SPOKANE, Wash. –Whitworth University heads west this weekend for a pair of important Northwest Conference men's basketball games. The Pirates will play at co-NWC leader Pacific Lutheran on Friday night (8:00 pm) and at Puget Sound on Saturday (6:00 pm). Both games can be heard live in Spokane on KSBN 1230 am and on the internet at KSBN.net.
Masks are required for all fans at indoor events hosted by PLU and Puget Sound, regardless of vaccination status. Fans unable to attend can check out the Whitworth men's basketball schedule for live links for the games.
The Pirates: Whitworth (17-3 overall, 10-2 NWC), ranked 21st in the today's D3hoops.com poll, split a pair of games in Oregon last week.
Linfield built a 15-point halftime lead and led for much of the second half by double digits before the Pirates rallied to within two points in the final two minutes of the game. Whitworth had two chances to tie or take the lead, but the Wildcats made defensive stops and then hit four free throws in the last 20 seconds to secure the win. Rowan Anderson sparked the comeback with 18 points, while Jerry Twenge came off the bench for 15. Garrett Paxton scored 12 and Miguel Lopez finished with eight points and ten rebounds. Whitworth shot only 40% (24-60) from the field.
The Pirates bounced back on Saturday night to win 71-58 at Pacific (Ore.). Whitworth led by as many as 21 points midway through the second half before the Boxers were able to chip into the final margin. Paxton and JT McDermott scored 17 points apiece, while Anderson finished with 11 points and seven assists. Lopez posted eight points and 10 boards for the second straight game, helping Whitworth to a 40-29 advantage in rebounding. The Pirates made 46.6% (27-58) from the floor, 69.2% (9-13) at the free throw line.
Taking Offense: Whitworth leads the Northwest Conference in scoring average at 85.2 points per game, which ranks 24th in NCAA Division III. The Pirates are doing it with efficiency, making 51.8% of their field goals, which leads the NWC and ranks 3rd in NCAA DIII. JT McDermott leads the way, making 60.8% of his field goals, which is second in the conference and ranks 20th in NCAA DIII.
Share and Share Alike: Whitworth leads the Northwest Conference (and ranks 18th in DIII) in assists per game in 2021-22, averaging 18.1. In the season opener the Pirates set a team record for assists in a single game (47) in a win over Greenville. The Pirates not only pass well, they take care of the ball, ranking second in the NWC (and 27th in DIII) in Assist-Turnover ratio (1.35).
Finding Balance: Whitworth had very balanced scoring in 2020-21. In 17 games, the Pirates had four players average between 11.2 and 12.6 points per game, and all are back this season. That trend has continued in 2021-22. Four Whitworth regulars are averaging between 10.1 and 13.4 points per game. JT McDermott leads (13.4 ppg), followed by Garrett Paxton (12.3), Miguel Lopez (11.5), and Liam Fitzgerald (10.1). Meanwhile, Rowan Anderson (9.2), Jerry Twenge (8.1) Jake Holtz (8.0), and Jojo Anderson (7.0) are not far behind. Seven different players have led the team in scoring in a game this season.
The Opponents: Pacific Lutheran University comes into Friday night's game on a roll. The Lutes (15-6 overall, 10-2 NWC) have won five straight to move into a tie for first place in the NWC standings. Last week PLU won 102-91 at Willamette and 83-72 at George Fox. Senior forward Jordan Thomas earned NWC men's basketball Student-Athlete of the Week recognition by averaging 22.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in those wins. Senior guard Seth Hall leads the team, and the NWC, in scoring average this season at 20.9 points per game. The Lutes lead the league in scoring defense (69.6) and defensive field goal percentage (40.3%). Whitworth defeated PLU 97-69 at home on January 15th, thanks to 19 points by Garrett Paxton and 18 from Liam Fitzgerald.
The University of Puget Sound is 8-13 overall and 3-9 in the NWC heading into Friday night's game against Whitman. The Loggers are coming off losses at Lewis & Clark (72-68) and at Willamette (84-80) last weekend. Sophomore guard Paul Johnson averages 19.4 points per game and makes 42.7% of his three-pointers. Senior center Cal Hansen adds 13.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Whitworth defeated Puget Sound 93-77 at home on January 15th behind a career-high 27 points from JT McDermott.
D3hoops.com Poll: The Pirates are ranked 21st in today's (Feb. 7) D3hoops.com top 25 regular season poll.
Whitworth has appeared in the D3hoops.com top-25 poll 181 times since it was created during the 1999-00 season. Very few teams have appeared in the rankings more than Whitworth has. Heading into 2021-22, the Pirates were eighth on the list among schools ranked in the top-25 the most times.
