A prime time matchup against Brandon, and seniors night on Saturday highlight what will be a thrilling two games of basketball at IGAC. Click here for tickets. 

Locked into a playoff spot, the 11-7 Herd still have plenty to play for in the final weekend of regular season action against the 8-10 Bobcats, who have played better than their record indicates. Manitoba can finish as high as second and host a play-in game and quarterfinal during the February 13th weekend, depending on the results of Alberta (12-6), Mount Royal (12-6) and Calgary's (11-7) games in Canada West's Prairie Division. 

But the Bisons will need to take care of business first, against a Bobcats team that knocked them off in the first game of conference play back in November of 2025. Canada West Player of the Year contender Sultan Haider-Bhatti was the star of the show that night, with 29 points, eight assists and six rebounds, while lethal shooter Travis Hamberger added 23 points, 15 of which of which came from distance in a 101-90 win. 

Haider Bhatti -- second in Canada West with 20.2 points per game along with 10.3 rebounds per game -- added five threes, as he and Hamberger combined to drain more triples than the entire Bisons team combined. 

But Manitoba is not the same team that they were in week one. Guard Mason Kraus -- one of six seniors playing in their final regular season home game -- is fully healthy, and has drained 11 triples in his last four games, three of which have been wins.

The program's all-time leader in career regular season steals, Kraus' 35 takeaways lead the Herd, and he's also leading the conference in assists, with 107 despite missing the last three games of 2025 due to injury. Kraus has recorded ten assists in four of Manitoba's eight games in 2026, six of which have been wins. 

Along with Kraus, fellow local seniors Daren Watts, Cieran O'Hara, Tito Obasoto and Samuel Jensen have been key. The core five will play in their final regular season home game on Saturday having already made history. Along with Jonam Kazadi, the six Manitobans broke the program record for career regular season wins as a collection of teammates, with 65 (and counting), which shattered the previous mark of 62, set in 1976 by Rick Watts and Darryl Rumsey. 

Watts leads Manitoba with 17.8 points per game, while O'Hara is third in Canada West with 8.5 rebounds per game, including 36 total in his last three games. Fellow senior Manyang Tong, who joined the Herd last year after a notable career with the Calgary Dinos and SAIT Trojans, has shot over 50 percent from the field in three of the four games he's played againt Brandon during his UM career.