VANCOUVER -The Thunderbirds dominated their opening match of the UBC Invitational, trouncing Wilfrid Laurier 96-63 at War Memorial Gym.
 
UBC set the stage right off the jump, as Conor Morgan directed the opening tip forward – directly to a streaking Jordan Jensen-Whyte who finished with a flush.
 
"We've been running that for the last couple years. Last year it worked quite a bit," said Jensen-Whyte. "I guess some teams didn't scout it out."
 
The fifth-year guard has high expectations heading into the regular season.
 
"We're capable of a lot of things this year. We have a lot of good pieces – a couple older guys like myself, Conor (Morgan) and Luka (Zaharijevic). We set the tone early…you gear up to be ready for every game."
 
Jensen-Whyte finished with 15 points, with Morgan adding 19 and Luka Zaharijevic potting 14.
 

.@ubctbirds trounce @WLUAthletics 96-63 - back in action at #UBC Invitational tomorrow against @LakeheadTWolves #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/E3mqumHr1m

— Aneesa Heatherington (@aheatherington9) October 29, 2016

 
In the landslide preseason victory, UBC Head Coach Kevin Hanson saw room for improvement and is looking to build more cohesion throughout a deep roster.
 
"The fourth quarter was a bit sloppy – 16 offensive rebounds is too many to give up. The minutes were spread out; we had ten guys play 13 minutes or more, but it's great to see some key guys come off the bench and be vocal. That's part of building team chemistry."

UBC will look to take another step forward in their development on Saturday night against Lakehead, and Jensen-Whyte knows the OUA squads are a good test.
 
"It's always good to have the Eastern Conference teams come out here because they play a little different style of basketball…a little faster paced with smaller guards. They're great tune-up games for the regular season starting next weekend."
 
Wilfrid Laurier takes on UNBC Saturday at 5 pm, while UBC faces Lakehead at 7 pm to cap-off the UBC Invitational.