PREVIEW: National-bound Huskies tip-off Final 8 against Badgers

Friday, Apr. 1 vs. Brock Badgers 1:00 p.m. Edmonton, Alta. (Watch Live on CBC.ca / CBC gem)
Saturday, Apr. 2 vs. TBD Edmonton, Alta. (Watch Live on CBC.ca / CBC gem)
Sunday, Apr. 3 vs. TBD Edmonton, Alta. (Watch Live on CBC.ca / CBC gem)

All you can ask for is a chance at the dance. The Huskies have that chance this weekend.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's basketball team is back in the U SPORTS Final 8 for the first-time since 2015, as they make their seventh national championship appearance in program history.

The program enters as the No. 8 seed, meaning a matchup with the No. 1 seed in Friday's quarter-final against the OUA Champion Brock Badgers.

The Badgers earned the number-one billing after breezing through their regular-season schedule with a 15-1 record, en route to claiming the conference championship over Queen's with a 95-75 win on their home floor.

When it comes to Saskatchewan, the ticket was punched following Marquavian Stephens' game-tying triple at the buzzer and eventually, an overtime win over the Regina Cougars in the Canada West bronze medal game less than two weeks ago in Edmonton.

Now, the Huskies are back on the road to Edmonton. With the Alberta Golden Bears playing host to nationals, the Huskies are one of three Canada West programs in the Final 8, along with the Golden Bears and conference champion Victoria Vikes.

Victoria and Alberta were both seeded below Brock however, who earned the second No. 1 seed in their program's history and first since 1992 when they won their first-ever national championship.

While Brock is relatively unfamiliar to the biggest stage in university hoops, some of the key faces within the program are not. Willy Mangiat, who is in his second-season at the helm of the Badgers, was the lead assistant of the Carleton Ravens — his alma mater. Mangiat has five national titles to his name, two as a coach and three as a player — all with the Ravens.

Meanwhile, T.J. Lall has been one of the best players in the country all season long. The fellow former Raven is in his first season as a Badger and was fifth in the nation with 22.9 points-per-game. Lall was one of the countries best at getting to the line, ranking ninth in U SPORTS with 4.9 free throw attempts per-game. Emmanuel Owoo-toah and Daniel Caldwell will be the men the Huskies need to keep track of beyond-the-arc. The pair of guards rank second and eighth in the nation in three-point percentage with 54.2 and 48.6 per-cent clips. Owoo-toah is another former Raven transfer, who won a national championship with the program in 2017.

But Saskatchewan has scorers of their own — none more lethal than Stephens. The transfer has been the go-to-guy all-season long for the green-and-white, with his 19.6 points-per-game ranking second in the Canada West and tenth in U SPORTS. Stephens has already made his mark on the program with one of the biggest shots of the decade in the conference's bronze medal game. This weekend presents another opportunity for yet another big-time moment from the Flint, Mich. product.

Saskatchewan has been one of the hottest teams in U SPORTS over the second half of the season and enter nationals as winners of 12 of their last 15 games. All year long they've been fighting to be considered one of the best. Thanks to their win over Regina, they earned the opportunity to battle on the national stage. Their first opportunity comes Friday against Brock.

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10 Things:

Saskatchewan is in pursuit of their second national championship in program history
With no current Huskies being a part of the program's 2014-15 run to nationals, Nervens Demosthene is the only member of the 2021-22 roster who has played in a Final 8, after he helped lead the Bishop Giaters to the 2019 national championship
One player who was a part of the 2014-15 run is current assistant coach Alex Unruh, who will be making his national championship coaching debut this weekend
After what has been six years in the program, Emmanuel Akintunde will suit up in his final games as a Huskie this weekend, as the Saskatoon product will wind down his fifth-and-final year of eligibility.
The Huskies and Badgers will be the first to tip-off in Edmonton, with the three remaining quarter-finals to follow
Rounding out the rest of the tournament are the No. 4 Dalhousie Tigers, No. 5 Queen's Gaels, No. 6 McGill Redbirds and No. 7 Carleton, who joins the aforementioned No. 2 Vikes and No. 3 Golden Bears
Only twice has the national champion been a non-OUA school since 2003-04 — Saskatchewan in 2009-10 and the Calgary Dinos in 2017-18
Other than the Huskies and Dinos, the Badgers are the only other program than the Ravens to win a national title during that span, with Carleton winning 15 of the last 18, including back-to-back in 2019 and 2020. They'll be looking to make it a three-peat this weekend
T.J. Lall's 22.9 points-per-game during the regular-season are the most among player in the Final 8
The festivities in Edmonton get underway on Thursday night, with the U SPORTS All-Canadians and major award winners set to be announced