SPOKANE, Wash. -- Whitworth College, ranked 6th in the latest D3hoops.com top 25 poll, will host three games over the next six days with a chance to open up an early significant lead in the Northwest Conference standings. The Pirates will host 17th-ranked Puget Sound on Friday, Pacific Lutheran on Saturday and Whitman on Tuesday. If Whitworth can win all three games, the Bucs will lead the NWC by two games.

Williams is averaging 8.3 apg and 10.7 ppg

The Pirates: Whitworth (13-0) is off to the best start in school history, surpassing the 12-0 start of the 2002-03 team. Prior to 2002-03, the team had started 6-0 three times (the last in 1983).

Whitworth is making a remarkable 54.4% of its shots from the field this season, including a hot 41% from three point range. All five starters continue to average double figures in scoring. The Pirates have outscored opponents by over 20 points per contest so far this season.

Whitworth has been very good defensively as well, holding opponents to an NWC-lowest 38.9%% shooting from the floor. The Bucs have outrebounded opponents by more than three boards per game (32.9 - 29.1) and have forced 10.1 steals per game.

Nationally Ranked: Whitworth's perfect start has earned the attention of the voters in the D3hoops.com top 25 poll. The Pirates are ranked 6th in the latest release (Jan. 9) of the poll. Click here for the entire poll. Whitworth's rating is the team's highest as an NCAA Division III member. The Pirates' previous high ranking was 8th earlier this season and 11th on January 6, 2003.

Radio/Internet: All the games will be carried live by KSBN 1230 am and Bob Castle will call the play by play. In addition to the on-air broadcast, the KSBN internet simulcast can be picked up either on the Whitworth Athletics site, or at KSBN.net by selecting the "listen now" button.

National Leaders: Whitworth not only leads all of NCAA Division III in field goal percentage at 54.4%, the Pirates have the best shooting percentage of the entire membership at this point in the year. No other NCAA team at any level is making shots at a better percentage than Whitworth. Defending NCAA DI champion Florida leads Division I schools with a shooting percentage of 54.2. Southern Indiana leads Division II with a 53.8 percentage.

The Bucs are also ranked highly in other categories in the national statistics. They are third in scoring margin (20.3), 11th in scoring defense (58.8), 17th in field goal percentage defense (38.9%) and 27th in assists (17.7).

Then there were three: Whitworth is one of three remaining undefeated teams at the NCAA Division III level. Amherst (11-0, ranked 2nd) and Bates (10-0, ranked 12th) are the other two. Both members of the NESCAC, Amherst and Bates will play this Saturday, eliminating at least one of the remaining three.

Streaking: In addition to the current school record 13 game winning streak, the Pirates have several other streaks going. After concluding last season with 10 consecutive wins at the end of the regular season, the Pirates are currently on a 23-game regular season winning streak and a 14-game NWC regular season winning streak. Whitworth has won the last 15 straight home games, dating to the 2004-05 season.

Dishing the Ball: Bryan Williams (Sr., G, Colbert, Wash. - Mead) will retire following this season as Whitworth's all-time leader in assists, and is on a record setting pace for the single season mark as well. This season he has 99 assists through 12 games played, averaging 8.3 per contest, which ranks first at the NCAA Division III level. He led the conference last year by averaging 5.7 assists per game. He also led the league as a sophomore when he dished 5.58 assists per contest. He has averaged nearly 5.5 assists per game during his career.

Sir James: James Jones (Sr., G, Manchester, England - St. Mary Coll.) is Whitworth's leading scorer this season, after coming off of the bench as the Pirates' sixth man last year. He is putting up 16.1 points per game (while making 53.2% of his shots) and adding 4.2 rebounds per contest.

The Shooter: Jon Young (Sr., G, Tracy, Calif. - Tracy) holds the Whitworth single season records for most three pointers made (92) and attempted (225), set in 2004-05. At the end of last season he broke Ryan Nelson's (1998-01) career marks for three pointers made (252) and attempted (583). Young has made 286 career three pointers in 701 tries (.408). He is also the 16th player in Whitworth history to score more than 1,000 career points, surpassing that total in last season's NWC Playoff Championship at UPS.

