WINNIPEG – The No. 7 nationally ranked Manitoba Bisons made a massive statement on Friday night at IGAC, dominating the previously undefeated Regina Cougars 94-65. The win was the Herd's seventh in a row, as they improved to 9-2, while Regina – previously the only undefeated team in Canada West – fell to 8-1.
The Bisons never trailed in the game, leading by as much as 30. The margin of victory (29 points) was their most since an 84-50 win over Thompson Rivers in February of 2023.
It's also just the second time a team has scored more than 90 points against Regina dating back to November of 2022. The Bisons' 94 points were 14 more than anyone else has scored against the Cougars, and 26 more than what Regina has given up, on average this season (fourth in the nation, allowing 68.7 points per game).
Manitoba is now 27-4 in the regular season dating back to last year, beating an opponent by more than 20 points on eight different occasions during that span. They've also held their opponent to 70 points or less three games in a row, and 13 times over the last season-and-a-half.
'The Golden Boy'
Simon Hildebrandt led all players with 23 points, with 21 of those coming in the first half. He had 12 of the Bisons' 25 points in the first quarter on 50 percent shooting from three, while fellow veterans
Mason Kraus and
Daren Watts combined for 26 points.
Overall, the trio took 36 shots from the field, along with 13 of Manitoba's 15 free throw attempts. As a team, the Bisons shot 42.4 percent from distance, hitting 14 threes, with eight coming from Manitoba's big three.
Kraus, who scored 15 points, has been a better shooter in the second half of the season all through his Bisons career, in part because he's taken more shots. Tonight he put up ten from the field and was two-for-five from distance.
Last year, Kraus took 70 shots from the field in the first half of the regular season, compared to 125 in the back half. Overall, he's shot 41 percent from the field during the back half of the season, while scoring in double figures on 14 different occasions (11 last year), compared to shooting 30 percent from the field, while scoring in double figures a combined ten times in the first half.
"I know for us to be one of the best teams in our league, I have to do more offensively," Kraus – fifth in CanWest in assists, with 49 – said.
"Defence, I'll always do what I do, I'll get my steals and my rebounds, but I know that on offence,
for us to be the best team in CanWest, I have to score."
As Kraus noted, his defensive play was solid as usual. He leads CanWest, and is second in the nation, with 27 steals, adding two tonight.
No active player in the conference has more steals than the Sturgeon Heights grad dating back to 2021-22, and his 114 total are just 38 shy of the program record.
Led by Kraus, along with sparkplug guard Bolatito 'Tito' Obasoto and senior
Wyatt Tait (41 career steals, eighth-all time), Manitoba caused 11 steals (Obasoto and Tait had a team-best three), scoring 27 points off turnovers, compared to nine for Regina.
The Cougars' best shooter Nick Barnard was also held to seven points, while no player in Regina's starting five scored in double figures.
"We had to show on them and not jump, and force them to the rim where we have Jonam and Wyatt and Simon," added Kraus.
The visitors had 15 first half turnovers, including on four straight possessions, trailing 54-43 at halftime. That's when the Bisons flexed their depth.
Six-foot-seven forward
Jonam Kazadi scored six of his eight points in the third, while five different players tallied at least five points off the bench, including
Barac Thon, who had six points in just five minutes of play.
The two teams will play again tomorrow at 7 pm at IGAC.
