By Canadian Press

A capsule look at the U Sports men’s basketball Final 8

Mar 7, 2024 | 10:29 AM

A capsule look at the eight teams competing in the U Sports men’s basketball Final 8 in Quebec City.

Teams are listed by seeding heading into the tournament, along with their respective regular season records. The tournament runs from Friday to Sunday.

1. Victoria (17-3)

The Vikes are top seed for a second straight year after winning their third consecutive Canada West title. Led by back-to-back conference player of the year and U Sports scoring leader Diego Maffia (26.7 points per game average), Victoria is seeking its first national title since 1997 and ninth in program history. The Vikes, who led the country in scoring averaging 92 points per game, also boast the likes of Canada West defensive player of the year Aaron Tesfagiorgis and conference second-team all-star Elias Ralph.

2. Queen’s (19-3)

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The Gaels are coming off an electric OUA title victory on Saturday, with Cole Syllas capping a 29-point performance with the game-winning three-pointer to top Brock 79-76. Queen’s comes in battle-tested, having defeated Toronto 95-90 in double overtime in the OUA semifinals after topping McMaster 85-79 in the quarterfinals. The Gaels will look to make use of that experience in their third-ever — and third straight — appearance at the Final 8 in hopes of winning it all. Led by OUA coach of the year Steph Barrie, Queen’s boasts first-team OUA all-star and conference defensive player of the year Luka Syllas alongside second-team OUA all-star Cole Syllas.

3. UQAM (11-5)

It’s the second straight appearance in the Final 8 for the Citadins after winning their second consecutive RSEQ crown. UQAM fell to eventual champion Carleton in the opening round of the Final 8 last season before later topping Queen’s in the fifth-place game. Now, the Citadins first face another formidable team from Ottawa in the Gee-Gees and will look to their third-best defence in the country (70.4 points allowed average) — tied with Laval — to help pull them through.

4. Dalhousie (11-9)

The Tigers’ record may look underwhelming but they finished second in the AUS regular-season standings behind St. Francis Xavier (12-8). Dalhousie went 1-1 against the X-Men in the regular season before downing them 77-67 in overtime to claim the AUS title on Feb. 25. It was the Tigers’ fourth conference title in five years. Led by AUS MVP and tournament MVP Max Christie, the fourth-leading scorer in the country (22.1 average), Dalhousie will be up against another less favourable team looking to make some noise in Brock.

5. Brock (11-11)

The Badgers had quite the Cinderella story in the OUA playoffs. Brock defeated Carleton 70-69 in the opening round, followed by a massive 81-58 upset over Ottawa in the quarterfinals and a 75-72 semifinal win over 16-6 Western. The Badgers closed out the regular season with three straight wins and finished fourth in the OUA’s Central Division. Brock can serve as a potential threat if it can rebound from its OUA title loss.

6. Ottawa (19-3)

This will be the Gee-Gees’ 14th appearance in the Final 8 in program history, having had two showings in the title game (2014, 2015), falling to rival Carleton both times. With the Ravens going through a youth movement and out of the picture this year, Ottawa earned an at-large berth after its upset loss to Brock in the OUA quarterfinals. Following a 20-point bronze-medal game win over Victoria in last season’s Final 8, the Gee-Gees now aim to take the next step in trying to win the program’s first-ever national title.

7. Winnipeg (15-5)

The Wesmen are looking to avoid back-to-back disappointments when they face Queen’s on Friday. Winnipeg held an 18-point lead in the opening frame before eventually falling to Victoria 96-91 in the Canada West title game on Feb. 26. Led by conference second- and third-team all-stars Shawn Maranan and Mikhail Mikhailov, the Wesmen aim to counter the country’s fourth-highest scoring offence with their seventh-best defence.

8. Laval (6-10)

The host Rouge et Or may seem a weak link in the field but upsets are not out of the question here. It’s Laval’s first appearance in the Final 8 since 2008 and comes after finishing the regular season 4-2 in the month of February before falling 77-67 to Concordia in the RSEQ semifinals on Feb. 28. The Rouge et Or’s third-best defence in the country will be tested against Victoria on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2024.

Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press