They head into one of the biggest arenas in sa国际传媒 to take on one of the most successful basketball programs in the history of Canadian Interuniversity Sport.
There鈥檚 no question the No. 8 seed University of Victoria Vikes face the toughest test of their season tonight when they open the CIS national men鈥檚 basketball tournament against the defending champion, No. 1-ranked and host Carleton Ravens at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.
But the Vikes have two aces up their sleeve and both will be needed if UVic is to pull off one of the biggest upsets in years at the men鈥檚 Final 8.
Emerging big man Chris McLaughlin has caught fire in the post-season, and when you add in one of the best defences in the country, this David is well prepared for its Goliath.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a difficult task, no question,鈥� said Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp, whose club is 3-1 in these playoffs. 鈥淐arleton is good offensively, good defensively, and they do all the little things well that you need to do to be successful.
鈥淏ut if we focus on what has made us successful... that鈥檚 focus on the defensive side of things, then we鈥檒l be OK. Our defence has given us a chance to win every night, even when we haven鈥檛 been offensively strong.鈥�
The Vikes finished with the top-ranked defence in sa国际传媒 West, allowing 68.5 points per game. But the Ravens, led by two-time CIS player-of-the-year Phil Scrubb, led the CIS in scoring with 91 points per game.
And most of the Ravens offence goes through Scrubb, a third-year guard out of Richmond who averages 18.6 points a game. And Scrubb usually looks for his go-to guy Tyson Hinz. Hinz was named a first-team all-Canadian for the third straight year. So it鈥檚 going to be up to Vikes point guards Brandon Dunlop and Kyle Peterson to put a blanket on Scrubb.
鈥淲e know what they鈥檙e about,鈥� said Dunlop, who is third on the Vikes in playoff scoring, averaging 10 points a game. 鈥淧hil is one of many veterans on their team who have been through the ropes so it鈥檒l come down to how we perform and if we can contain him.鈥�
The Vikes have played the Ravens once already this season, losing a pre-season contest to Carleton in the Guy Vetrie tournament in early October.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit of help having played them,鈥� said Dunlop, who will be playing his final games for the Vikes as he finishes up his teaching degree after graduating from Claremont Secondary. 鈥淲e learned some things and now it鈥檚 a matter of incorporating them into our game plan.鈥�
A big part of the Vikes game plan 鈥� on defence and offence 鈥� will be their big No. 12. Third-year centre McLaughlin has emerged as a major force in these playoffs. The Oakville, Ont., native leads the Vikes in playoff scoring with 18.3 points per game, as well as rebounding, pulling down an average of 10 boards a game. During the regular season, McLaughlin averaged 10 points a game.
鈥淐hris is playing really well right now and we鈥檒l need that size at both ends of the floor,鈥� Beaucamp said.
The Vikes鈥� task is made even tougher by the fact the Ravens will be playing in their own back yard so the home of the NHL鈥檚 Senators will surely be a sea of Ravens fans.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure there鈥檒l be a big crowd and playing in an arena setting is a little different,鈥� Dunlop said.
鈥淚 played in the [PNE] Agrodome for high school provincials in Grade 11 but this will obviously be a lot bigger than that. But after the first couple of minutes, it鈥檒l just be like any other floor.鈥�
The Vikes-Ravens game will be the showcase game today at 5 p.m. PT. The other quarter finals today have second-ranked Cape Breton playing seventh-ranked Lakehead; No. 3 seed Ottawa playing No. 6 McGill and sa国际传媒 West champion UBC going up against No. 5 seed Acadia.
The four winners advance to Saturday鈥檚 semifinals, which are broadcast live on The Score. The championship game goes Sunday at 12:30 p.m. PT, also shown live on The Score.
FREE THROWS: UVic and Carleton are tied with eight CIS men鈥檚 basketball titles apiece. The Ravens won their eight in the last 10 years. . . . Ravens coach Dave Smart was named CIS coach of the year.
IN THE PAINT
TODAY
Quarter-finals
9 a.m. - Lakehead vs. Cape Breton
11:15 a.m. - McGill vs. Ottawa
2 p.m. - UBC vs. Acadia
5 p.m. - Carelton vs. Victoria
* All games at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa
