By Howard Tsumura
VarsityLetters.ca
VANCOUVER — Was the biggest surprise on Friday night the way in which the UBC Thunderbirds turned in one of their most inspired and complete team performances in recent memory en route to defeating the No. 1-ranked team in the country?
Or was it, upon hearing the final horn sound in its 93-87 win over the defending national champion Victoria Vikes (4-1), the ways in which’Birds (4-2) acknowledged each other’s efforts in a heartfelt but clearly muted fashion before leaving the floor and heading to their locker room at historic War Memorial Gymnasium?
Yes, it’s still early in the season and you’re not supposed to read the tea leaves too studiously with the Canada West’s 20-game campaign having just reached its quarter pole
Yet fans who have followed the Pacific Division of the Canada West over the last few seasons know all too well that the Vikes have been the omnipresent obstacle in UBC’s basketball universe, and on Friday they came in riding a program-high 33-game win streak while looking to beat the ‘Birds for the 11th straight time.
And so somehow, the sound of the game-ending horn seemed to be met with a level of jubilance that did not match the moment.
Or did it?
Such was the mental terrain the No. 8 Thunderbirds found themselves treading, the entire team’s unscripted, business-like reaction suddenly speaking louder than any amount of over-zealous, demonstrative post-game histrionics seemed capable of.
Just how different the mindset may or may not be is going to be revealed over the next few weeks leading up to the December winter break. UBC defeated visiting UBC Okanagan (1-5) by a 100-70 count on Saturday and next returns to play Saturday (7 p.m.) when it takes a detour from U SPORTS competition and heads up Burnaby Mountain to face the Simon Fraser Red Leafs in just the fourth Buchanan Cup crosstown clash in the last 17 years.
Until then, here’s how three story arcs converged on Friday to produce one of the more memorable upsets in recent UBC men’s program history:
A DOSE OF REALITY
The first place to start?
How about how much more determined and focussed the team’s practices were following last week’s back-to-back home floor losses to the obviously talented but upstart Thompson Rivers WolfPack.
The Kamloops program is sitting in first place in the Pacific at 5-0, the entire 17-team Canada West’s only undefeated team, despite being picked to finish 14th overall in the preseason coaches poll.
“Yeah, I mean, it was definitely a little bit of an eye-opening kind of, I wouldn’t say necessarily a setback, but kind of put things into perspective for us,” said UBC’s 6-foot-10, 235 pound fourth-year forward Nikola Guzina of the two losses. “I think we had a good preseason and maybe we got high on ourselves a little bit, so those two losses to TRU put things into perspective for us. And I think this week in practice was a completely different energy for us. I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the coaches, everyone. I mean, from a tactical standpoint, switching some things up where we were struggling, I mean, just amazing.”
After UBC started the season with an 8-0 overall record, one of the few things new head coach Phil Jalalpoor had not done was address his team after a loss.
This time around, he not only had to do it twice in two days, he had to get his team ready to face the toughest out in the nation.
And after Friday’s win, he steadfastly preached the merits of process over panic.
“When we started off this season, understanding where we were with the big transition, we set standards,” said Jalalpoor. “We had a culture where we said ‘We want to be the most improved team, that sticks together’ and to have that be our guiding principle. So at the end of the day, we didn’t change anything in our approach.”
For Jalalpoor and the ‘Birds, it was clear that while no means easy, remaining steadfast to that credo and then watching it manifest in such empowering ways against the Vikes was the most significant piece to be taken away from the game.
It not only helped build a lead as large as 18 points, as fifth-year big man Nikola Guzina’s free throw gave UBC a 44-26 lead with 5:01 left in the half, it also set them up for a test of their resilience.
The Vikes’ proceeded to reel off breathtaking 21-3 run over the next four-and-a-half minutes to tie the game 47-47.
With 33 seconds left before halftime all of UBC’s momentum was gone. Birds’ rookie guard Zeru Abera did manage to score off a layin with eight seconds left, however, and the home team took a deceptive 49-47 lead into the locker room.
Victoria led by as many as three points early in the second half, but most impressive from UBC’s perspective was the way in which they kept the defending champs at arm’s length the rest of the night, surviving within the kind of crucible in which Vikes’ foes, over the past few seasons, have all withered.
How did Guzina describe the feeling?
“I think it was a collective energy and focus and composure,” he explained calmly. “I think I think we did stay composed throughout, which we’ve been struggling with. Against TRU, we kind of lost that joy a little bit. It can get a little tough in those moments when things aren’t going well. But I felt like today we just played for each other and I feel like we played free a little bit.”
Birds’ transfer point guard Holt Tomie, who scored a team-high 24 points with seven rebounds and four assists in the win, said “… we obviously had major things to fix last week from the two losses, but it turned out, I think, that the major things to fix were the psychological things… like just going out there and having fun. We have a ton of talent, that’s why we run 12 guys every game.”
Almost sheepishly, Jalalpoor admitted that while he was happy the way his team was able to counterpunch with the Vikes, that his team’s habit of giving back large leads to the opposition and then relying on late game re-sets may not be sustainable in the long run
“I’m not going to lie,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of games where we’ve had that same situation, so it’s great that we responded. But at some point we’ve got to slow the opposition runs a little bit earlier. Today we were able to respond because we’ve been through it unfortunately, so many times. But again, everything is a learning lesson.”
And, Jalalpoor knows that his team has to just keep working hard, because by the time the teams meet again Feb. 6-7 for a regular season-ending two-game set in the provincial capital, the host team will be getting ready to make yet another post-season push.
