For the second time this postseason, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's basketball team has upset a nationally ranked opponent with an 87-76 win over the No. 9 nationally ranked Western Mustangs.

As the No. 11 seed in the OUA on the road against the No. 3 seed in the conference, U of T has punched their ticket to the OUA semifinals and will take on the winner of tonight's game between the Carleton Ravens and Lakehead Thunderwolves. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. The win marks Toronto's return to the semifinal for the first time since the 2023-24 season and it's the second semifinal appearance under head coach Madhav Trivedi.

Despite being underdogs, the Blues matched Western's pace in the opening quarter, trading buckets with an identical 50 per cent shooting percentage. The tide changed in the second quarter as momentum shifted to the Blue and White's side. Toronto outscored Western 23-9 to take a 16-point lead into halftime. U of T kept their foot on the gas pedal to suppress Western's offence. Tight defence forced the Mustangs to turn the ball over and on the perimeter, Western was held to 0-8 shooting from beyond the three-point line in the fourth quarter. The Blues were hungrier in the paint, outrebounding the Mustangs 41-29 and kept possessions alive in the offensive zone with 17 offensive rebounds and 18 second chance points.

Leading the way for the Blues was fourth-year centre Nigel Hylton. Hylton put up a performance for the ages with a 30-point and 15-rebound double-double while shooting 57 per cent from the field and 50 per cent from three. Hylton also tied second-year guard Rohan Scott-Smith with a game-high five assists. Second-year guard Nathan Bureau continued to establish himself as a clutch player for Toronto down the stretch this season. The Oakville native came off the bench and scored 18 points on 41 per cent shooting from the field and made one third of his three-point shots. Third-year forward Simeon Jeffers came up big for the Blues with 13 points and defensively, Scott-Smith had a team-high two steals.

Leading the way for Western was Milan John with 15 points and a steal. Imran Armstrong established himself defensively with a game-high five steals. Five Mustangs reached the double-digit point plateau as along with John, Owen Urquhart, Lucas Sheets, Emmanuel Akot and Matteo Zager all had 10 points or more.

The Blues will hit the road for the OUA semifinal which is scheduled to tip-off on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Start time and opponent is still to be determined. The game will be streamed live on oua.tv.