The 2018 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented University of Santo Tomas in the 81st season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the school year 2018-19 began on September 8, 2018, and the host school for the season was National University.
The Tigers finished sixth at the end of the double round-robin eliminations with 5 games and 9 losses. UST at one point during the second round was at fourth place in the standings, but they went on to lose all four of their remaining games and crashed out of the Final Four matches.
They had an average losing margin of 21.0 points and an average winning margin of 9.8 points.
Two of the Growling Tigers' opponents gave them blowout losses in both rounds of the eliminations. The Ateneo Blue Eagles won over them by 32 and 40 points in each round, while the De La Salle Green Archers won by 27 and 41 points.
The 41-point loss to La Salle was the worst in the career of Aldin Ayo, the one-time back-to-back NCAA and UAAP champion coach.
Returning fourth year point guard Renzo Subido was chosen Player of the Week by the UAAP Press Corps in the first round of eliminations for the duration of September 12âÂÂ16, while rookie CJ Cansino received the citation twice on the weeks of October 10âÂÂ14 and October 24âÂÂ28.
Cansino, the Season 80 Juniors MVP also made history when he became the first rookie to score a triple-double since UAAP statistics were first officially recorded in 2003. Against the UE Red Warriors in the second round, Cansino tallied 20 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists.
The Growling Tigers also recorded a single-game league best 59 rebounds in their opening game on September 8, 2018, against the NU Bulldogs.
Only big man Jeepy Faundo has graduated, but the team experienced an exodus of players before the start of the UAAP season.
Regie Boy Basibas, who had suited up for the Tigers in their preseason games, and Joco Macasaet, their veteran center, were both faced with uncertainties regarding the league's age eligibility rules as both players were turning 25 within the school year. Both of them decided to move on from the team to play in the commercial leagues.
Jordan Sta. Ana also played in the preseason, but decided to go on leave for personal reasons. He later announced his transfer to Letran.
The official lineup for UST's Season 81 campaign consisted of nine new players (eight rookies, one transferee), four holdovers and two returnees.
With a champion coach tapped to handle the team, analysts have stressed how the team is still in a rebuilding phase and have once again predicted UST to miss out on a Final Four finish.
Aldin Ayo replaced Boy Sablan as head coach on January 11, 2018. The coaching change was announced by Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA) director Fr. Jannel Abogado following Sablan's resignation on November 20, 2017, together with his entire coaching staff.
Ayo, a former player of the 1998 and 1999 NCAA champion Letran Knights came into coaching prominence after leading the Knights to the 2015 championship on his first year and duplicating the feat when he jumped over to the UAAP to lead La Salle to the 2016 championship. At the end of Season 80, he made a decision to sign with UST where he will coach the men's basketball team for the next six years.
Appointed as Ayo's deputies were McJour Luib, Kristoffer Co, Bonnie Garcia, Randy Alcantara, Jason Misolas, Nap Garcia, Ruden de Vera, Philip Go, Marvin Pangilinan, and Noel Zorilla.
The Filoil Preseason Cup games were aired on 5 Plus and ESPN 5. The UCBL games were aired on Solar Sports.
Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format and all of UST's games were televised on ABS-CBN Sports and Action and Liga.
<div style=font-size:smaller>Source: Imperium Technology</div>