Heat basketball teams at home this weekend

The UBC Okanagan Heat athletics teams have another busy weekend on tap.

The men’s and women’s basketball teams are both home to the UFV Cascades, with the openers last night and the rematches tonight at The Furnace.

Tonight’s games tip-off at 5 and 7 p.m., with the men following the women.

The men’s and women’s volleyball teams are closing out 2018 with matches in Saskatoon against the U of S Huskies. Those games are matinees today, with the women serving up at 11 a.m. PT and the men to follow at 1 p.m.

This is the final weekend of Canada West action before the semester break.

Heading into Friday’s openers, the Heat team with the best record this season is the men’s basketball (5-5), while women’s volleyball (2-8) has been improving as of late.

UBCO’s women’s basketball (0-10) and men’s volleyball (0-10) programs were both still seeking their first win of the campaign.

As for their opponents this weekend, in basketball, the UFV women were 5-5 and the Cascades men were 6-4.

In volleyball, the Huskies women entered with the same record as the Heat at 2-8, while the U of S men were sitting at 4-6.

UBCO’s men’s basketball team will be looking to rebound from getting swept in Kamloops by the Thompson Rivers WolfPack last weekend, losing 84-75 after falling 82-66 to their rivals and head coach Ken Olynyk’s former program.

The 66-point effort was the second-lowest output this season for the Heat men, who have only been held under 70 points twice through 10 games. Last season, 75 per cent of contests saw UBCO held to under 70 points.

The Heat men are winless in Kamloops since 2013-14, and are now 2-7 lifetime there, while boasting a winning record (5-4) at home versus TRU.

The visiting Cascades are coming in hot, winners of five in a row after sweeping a two-game home set in Abbotsford last weekend, defeating UNBC by margins of 19 and 16 points (81-62, 85-79) to vault into a fourth-place tie in the Canada West standings.

Calgary is in first at (10-0), followed by UBC (7-1) and Winnipeg (7-3), with UFV, Mount Royal and Saskatchewan all knotted at (6-4).

Despite the two losses last weekend, the Heat are still in a playoff spot, sitting in 10th in the Canada West standings.

The Heat men have been led offensively by Triston Matthews, a third-year guard from North Vancouver who has finished with 20 or more points in five of 10 games, including 21 in last Saturday’s loss to TRU.

Matthews is averaging 18 points per game this season, tops for the Heat and eighth among Canada West scoring leaders.

Jacob Stokker, a sophomore for the Heat, has scored exactly 15 points in three of his last four games. The one game he didn’t get 15, Stokker scored none due to an injury in Calgary against Mount Royal.

The Cascades have earned a reputation for playing stellar defence and taking care of the ball all season long. UFV has allowed the sixth-fewest points in the conference at 78.2 per game and averages only 11.8 turnovers per game. UFV also boasts the fourth-best rebounding margin in the conference at 4.9.