CALGARY – After a two-week break, the University of Calgary Dinos begin the playoffs with a series against the team they beat for the Canada West championship last season, the Thompson Rivers WolfPack. The teams played twice in the regular season in Kamloops, with the Dinos sweeping the Wolfpack on the road.
TRU made the CW quarterfinal by beating the Brandon Bobcats in a three-game series last weekend. After splitting the first two games, TRU won on the road 94-81 in the deciding game, setting up their second straight postseason trip to the Jack Simpson Gymnasium. The Dinos swept their last regular season series against the MacEwan Griffins two weeks ago.
DETAILS
- Best-of-three Canada West Quarter-final vs. Thompson Rivers
- Game 1: Thursday, Feb. 23, 7 p.m.
- Game 2: Friday, Feb. 24, 7 p.m.
- Game 3: Saturday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m. (if necessary)
- Jack Simpson Gymnasium
HEADLINES
- After a 16-4 regular season, the Dinos have home court throughout the playoffs and will host the CW Final Four with a quarter-final victory. They swept the WolfPack by scores of 84-76 and 76-60 earlier this month.
- TRU lost Game 1 of their series to Brandon 101-95, but dominated Game 2 96-64 before winning in three games. Last year at the Jack, they fell to the Dinos in the conference championship 91-84. Five players hit double-figures for the champions, as Calgary hit six more threes and made nine more free throws.
No. 6 CALGARY DINOS (16-4, 0-0 playoffs)
Last result: 95-87 win over MacEwan
- The Dinos secured home court in the playoffs after Lethbridge beat Alberta in the last game of the season. The reigning Canada West champions swept TRU and MacEwan to wrap up the regular season.
- In their first victory against the Wolfpack, the Dinos actually trailed going into the fourth quarter, but outscored their opponents 21-11 in the final frame for the eight-point win. In game 2, Calgary controlled the game from the beginning as they won by 16, with three players in double-figures.
- Calgary comes into the series with one of the best offenses in the league, second in points per game (89.8) and field-goal percentage, (47.8) while fourth in three-point percentage (37.2). At the defensive end, they're fourth in opponents points per game (75.6) and first in steals per game (11).
- Reigning MVP Thomas Cooper had another strong campaign in the regular season, finishing first in total points and free throws, while also finishing in the top 10 in rebounds and steals. Mambi Diawara and David Kapinga also averaged double-figures this season, with Kapinga leading the conference in three-point percentage (48.1) while his 50 steals were second.
THOMPSON RIVERS WOLFPACK (8-12, 2-1 playoffs)
Last result: 94-81 win against Brandon
- 2016 third-team all-star Volodymyr Iegorov was a force last weekend as he led his team to victory. The Ukranian led all of last week's play-in series teams in scoring at 23.3 points per game, while also averaging a double-double with 10.3 rebounds per game.
- In their game 3 win against the Bobcats, TRU led by as many as 26, although Brandon came back to within three with about four minutes left. But Iegorov would score five straight points en route to a 21-point, 11-rebound night. Four of his teammates also hit double-figures in the game, including Luke Morris who led the team with 25.
- TRU will have to find away to keep up with Calgary offensively, as the Wolfpack averaged just 72.6 points per game third-last in the league. Despite shooting the best free-throw percentage at 79.1 per cent, they only average 16 shot per game from the line, which is second-last.
- Iegorov had another all-star season in 2016, averaging 18 points per game, while pulling down 9.1 rebounds, which was fourth in the conference. He scored 17 in the championship game last year.
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