Whitworth hopes to make deep NCAA run
Probably more than any college team in America, the Whitworth Pirates are finding it tough to take it “one game at a time.”
Who could blame them?
The Pirates are back in the NCAA Division III Tournament and ranked eighth in the nation, but coming off an overtime loss last weekend to unbeaten Whitman.
It was Whitworth’s third loss of the year against the top-ranked Blues, who host this week’s first and second rounds of the tournament in Walla Walla. A fourth meeting looms on Saturday – provided both teams win their opening games Friday night at the Sherwood Athletic Center.
Said Whitworth coach Matt Logie, “We’re a very confident group right now.”
But the Pirates (23-4) insist they aren’t looking past first-round opponent Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, a tournament regular that just won the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles.
CMS comes into the tournament on a four-game winning streak, including six-point wins over Pomona-Pitzer and Cal Lutheran in the SCIAC, and the Stags are shooting 49.3 percent from the field this year.
They also like to shoot the 3-pointer, putting up 18 per game while making almost 40 percent of them.
“We’ve got to play with the same passion and intensity that we’ve been playing with lately,” said Whitworth forward Christian Jurlina, one of four senior starters.
By almost any measure, it’s been an outstanding season for the Pirates, who’ve been in the top 10 all year.
But the sudden rise of Whitman – which just won its first Northwest Conference title in 30 years – means there won’t be any new championship banners in the Whitworth Fieldhouse rafters.
Unless the Pirates can win the big one in their first NCAA appearance as an at-large team.
Don’t count them out.
Their 86-83 overtime loss at Whitman in last week’s NWC title game was frustrating at the time, but now it offers a confidence booster after double-digit losses to the Blues in the regular season.
“We’re hopeful that we can put a good game together if we get to face them again,” guard Derek Isaak said. “Our mind set hasn’t changed.”
Neither has their skill set. Whitworth is one of the hottest-shooting teams in DIII and ranks in the top 25 in teams in the nation (out of 416) in field-goal percentage 15th, at 49.1 percent), free throw shooting (19th, at 76.7 percent) and 3-point shooting (23rd, at 39.5 percent).
At the other end of the floor, Whitworth leads the NWC and ranks 33rd nationally in field-goal defense at 40.5 percent.
Three Pirates are averaging double-figure scoring, led by Kyle Roach (16.1ppg), Jurlina (15.4) and Kenny Love (11.9).
In the other first-round game, Whitman (27-0) faces Rhodes College (17-10). The Lynx, from Memphis, are making the longest trip of any team in the first round, traveling 2,070 miles.