Game Information
 
Date: Friday, Nov. 22 & Saturday, Nov. 23
Time: 8:00 & 7:00 p.m.
Location: Saskatoon, SK
Venue: Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court at the PAC
Watch: Canadawest.tv
Get in the Action: Tickets
 
SASKATOON – The undefeated University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's basketball team is back in action this weekend at the PAC, as they get set to take on their provincial rival Regina Cougars.
 
The Huskies, who are fresh off their bye week, enter the weekend with a perfect 4-0 record and will put that blemish-free record on the line against the Cougars in the lone matchup of the regular season between the two programs.
 
Saskatchewan will continue their four-game homestand this weekend, after opening their home schedule with back-to-back convincing victories over the visiting MacEwan Griffins.
 
Regina, who started the season with three consecutive losses, have turned their season around, getting back to the .500 mark with three straight wins. The Cougars escaped with a 72-71 win over the Wesmen on Friday night thanks to a Matt Barnard mid-range buzzer-beating jumper, before recording the sweep on Saturday night with an 86-78 victory.
 
The Huskies and Cougars met in regular-season action last season in Regina at the CKHS, with the two programs splitting the series. Saskatchewan last hosted Regina in conference play at the PAC back in 2017-18, when both teams picked up one win apiece. The Huskies last swept the Cougars in regular-season action back in 2014-15, with Saskatchewan recording 76-72 and 88-80 victories, which helped lead the club to a 15-5 record en route to finishing as Canada West finalists. 
 
10 Things
 
1: Saturday night will serve as Unity in Sport Night at the PAC. Prior to the game a camp will be run by Huskie athletes and members of the North American Indigenous Games team. Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand, Dr. Chad London - Dean of Kinesiology and Huskies men's basketball alumnus Michael Linklater will all speak throughout the night.
 
2: Saskatchewan enters the weekend as the fifth-ranked team in the country. The Huskies are among three Canada West programs within the top ten, trailing only the Calgary Dinos, who sit fourth.
 
3: The matchup is a rematch of last season's Canada West quarter-final, which saw the Huskies defeat the Cougars in consecutive contests to earn the sweep in the best-of-three series to advance to semifinal action.
 
4: The Huskies are one of only two undefeated programs remaining in the Canada West and one of six in U SPORTS, along with Dalhousie, Concordia, Ottawa, Carleton and Calgary.
 
5: Saskatchewan guard Emmanuel Akintunde matched his career-high with 24 points in the team's home opener on Friday, Nov. 8, while also recording ten rebounds to record the double-double.
 
6: J.T. Robinson, Alexander Dewar, Noah Nickel and Akintunde are all averaging double-digit points-per-game this season.
 
7: Including the Ron & Jane Graham Shootout, the Huskies are 5-0 on their home floor this season.
 
8: Through four games, the Huskies lead the Canada West with 89.8 points per game.
 
9: Regina has been trigger-happy from beyond-the-arc so far this season, with the team leading the conference in three-point attempts per-game with 35.2 through six contests.
 
10: The Cougars have made the playoffs in four consecutive seasons, with 2014-15 being their last time missing out on postseason basketball.
 
Scouting the Cougars
 
After going 4-5 in their nine preseason games, Regina got off to an 0-3 start to the 2019-20 Canada West campaign, which was highlighted by consecutive 11-point losses to visiting UBC in the opening weekend of the season. However, the club split their following series against Mount Royal before taking care of business over Winnipeg this past weekend.
 
Including four redshirts, eight members of the Cougars are new to the program this season. However, the team's top two scorers from last season in Grieshe Clerjuste and Carter Millar are both back with the program. Millar has gotten off to a tremendous start to the season, leading the way for the Cougars with 17.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game.
 
Four of the five members of the Cougars starting lineup from Saturday night attended Dr. Martin Leboldus High School in Regina, which was also the high school of Huskies guard Chan De Ciman. The perennial basketball powerhouse in Regina is the alma mater for seven of the 17 players on the Regina roster.