Blues Battle Coyotes

#6 Okanagan Coyotes @ #3 Capilano Blues – Thursday March 2, 3:00pm | WATCH HERE

For the third straight season the Blues and Coyotes meet in a PACWEST quarterfinal as both teams open the championship tournament on Thursday.

The Blues are the third seed finishing just two points back of second place and a first round bye.  They will face the Coyotes, a team they have beaten three times this year including in back-to-back games to conclude their regular season schedule two weeks ago.  Coming into the playoffs the Blues have won four in a row and will be well rested after last week’s bye.  They have an explosive offence averaging the second highest number of points per game in the PACWEST at 87.9.

The Coyotes have struggled this season with just four wins and have seven straight losses coming into the playoffs.  They have battled the Blues hard this season but have not been able to steal a win. They will need to use their aggressive defence to slowdown the Blues offence which can create scoring opportunities at the other end.  They have allowed on average the third fewest points per game this season in the Conference.   Oddly enough the Coyotes first ever playoff win was against the Blues during the 2020 championship tournament.

Last year this was an identical match-up with the third seeded Blues defeating the sixth seeded Coyotes 109-77.   They used 13-three pointers in the victory with Tyrone Asenoguan dropped in 21 points and he will no doubt look to do the same this season as the PACWEST’s leading scorer.

These programs have met twice in the playoffs, each winning once.

Head-to-Head

Records: Coyotes 4-13 – Blues 11-7
Average Points For: Coyotes 80.4 – Blues 87.9
Average Points Against: Coyotes 88.1 – Blues 85

Leading Scorers: Hunter Hughes 17.1/game (Coyotes) – Tyrone Asenoguan 22.3/game (Blues)

Leading Rebounders: Hunter Hughes 7.1/game (Coyotes) – Zach Kim 6.5/game (Blues)