The AUBL26 quarterfinals gave us some of THE best basketball in league history.

Thirty-seven lead changes in one game and 26 in another — the two most ever recorded in an AUBL game. A scoring record broken by the same player who set it three days earlier. Two second seeds knocking out the first seed. And four games all decided by single digits.

Two games are left. Here's how the Final Four match up.

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TSINGHUA vs SJTU — 15:30 HKT

The first semifinal matchup between two schools from the same league in AUBL history. SJTU come in having never beaten Tsinghua in AUBL or CUBAL. Tsinghua return as the AUBL25 runners-up with almost the entire core intact, bringing back 96% of last season's scoring.

SJTU are led by two players who between them score 57% of the team's points. Chen Tiancan averages 22.7 points, 7.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds a night, second only to Shin Matsumoto in scoring among the four teams left. He made an AUBL-record 19 free throws in the quarterfinals and is shooting 25-of-27 from the line overall. Hu Hui adds 17.3 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds. Around them SJTU protect the rim better than anyone in the tournament, blocking 4.3 shots a game, and they shoot the best field goal percentage of the four semifinalists at 47.3% with 69.6% of their baskets coming off a pass — also the highest of the teams left.

Tsinghua are the opposite kind of team. Only two players average double figures, but nine average at least 5.7, and their bench adds 31.3 points a night — more than three times SJTU's 9.7, the fewest of any team still playing. Shi Kui leads the team at 18.7 points per game, less than either of SJTU's top two, and has taken Player of the Game twice this week. Tsinghua score 86 points a game, the most of any team left.

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‍NCCU vs WASEDA — 19:30 HKT

NCCU have never lost an AUBL game, currently going 8-0. Waseda have broken four league records in three games and have had one of the most talked about debuts in AUBL history. One of those runs ends Saturday.

If the reigning champions expect to win, theywill win on size and depth. NCCU's average height is 190.1cm and they have the AUBL single-game rebounding record holder in Boubacar Mboup at 208cm. Waseda's tallest player is 192cm, and their average of 181.6cm is nearly 9cm shorter than NCCU's. That difference shows up in how each team plays.

NCCU live in the paint, scoring 46 points a game there — 58% of their total — and make an average of 3.7 threes a game, the fewest of any team to reach the quarterfinals. They pull down 45.3 rebounds a night with 17.3 on the offensive glass, and their bench averages 36 points, the most at AUBL26.

Waseda are the opposite in almost every way. Their bench averages 14 points and they grab 8.0 offensive rebounds a game, less than half NCCU's number. Where they thrive is the arc, taking 42.9% of their shots from three compared to NCCU's 19.6% and making 8.3 a game — 5 of those from Shin Matsumoto, who by himself makes more threes per game than NCCU's entire roster. They also take care of the ball better than anyone left, losing it just 8.3 times a night to NCCU's 17.7. Between that and the shooting, Waseda's path is clear enough — keep the game on the perimeter and make every possession count. NCCU's is the mirror image: get it inside to Mboup, live on the offensive glass, and make the smallest team in the tournament play a game it cannot win.

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