TEAM OVERVIEWS
REGINA – The Cougars ended up with the No. 5 seed in the Canada West postseason after compiling an 11-9 record over what was the second most difficult schedule of the 17 teams in the conference. That gave them the right to host the 5/12 game last Thursday in the play-in round, a contest they dominated from start to finish as the Cougars defeated Thompson Rivers 93-68 to keep their season alive. Now in their 17th season as a member of Canada West, this year marks the 11th time that the Cougars have advanced to the conference quarterfinal round or its equivalent, the Great Plains Division final back under the old league structure. Regina's Shawn Lathan missed the TRU game due to an ankle injury, but is expected to return in full force for the Lethbridge series. Lathan was one of five Cougars to average in double figures in scoring this season along with Brian Ofori, Brandon Tull, Alex Igual, and Shaquille Harris.
 
LETHBRIDGE – Remember how we mentioned the Cougars had the second most difficult schedule in the conference this year? They'll be lining up against the team that played the MOST difficult schedule this season, as Lethbridge went 12-8 while playing every other team in Canada West that finished above .500 on the season. The Pronghorns had signature wins in back-to-back games in January, first defeating UBC in a wild 106-101 game that featured 49 points and 12 rebounds by Zac Overwater. They then took out Calgary by a 91-89 score less than two weeks after that. The Cougars will be tasked with dealing not only with Overwater, but also with leading scorer Dejon Burdeaux. Burdeaux missed six games due to injury but averaged 19.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest, while Overwater finished the conference schedule with averages of 18.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

PROJECTED STARTERS

Lethbridge	Regina
#2 Dejon Burdeaux (G • 6-1, 185 • 5th) #5 Kyle Peterson (G • 6-2, 180 • 3rd) #8 Saren Westrop (F • 6-6, 200 • 3rd) #9 Zac Overwater (F • 6-8, 235 • 4th) #23 Colton Gibb (G • 6-3, 190 • 2nd)	#4 Alex Igual (G • 6-4, 215 • 5th) #5 Brandon Tull (G • 6-4, 190 • 5th) #6 Shaquille Harris (F • 6-6, 225 • 3rd) #8 Benjamin Hillis (G • 6-1, 155 • 2nd) #11 Brian Ofori (F • 6-6, 215 • 5th)

THIS YEAR
Lethbridge's eight-game winning streak to open the Canada West schedule came to an abrupt halt as the Pronghorns lost twice at Regina in late November. Alex Igual's layup off a baseline drive with 2.6 seconds to go gave the Cougars a 79-77 win in the first game of that weekend series, and Regina followed that up with a 92-79 win the next night thanks in large part to a superhuman 28-point, 14-rebound performance by Ofori.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The two teams will be squaring off against each other in the postseason for the first time in history. Lethbridge holds a 19-14 advantage in the 33 all-time meetings, a series that dates back to the 1969-70 season - the U of R's second year as an interuniversity program. The Pronghorns have enjoyed a huge advantage over the Cougars in Lethbridge, winning 14 of 17 games between the two teams there.

BRACKET UPDATE
The winner of this quarterfinal series moves on to face either Alberta or UNBC in a best-of-three conference semifinal series. That series will likely be hosted by the Golden Bears in Edmonton barring a monumental upset by UNBC this weekend, in which case the Regina/Lethbridge winner would host the Timberwolves for the right to advance to the Canada West championship game.

TRAVEL WOES
Normally around a six-hour trip down the Trans-Canada and the Crowsnest, Wednesday's trip between Regina and Lethbridge took about nine hours to cover after delays due to deteriorating weather and a jackknifed semi that briefly shut down Highway 1 just west of the Alberta border. The Cougars eventually rolled into Lethbridge on Wednesday night a bit past 10:00 Regina time.