Carleton Ravens head coach Dave Smart believed the Saskatchewan Huskies were a much tougher team than people thought.

Unfortunately for Smart, he was right.

Michael Linklater had a game-high 25 points as the fifth-ranked Huskies stunned the defending-champion Ravens 86-82 on Saturday to reach their first Canadian university men's basketball final.

Saskatchewan will take on third-seeded UBC in Sunday's title game (TSN2, 6:30 p.m. ET) after the Thunderbirds downed the No. 7 Calgary Dinos 77-63 in the early semifinal.

Most expected the powerhouse Ravens to romp past the Huskies. They had won six of the previous seven national titles, and had lost just twice this season going into Saturday's semifinal.

Smart wasn't so sure -- and Saskatchewan coach Greg Jockims considered that a compliment.

"We may have been a fifth seed, but Dave Smart is very respectful and he doesn't BS when he talks about us being a very good team in the newspaper," said Jockims. "I know he's not playing mind games. He really believes it and he was trying to get his team ready to play."

The Huskies led by as many as 15 points, then weathered a fourth-quarter charge from the Ravens, who pulled to within a point but couldn't seize the lead.

"These were two very good teams, two heavyweights and we had the last punch in the last couple of minutes," said Jockims. "We scored a couple key hoops and made a couple key free throws and got some rebounds that we needed to."

Saskatchewan hit 12 three-pointers in the game -- Linklater had six -- but Smart was more concerned about how the Huskies were able to outmuscle Carleton.

"We were trying to keep them out of the paint and we had a tough time doing that," said Smart. "We physically didn't get to a lot of loose balls and there were a lot of opportunities that they got, and that's a credit to them."

Smart also lamented his team's struggles from beyond the arc.

"We were 2-for-17 from the three, and that again is a credit to the way they defend."

Elliot Thompson led the Ravens with 23 points.

Earlier Saturday, CIS player of the year Josh Whyte had 16 points as the Thunderbirds held off a spirited Calgary team to earn their seventh final appearance. They last won the title in 1972.

A strong second quarter put UBC up six at the break, and coach Kevin Hanson said he was pleased that his team handled the Dinos' size advantage well.

"Their big three of (Ross) Bekkering, (Robbie) Sihota and (Tyler) Fidler are a pretty impressive three," said Hanson. "Their physical size, their length and their height really play a factor, but that run we had in the second quarter, especially with the lineup they had in there, was certainly needed."

The Dinos briefly seized the lead early in the fourth quarter, but UBC responded with a 19-3 run that put the game out of reach -- ending a strong run for Calgary that included a tournament-opening upset of No. 2 Cape Breton.

"We were very familiar with this team and we felt very prepared and I thought we were in a really good state of mind coming into this game," said Bekkering, who finished with 13 points. "It's such a tough loss but they played so well.

"Coming into this tournament we ignored the seeding criteria and we felt we deserved to be here and that we were right in the running to win it all. Anything less than winning the tournament is definitely a huge disappointment."

UBC and Saskatchewan met once in during the Canada West season -- Whyte had 24 points as the Thunderbirds rallied to knock off the Huskies 90-83.