UNIVERSITY of the Philippines hopes to utilize its twice-to-beat advantage against University of Santo Tomas as the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball Final Four begins Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The second-ranked Fighting Maroons are wary of the Growling Tigers, who won their last two games to finish third in the eliminations after mostly toiling around at the No. 4 spot.
Gametime is at 3:30 p.m.
“In terms of results, sure, at 2-0. But both games were closer than the final score. You know, UST is…with the experience, with Forthsky (Padrigao) at the point, also with (Mo) Tounkara and his abilities on both ends, you have Nic (Cabañero), and in their last game, they found sort of like a magic bunot, kung tawagin nga ni coach Pido (Jarencio), yung kay (Amiel) Acido, is we’re gonna have to prepare for all of them. It’s gonna be a good series,” said UP assistant coach Christian Luanzon.
The Growling Tigers are making their first Final Four appearance since Season 82 (2019) when they reached the Finals after beating the Fighting Maroons twice in the step-ladder semifinals.
Jarencio stressed that UST is ready to create a new story, by pulling off a reversal of UP and making it to the league’s biggest stage.
The Fighting Maroons lived up to the billing as title favorites, finishing with an 11-3 record, securing the top two spot with two weeks left in the eliminations.
No stranger to underdog stories, Jarencio is best remembered for steering the Growling Tigers to their 18th and most recent championship in Season 69 (2006) despite being the third-ranked team in the Final Four.
“Basta kami ang goal namin is, after this, we are here in the playoffs. Trabaho na ulit. Gawa tayo ng game plan kung paano talunin ang UP. parang David and Goliath yan, medyo maganda yung labanan na ito. Basta kami, laban lang kami, prepara kami. Ang mga players, healthy, ang Importante healthy kaming lahat,” said Jarencio.
“Ngayon, preparasyon na kami para sa Final Four, playoffs against UP. Twice to beat sila, malay mo. bilog ang bola, may tsamba. Ganyan lang kami. Basta dito lang kami sa baba, nasa lupa lang kami, tignan namin. Pagtrabahuan lang namin,” he added.
UST became the first team since University of the East in Season 61 (1998) to rank third in the Final Four with a 7-7 record.
Defending champion De La Salle also eyes a quick Final Four ending against Adamson University at 6:30 p.m.
The Growling Tigers and the Falcons hope to send the Final Four to a decider on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series will begin on December 8, also at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Green Archers defeated the Falcons for a combined 55 points in their head-to-head this season.
“Well the good thing about it is we don’t have to bring it to the Final Four. We just leave it at that. So, that’s the same mentality naman. Sabi namin, the next game will be different. So hopefully we give them a challenge and hopefully beat them,” Adamson coach Nash Racela said.
Coach Topex Robinson relishes being the top-ranked team, but the Green Archers are not lowering their guard in the most important stage of the season.
“Well, it’s an honor also. it’s really nice to, you know, be part of the team that is number one, but at this point, there’s no more, it only got you to the Final Four, you know, but it hasn’t gotten you to the finals and eventually winning a championship,” Robinson said.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done. We want to be, we want to set our team to a high standard and then making sure that the things that we need to work on will be addressed,” he added.
The Kevin Quiambao-led Green Archers are the league’s top offensive team with 74.21 points per game.
Living up to the defensive mantra are the Falcons, who hold their foes to a league-low 61.36 points, which they hope to carry over in the Final Four.
Adamson and Ateneo clash in the women’s step-ladder match at 12 noon, with the winner facing holders UST in another knockout match on Wednesday to determine the second finalist.
National University jumped straight to the Finals after completing a 14-game sweep of eliminations.
All games will be broadcast LIVE on Free-To-Air via One Sports, on high definition via the UAAP Varsity Channel on Cignal TV, and available for local and international fans for FREE via the Pilipinas Live app.
Games Saturday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
8 a.m. – FEU-D vs Ateneo (JHS)
10 a.m. – DLSZ vs AdU (JHS)
12 p.m. – AdU vs Ateneo
(Women Stepladder)
3:30 p.m. – UP vs UST
(Men Final Four)
6:30 p.m. – DLSU vs AdU
(Men Final Four)
