UNIVERSITY of the Philippines and University of Santo Tomas clash in a battle of undefeated teams on Sunday in the UAAP Season 78 seniors basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Fighting Maroons and the Growling Tigers face off at 2 p.m. in a game that quickly drew a lot of interest as tickets are reportedly already sold out for the scheduled doubleheader.
So much attention has the match generated that a television network even ran a news clip dedicated to the UP-UST tussle.
The noise surrounding the showdown is understandable as both unheralded teams are surprisingly unbeaten at this stage and will gun for their third win in as many games.
The Maroons are on a high with a 2-0 mark – their best start in a decade – after defeating talent-laden De La Salle, 71-66, last Wednesday.
The Tigers, on the other hand, also kept their record perfect after stunning top contender Far Eastern University, 72-71, on the very same day.
“Hindi na kami nagugulat na 2-0 kami,” said UP coach Rensy Bajar. “Very motivated sila ngayon. Sabi ko sa kanila, wala namang mag-momotivate sa kanila kundi sarili nila.”
In the second game, Far Eastern University and La Salle try to get back to their winning ways as they duel in the 4 p.m. second game.
The Tams and Archers are both carrying 1-1 records following their losses to UST and UP, respectively.
It will be the first meeting between the two teams meet since the Tamaraws beat out the Archers for a berth in last year’s finals behind Mac Belo’s game-winning three-pointer.
The Tamaraws, however, lost to National University in the best-of-three title series.
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