CALGARY – They have been two of the powerhouses in Canada West for more than a decade, and one of the great hardcourt rivalries in U SPORTS will be renewed this weekend when they meet in a best-of-three conference semifinal in the Jack Simpson Gym.

Owning six of the past 11 Canada West titles between them, the University of Calgary Dinos and the UBC Thunderbirds will face off for a chance to head to the conference championship game. The series opens Thursday night at 8 p.m., with Friday's Game 2 also set for 8 p.m. Game 3, if necessary, goes Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Though repeated conference realignment means they see less of each other, it's always an event when the Dinos and Thunderbirds meet – and it will take on extra significance in their first postseason tilt since the 2010 national semifinal in Ottawa: the winner of the series earns one of Canada West's two automatic berths to the U SPORTS Final 8 in Halifax, while the loser will need to wait another week and hope for the national wild-card spot.

The Dinos, ranked No. 5 in U SPORTS, posted a 16-4 record and easily handled the Saskatchewan Huskies in the opening round last week. They earned the conference's second seed over the 17-3, fourth-ranked Thunderbirds thanks to their superior RPI score, giving them hosting rights for this series. UBC earned some revenge on the Manitoba Bisons, who knocked them out of the playoffs last season, earning a series sweep last week in Vancouver.

Calgary won both meetings in the regular season, taking 100-76 and 92-74 wins back in early November, also in the Jack, but there has been plenty of basketball played since then, and the Thunderbirds have won 17 of the 18 games they've played since that sweep at the hands of the Dinos.

The winner of the series will face the winner of the Alberta-Lethbridge semifinal next week in the single-game Canada West Championship.

DETAILS
Canada West Semifinal (best-of-three)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 22 through Saturday, Feb. 24 (if necessary)
Time: 8 p.m. MT Thursday and Friday; 7 p.m. Saturday (if necessary)
Venue: Jack Simpson Gym, University of Calgary

HEADLINES

• First postseason meeting between the Dinos and T-Birds since the 2011 national semifinal
• Dinos riding a three-game win streak over UBC, dating back to the 2015 season – including 100-76 and 92-74 wins in November 2017
• Winner advances to the Canada West championship game, and earns a berth to the U SPORTS Final 8 in Halifax
• First playoff meeting between the two teams since the 2011 national semifinal, which ended a run of three straight seasons meeting in the playoffs

No. 5 CALGARY DINOS (16-4, 2-0 playoffs)

• Swept Saskatchewan 98-73 and 100-76 in the quarter-final round last week
• Leading scorers: Mambi Diawara (22 points/game), David Kapinga (11.8/game)
• Leading rebounders: Mambi Diawara (7.0/game), Lars Schlueter (4.9/game)
• Third in CW in scoring (87.3 points/game), second in points allowed (72.7)
• Schlueter had his best weekend of the season against Saskatchewan, averaging 20 points on nearly 64 per cent shooting

No. 4 UBC THUNDERBIRDS (17-3, 2-0 playoffs)

• Swept Manitoba 106-74 and 97-72 in the quarter-final round last week
• Leading scorers: Conor Morgan (23.9 points/game), Philip Jalalpoor (17.7/game)
• Leading rebounders: Conor Morgan (9.7/game), Luka Zaharijevic (5.9/game)
• Led CW in scoring (94.2 points/game), third in points allowed (74/game)
• Outside shooting, led by Jalalpoor and Taylor Browne, provides an offensive threat in addition to Morgan's strong inside game

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