1 of their quarter-final series last weekend, coming back to prevail in three games over Lethbridge and Fraser Valley, respectively. Alberta shot a blistering 27-of-55 from beyond the arc combined in their two wins over the Pronghorns, while the T-Birds used defence to overtake UFV, holding the Cascades to 131 points total in Games 2 and 3 after giving up 92 in the series opener. Only three weeks ago, at the end of the regular season, Alberta beat UBC twice in Edmonton, tripling the T-Birds' loss total for all of 2018-19. Two of the best big men in U SPORTS hoops, Alberta's Brody Clarke (19.8 points per game and a conference-best 10.9 rebounds per game during the regular season) and UBC's Grant Shephard (16.2 points, 8.9 boards), will look to give their teams a critical inside edge.