When he's not dunking basketballs or studying history in class, Devin McMurtry spends a lot of time in the weight room.
His UNBC Timberwolves men's basketball teammates are in the gym pumping iron twice a week, but it's a four-times-per-week labour of love for McMurtry, who has the muscular build to prove it. He looks more like a football linebacker than he does a basketball forward.
At six-foot-four and 205 pounds, McMurtry plays as big as he appears, with a voracious appetite for hauling in rebounds. He's not afraid to take a fall for his team if it means retaining ball possession, and his fearless attitude and considerable ball skills have helped the CIS rookie become an integral part of the young T-wolves squad as they try to find their legs as a second-year team in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association.
"Most of the guys I'm playing against are huge, like that six-foot-10 guy [referring to Victoria Vikes forward Chris McLaughlin]," said McMurtry. "So at six-foot-4 1/2, I have to lift weights and I have to be scrappy to compete. I don't want those big guys bullying me."
UNBC is coming off a pair of losses at home to the Pacific Conference-leading Vikes. McMurtry played both games despite being under the weather the whole weekend.
"Devin's a warrior, he's an energy guy and he'll go out there and and put his hard hat on and try to rebound the ball and box guys out," said UNBC head coach Todd Jordan. "He was really struggling [with the flu] but he didn't play like he was sick."
The T-wolves (4-10) find themselves in must-win territory tonight and Saturday in Vancouver, where they play the UBC Thunderbirds at War Memorial Gym. For UNBC to get into playoff contention, it will take a two-game sweep of the T-birds -- a tall order indeed. McMurtry grew up in Surrey and loves the idea of invading UBC's home court for the two-game set and he's hoping for an upset or two.
"I've dreamed about playing at War Memorial Gym but never have -- I used to watch UBC as a little kid so it's a big deal for me," said McMurtry.
"They're going to be big, they're athletic and they're going to be very arrogant. We're going to have to go in there and work harder than them and we'll have to have a few guys who have really great games. If we could squeak out a win there, we'd have a chance at playoffs."
McMutry started out his college career at Langara University, where he played the past three seasons before joining the T-wolves over the summer. He said it was a natural fit for him to move to UNBC.
"Prince George is my type of city," McMurtry said. "I'm a blue-collar player, it's a blue-collar town and I love the energy from the fans. When I was playing for Langara [in the PACWEST league] , playing against guys like Dennis and Dan Stark, I said to myself, that's the type of team I want to play on."
UBC sports an unimpressive 6-8 sixth-place record, just one notch in the standings ahead of the T-wolves (4-10), but with three teams tied at 7-7, the T-birds are just one game out of third place. Consequently, the T-wolves are expecting plenty of trouble this weekend.
"They're big, they're long, they're extremely talented and they've been unfortunate this year with injuries and have had guys in and out of their lineup," said Jordan. "I know before Christmas they were playing six or seven guys for a couple of games, which is part of the reason they've struggled. But they're starting to get healthy now. From a a talent perspective, they're right up there with anyone in the conference."
Led by Tonner Jackson (12.1-point scoring average) and David Wagner (11.9 point average) UBC ranks an unimpressive 12th overall in the 16-team Canada West Conference, scoring an average 72 points per game, but they're sixth in the league in defence, allowing an average 75.5 points per game.
The UNBC women are also 4-10 and will be hard -pressed to keep pace with the T-birds (9-5, second in the Pacific). For the third straight weekend the T-wolves will be without Jen Bruce, one of only two fifth-year players on the team, still out with a concussion.
"We haven't seen them this year but we did have a close game with them last year," said UNBC guard Mercedes Van Koughnett.
"Those are going to be hard games, especially playing away from home but we'll work hard. That's all we can do for the rest of the season. We have eight games left and it's getting tough to make playoffs now but I'm happy with the progression of the team."
