The University of Regina's men's basketball team returns to the Canada West schedule this weekend, as the Cougars will host UNBC and Mount Royal for the first times in program history.

UNBC is in town on Friday night, while Mount Royal squares off with Brandon on Friday before visiting the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m.

After going through the first half of the Canada West schedule with a 3-7 record, the Cougars returned to action last Saturday with a non-conference game at Williston State College. The U of R dropped that game by an 86-69 margin, but Paul Gareau had a fine 29-point performance and added 10 rebounds for a double-double and Connor Burns chipped in with 12 points and 17 rebounds.

Burns (12.4 ppg) and Gareau (12.2) have contributed to the Cougar offence all season long, but it's been Frank Brown who has been the catalyst so far. In his first season at the U of R after transferring from Phoenix College, Brown averages 17.2 points per game and is third in the conference with 31 three-pointers made.

Brown, Burns, Gareau, and third-year guard Brendan Hebert have each started all 10 Canada West games for the Cougars this year, while Darius Mole got the start in the team's last four conference games and also started against Williston State last Saturday. Sterling Nostedt, Matthew Augustine, and Jeremy Zver have contributed in all 10 games off the bench for the Cougars, while Travis Sylvestre and Antonio Tate have both seen meaningful minutes this season.

UNBC (5-5) has been impressive in its first season at the CIS level. The Timberwolves won their first ever Canada West game with a 69-67 road win over Thompson Rivers, and also have two victories over UBC Okanagan, one win over Trinity Western, and one over Saskatchewan in the team's final game before the December break.

Despite not starting any games for UNBC this year, guard Jose Araujo – also a member of El Salvador's national team – averages a team-high 16.8 points per game. Sam Raphael is just behind Araujo with 16.5 points per game, while Francis Rowe averages 15 points per game and has had 20 free throw attempts without a miss this season.

All adept from the perimeter, Araujo, Raphael, and Rowe are the major reasons why UNBC comes into the weekend leading the conference in three-point percentage (38.2%).

Mount Royal comes into the weekend with a 2-8 record, with the Cougars' two wins coming during weekend splits at UBC Okanagan and at home against Thompson Rivers. Third-year guard Awet Abraha leads the team with 15.1 points per game, while fifth-year forward Nick Loewen is second on the team in points per game (14.8) and has pulled down a team-high 67 rebounds this year.

Expect third-year players Deng Awak and Oluwafemi Ogun and rookie Matt Matear (Bishop O'Byrne HS) to round out the starting five for the Cougars.

Both games will be available live at www.canadawest.tv, while Access7 will also be picking up Saturday's contest against Mount Royal on tape delay.