The U of M men's basketball team is on a roll. They've won 13 of their last 14 games dating back to the pre-season and are beginning to display the form that helped get them to nationals in 2017.
The Herd – currently sitting near the top of the Canada West standings at 9-1 – have gotten contributions all through their lineup. However, it's the combination of guards Rashawn Browne and Keiran Zziwa that are attracting the most attention.
Widely regarded as one of the best back courts in the nation, the pair currently sit fifth and 15th in the conference in points per game, with 19.6 and 17, respectively. Browne is also third in Canada West with 51 total assists, while Zziwa has added 23 of his own and also has 12 steals.
And while Browne is no stranger to the limelight, having been named an all-star last year, it's Zziwa — one of the elder statesmen on the roster — who's enjoying the best season of his career.
"Obviously his speed is often a problem for teams," Bisons head coach Kirby Schepp noted shortly after Zziwa netted a career-high 30 points in a 96-91 overtime win over Winnipeg back in late November.
"I think teams are rightly so focused on Rashawn a lot and sometimes Z has the second-best defender on him and usually he can break them down on the dribble."
Anyone who's seen Zziwa play live can attest to his game-changing ability.
The life-long baller was well known for coming up with steals at key times during an impressive high school career with the Glenlawn Lions, which included a trip to the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association (MHSAA) AAAA provincial final in 2014.
And while Zziwa is now starring for the Bisons, much like he did for Glenlawn back in the day, it hasn't always been that way. The versatile guard's university career is the perfect example of what patience and hard work can produce.
Coming out of high school in 2015, Zziwa wasn't necessarily on the top of Manitoba's mind, which is understandable, considering eventual pros AJ Basi, Ilarion Bonhomme, Justus Alleyn and Keith Omoerah were already on the roster, as was locker room leader Amir Ali.
"I had a couple of offers elsewhere, but I knew that I didn't want to leave home. I had emailed Kirby to try and come to a tryout and he allowed me to come," noted Zziwa.
"I came and played with the guys for a couple of runs and that's when he offered me a spot on the team to redshirt or to play that year. At that point it was one of the biggest moments of my life, because I knew if I didn't have this then I didn't know if I was going to continue playing at a high level, it would probably be at a lower college level.
There were a lot of good guards on the team that year like Justus and I knew that I wouldn't be playing. He told me that, so that's when I decided to redshirt. That redshirt year is really what gave me a good vision of what this league is like and the guys that are in it."
The Bisons had a successful season in 2015-16, advancing all the way to the Canada West final four. With a roster that remained largely intact from the year before, they were able to advance to nationals for the first time in over 30 years, sweeping a 19-win UBC squad along the way.
Zziwa, fresh off of a redshirt season, averaged just five minutes a game that year — however the experience of seeing what it took to get to nationals was invaluable.
"Me and the other guys on the bench who didn't play as much like Dharmjit [Dhillon] and Raj [Sidhu], we were just trying to be the team spirit on the bench and to get guys excited. That's what we were doing all season.
It was so much fun. I think about it a lot of the time, now that we're past it. Being on a team like that is inspirational, because you know there were guys on the team that were very successful. Four of them have gone pro now, so there's obviously a lot of stuff you can take from it."
Zziwa took up a much larger role in 2017-18, playing in all 20 regular season games, starting 11, while averaging 25.5 minutes per game.
His calling card continued to be his defence, as he was in the top 20 in Canada West in steals, with 28. His active presence on both ends of the floor was an excellent complement to Alleyn – the conference scoring leader that year — as well as Browne, a dynamic shooter and distributor.
"I knew that I wasn't going to be the biggest offensive player on the team, but defensively was where I was going to make my impact. That's how it's been for a long time for me now.
Offensively the training didn't really change much, but it was more of a mindset of okay, you have to be the one to guard the best player in some of these games or just get the team going defensively."
Zziwa's development continued last year, where he averaged a team-leading 1.6 steals per game while also scoring 8.3 points per game.
The final month of the regular season was when Bisons fans got a true glimpse of what was to come in 2019-20.
Zziwa saw his offensive responsibilities increase due to an injury to fellow guard DJ Jordan Jr. He had taken a total of 68 shots from the field through the first 12 games while scoring in double figures just four times. The last eight games, Zziwa shot 68 field goals and was in double figures every night.
"I remember towards the beginning of the season it was still more of a defensive role that I had, but coach was trying to instill in me to be more aggressive and to take more shots. With the loss of DJ due to injury I kind of had to step up and be an offensive player.
It's a lot easier when your teammates like Rashawn [Browne] and the coaches are on you telling you to be aggressive and not to be shy. That was one of the biggest humps for me was actually being able to take the shots. I wasn't shooting that many shots. Usually they would come from open ones or just steals and breakaways. Once it did start happening and started falling I just gained more confidence."
Zziwa has been incredibly confident this year, but isn't underestimating anyone, including Manitoba's opponent this weekend, the talented 3-7 Mount Royal Cougars.
His mindset and mentality are shared amongst a veteran locker room that along with Zziwa and Browne also includes forwards such as Cam O'Hara, James Wagner and Joel Adu-Quaye — all three of whom were also on the 2017 roster.
"I think this team has been able to have success because we've all played together for years now," says Zziwa, now in his fourth year of eligibility.
"It's not like one import or two imports have come here. It's nothing new. We know each other's identities and we know what people like and what shots they like to shoot. We've really bought into just working hard and taking it one game at a time."