1. Wooster 249
2. UW-Stevens Point 240
3. Amherst 234
4. Washington U. 203
5. St. Thomas 199
6. UW-Whitewater 194
7. Augustana 185
8. Whitworth 172
9. Williams 171
10. Illinois Wesleyan 164
Over the poll's 20-year history, 32 programs have reached the top spot at least once. UW-Stevens Point has reached that spot in seven different seasons. Whitworth has been there in two seasons: 2010-11 and 2015-16.
20=15: With its win at Whitman on February 20, 2020, Whitworth extended its school record for consecutive seasons with at least 20 victories to 15 in a row. Prior to this current streak, the most 20-win seasons in a row the Pirates had ever had was two (on three different occasions). The NCAA statistics office is granting waivers for streak records that were interrupted by Covid-19 in 2020-21.
Only Wooster (Ohio), with 24, has a longer run of consecutive 20-win seasons in NCAA Division III men's basketball.
Best of the Decade: Whitworth University concluded the decade of 2010-11 through 2019-20 as the winningest program in NCAA Division III men's basketball, by winning percentage. The Pirates posted a record of 245-43 for a winning percentage of .851. In addition, Whitworth's winning percentage ranked fourth among the top schools in all of NCAA basketball, behind West Liberty (Div. II - .895), Lincoln Memorial (Div. II - .874) and Gonzaga (Div. I - .858). Two of the winningest men's basketball teams in the nation are located within six miles of each other.
The decade included three head coaches for the Pirates, beginning with Jim Hayford in 2010-11, continuing with Matt Logie for eight seasons and concluding with Damion Jablonski in 2019-20.
More Than A Decade of Dominance: Since the beginning of the 2005-06 season (over 15 seasons) the Pirates are 385-78 (.831), an amazing run of success matched by few other college teams at any level. Within the Northwest Conference, Whitworth has won 193 of its last 216 (.894).
Home-Sweet-Home: Whitworth has been stellar in the Whitworth Fieldhouse since the 1990's. During the decade of the 1990s and 2000's Whitworth won more than 84% of its home games. However, since the beginning of the 2005-06 season, the Bucs are 195-21 (.903) at home. Whitworth has won its last 13 games at home.
The Pirates have had two home-court winning streaks of more than 40 games since 1990. A 41-game home court winning streak from early 2009 until December of 2011 was the second-longest in Pirate history. The school record for consecutive home victories is 43, beginning during the 1994-95 season and ending during the 1997-98 season.
Road Warriors: As good as Whitworth is at home, the Pirates have been almost as good away from the Whitworth Fieldhouse over the last decade. Since the start of the 11-12 season, Whitworth is 107-27 (.799) away from home, 79-21 (.790) in true road games.
On the Air Again: Whitworth's men's basketball games are once again carried live this season on KSBN 1230am in Spokane. The relationship between Pirate athletics and KSBN goes back to 1994, a span of more than 25 years. Bud Nameck is in his seventh season as the voice of Whitworth basketball. Nameck has more than 30 years of experience calling college basketball at Gonzaga University and Washington State.
The Coach: Damion Jablonski is in his 11th season on the Pirate coaching staff in 2020-21, and his third as head coach of the Pirates. He began the season 35-11 as Whitworth's head coach. His first year was a rousing success. He went 23-6, led the Pirates to a share of the Northwest Conference championship and to a pair of victories in the NCAA Division III tournament. The Bucs were slated to face top-ranked Swarthmore before the tournament was cancelled. Jablonski was named D3hoops.com West Region Coach of the Year and he coached Ben College to NWC Player of the Year and NABC All-America recognition. Whitworth went 12-5 during the COVID-19 season in 2020-21, including games against NCAA DI Montana, NCAA DII Seattle Pacific and NAIA playoff regular College of Idaho.
Jablonski spent eight years as the top assistant at Whitworth, including six seasons with the title of Associate Head Coach. Over the course of his tenure as an assistant, the Bucs won 215 games, seven Northwest Conference titles and seven NWC tournament crowns. As the head recruiting coordinator, Jablonski was instrumental in continuing the Bucs' tradition of success by helping to recruit high quality student-athletes to Whitworth. His efforts over the past several years have included the addition of First Team All-American Kyle Roach, third team All-American and NWC Player of the Year Kenny Love and First Team All Northwest Conference selection Christian Jurlina.
Coming Up Next: Whitworth will host George Fox and Lewis & Clark on Feb 18-19 in the regular season home finales.
