CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos men's basketball team (4-6) will ring in the new year at home this weekend as they welcome the Winnipeg Wesmen (6-2) to open the winter semester.
The action gets underway Friday at 8 p.m. following the women's game. Saturday's game is also scheduled for 8 p.m.
Both games will take place inside the Jack Simpson Gym and will be streamed live on Canada West TV.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1. HEALTH AND HAPPINESS IN THE NEW YEAR – Mounting injuries plagued the Dinos during the fall semester, but a clean(ish) bill of health is on tap to start the New Year. Third-year guard
Noah Wharton will make his Jack Simpson debut, after playing the final four road games of 2022. The frontcourt also regains reinforcements, with
Spencer Roberts back in action after missing half of the fall slate. This weekend will also see the return of
Mason Foreman to the Dinos lineup, back this semester to use his final year of U SPORTS eligibility.
2. FREE THROWS – Calgary enters 2023 attempting the second most free throws per game in Canada West. There is room for improvement, however, as Calgary has the second-lowest FT % on the season at 65%.
3. MANITOBA MIGHT – Three Manitoba-based schools find themselves in the top five of Canada West through the first half of the season. Sitting in third, Winnipeg has yet to face the top-seeded Manitoba Bisons but has already dispatched the fifth-seed Brandon Bobcats four times this season.
4. EVERY POSSESSION COUNTS – Quantity takes precedence over quality this weekend, with Calgary looking to keep the number of possessions for both teams on equal footing. Winnipeg is the fifth-best offensive-rebounding team and leads CW in turnover margin. It's no wonder Winnipeg has more field-goal attempts than their opponents in three-quarters of their games.
5. HOME COURT ADVANTAGE – Calgary enters the weekend a perfect 4-0 in conference play inside the Jack Simpson Gym so far this season. While the sample size is smaller, the Dinos have an average winning margin of nearly 20 points (+18.25) in home games after allowing their opponents to crack 70 points in the scoring column just once in those four games.
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