“There’s a reason why they are No. 1 and they’ll be there at the very end,” Jalalpoor said Friday.
UBC, UVIC TIED FOR LONGEST WIN STREAKS!
Martin Timmerman of USportsHoops.ca graciously helped Varsity Letters take a comprehensive look as the longest win streaks in recorded U SPORTS conference league play, and while not anywhere near the record 69 straight victories managed by the dynastic Carleton Ravens from 2002-02 through 2005-06, Friday’s win by UBC over the Vikes certainly holds its own within the pantheon.
The longest recorded win streak by a Canada West team currently on record is 39 games by the Calgary Dinos from Jan. 27, 2018 through Jan. 25, 2020.
When UBC beat Victoria on Friday, the loss not only snapped the Vikes win streak at 33, it created a tie at No. 10 overall with none other than the Thunderbirds themselves.
UBC also won 33 straight from Oct. 2005 to Jan. 6, 2007 under its legendary former head coach Kevin Hanson.
And, as mentioned, UBC’s win snapped a string of 10 straight losses to the Vikes, the most painful being the most recent.
This season’s returning ‘Birds have had to live with the gut-wrenching memory of last season’s 90-88 loss on a clock-beating walk-off jumper by the Vikes’ Ethan Boag as part of UVic’s 20-0 regular season. On Friday, Boag led all scorers with 30 points, including a huge three-pointer with four seconds left that pulled his team to within six and made the final 93-87 score complete.
Other Canada West win streaks just outside the Top 10 include Alberta (2019-22) and Brandon (1987-89) with respective 30-game streaks, Fraser Valley (2013-15) and Victoria (1982-85) with 29 and Manitoba (1973-76) with 27.
POWER IN THE PAINT
Friday’s win for UBC, aside from the obvious, was enlightening in other ways as well, perhaps most significantly in the ways in which the team’s size and lower body strength were able to set a foundation from which to play off potential mismatches.
That, of course, starts with the 6-foot-10, 235 pound Guzina whose ability to play a traditional post-up game as well as attack off the dribble creates a myriad of possibilities.
Guzina’s 22 minutes of floor time and the 18 provided off the bench by the 6-foot-8, 240 pound Karan Aujla were a nice one-two punch.
Combined the duo were 13-of-20 from the field for 30 points and 13 rebounds, all of which helped UBC to a healthy 52-18 advantage in paint points.
Aujla had his best game in blue and gold Friday.
Thrown right into the fire, he battled under the basket to hit his first four shots and finished with nine points in the first quarter.
Then, with eight minutes remaining, Guzina picked up his fourth foul with UBC leading by eight points (73-65).
Aujla subbed in, got a key block, and then held the fort down low, and when Guzina subbed back in with 4:25 left, the ‘Birds led by 10 points (85-75).
A former star at Burnaby South, it was back in March of 2022 that Aujla helped lead the Rebels to a B.C. Quad-A title game win over Surrey’s Semiahmoo Totems.
Of course Toni Maric and Tobi Akinkumni, who have the positional range to battle inside as well as out, as well as fifth-year guard-forward Gus Goerzen all chipped in to make UBC’s production in the paint as decisive as it was. The trio are all fifth-year starters.
These days, he’s reached a new physical peak of sorts through his diet and training regimen, and it showed Friday against the Vikes.
“I think it’s a combination of everything,” Aujla said when asked what has led to his more dynamic athletic presence. “Phil sees the potential in me and he’s helped me lock in. I think it has been the whole support crew that we have, including our strength and conditioning, just putting us through the summer.
“And then also, you know, shout out to my mom, always meal-prepping the best protein-packed lunches, dinners, you know? It makes it easier on my end to be able to focus on academics and basketball.”
So what’s in the Aujla protein pack?
“You got some Indian food mixed in there,” laughs Aujla. “You have some, like, kidney beans, rice.”
And UBC has even got another ingredient in the paint?
In spot minutes Friday, 6-foot-8, 240 pound Jacob Antchak was able to see three minutes of floor time, and his development over the course of the season begs even more curiosity about how much UBC may be able to leverage everything else about its look around agile girth in the paint. (See below for Saturday night update)
“If we can consistently be putting (big) guys out there, it’s going to be tough on teams,” said Guzina, “because we have size and skill at those spots, and I don’t know that a lot of teams have that.”
A WEEKEND SWEEP
UBC was once again dominant, this time catching fire down the fourth quarter stretch to beat the visiting UBC Okanagan Heat 100-70 at War Memorial Gym.
After outscoring the Vikes by the aforementioned 52-18 margin in the paint, the ‘Birds dominated the Heat by a 60-22 margin in the same department Saturday.
That’s a 152-40 margin for the weekend, a stark contrast to being outscored in the paint 62-54 over the previous weekend’s sweep at the hands of Thompson Rivers.
Guzina finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Antchak made his 13 minutes off the bench count, going 5-of-8 from the field and scoring 11 points.
UBC, which shot 51 per cent from the field, got 18 points from Nylan Roberts, 13 from Edouard Gauthier and 12 from Toni Maric.
The Birds dished 20 assists on 41 made field goals, including seven from point guard Tomie.
Jalen Shirley once again led the Heat with 17 points while Isaak Moore added 15 and Anthony Brady 11.
UBC won’t play until this coming Saturday (7 p.m.) when it travels to Simon Fraser University to face the Red Leafs in the Buchanan Cup crosstown clash.
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