The List of 1,000 Point Scorers: Bryan Depew (2001-04) 2,013; Rod McDonald (1964-67) 1,807;Jim Doherty (1951-53) 1,726; Nate Dunham (1994-97) 1,551; Marv Adams (1955-57) 1,457; Todd Martin (1987-90) 1,403; Tommy Stewart (1982-85) 1,358; Jason Hull (1991-94) 1,348; Ralph Polson (1951-52) 1,302; Bob Mandeville (1981-84) 1,296; Jon Young (2002- ) 1,157; Brian Meyers (1984-87) 1,107; Ryan Nelson (1998-2001) 1,069; Doug Loiler (1991-92) 1,060; Chase Williams (2000-2003), 1,053; Phil Jordan (1953-55) 1,024.

Hayford Nets His 100th: Whitworth head coach Jim Hayford became the fastest coach in Pirate history to record his 100th victory as head coach of the Bucs with the win over Whittier on November 25th. Now 108-35 (.755) in his sixth season, Hayford is only the third coach in school history to reach the 100 win plateau. Hayford was the 2003 NWC Coach of the Year.

Dick Kamm (1961-64, 66-69) was the first, but he did it at the end of his seventh season. He was 110-99 in eight years. Warren Friedrichs (1986-2001) is Whitworth's all-time winningest coach (251-195, 16 years), but he didn't get his 100th win until his 7th season.

Globetrotters: The Pirates traveled more than 9,300 miles around the United States over the course of eight days to pick up their first six wins of the season. Whitworth won two games at the Lee Pfund Classic hosted by Wheaton, Illinois on November 17th and 18th. Then the Bucs won both of their games at the US Bank - Whitworth Maui Classic in Hawaii on November 22nd and 23rd. The Pirates closed the trip in Southern California with the two wins at the Caltech/Whittier Thanksgiving Classic last weekend.

SATURDAY START TIMES: The Northwest Conference has allowed for earlier start times for games involving Whitworth and Whitman that occur on Saturdays. This allows for an earlier return home. Therefore, the Lewis & Clark double header on Saturday, January 27th will begin with a women's game at 4:00 p.m. followed by the men's game at 6:00 p.m.

The Opponents: The University of Puget Sound, three time NWC Champions, comes into the Fieldhouse with records of 10-2 overall and 3-1 in the NWC and ranked 17th in the latest D3hoops.com poll. UPS split a pair of NWC road games last week, winning 108-96 at Pacific Lutheran before falling 77-71 at Pacific on Saturday in the team's lowest scoring output of the season. The Loggers lead the NWC and are ranked third in NCAA Division III with a 109.7 points per game scoring average. Jason Foster leads the team in scoring (19.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg). Super soph point guard Antwan Williams averages 14.1 points and 5.4 assists per game. Whitworth and Puget Sound split a pair of regular season meetings last year. The Loggers pulled out a 106-105 win in Tacoma before Whitworth rolled to a 98-74 win in Spokane. UPS won the NWC Tournament championship 94-86 at home.

Pacific Lutheran comes into the weekend with a 5-6 overall record and a 2-2 mark in the NWC. In addition to its 108-96 loss to UPS, PLU fell 102-76 at Lewis & Clark. After starting the season 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the NWC, the Lutes have lost six of their last seven contests. However a pair of talented Joshes continue to play well for PLU. Josh Dressler has returned from an injury to average 20.8 points per game, the second highest average in the NWC. Josh Van Landingham adds 14.1 points and 4.6 rebounds. Whitworth split games with PLU last season, losing 81-72 away and winning 78-61 at home.

Whitman College is 5-8 overall and 1-3 in the NWC, but the Missionaries head into the weekend on a two game winning streak. Whitman won 90-88 on Ian Warner's last second shot at Linfield last Saturday before rolling to a 101-63 win at home over Walla Walla on Tuesday night. Senior forward Kyle Born, who tied an NWC single game record with 53 points in a loss at Redlands on January 3rd, leads the conference in both scoring (20.9 ppg) and rebounding (10.3 rpg). Chris Faidley adds 15.5 points per game. Whitworth has won the last 14 meetings with the Missionaries, including last seasons wins at home (94-86) and on the road (88-74)..

2006-07 Schedule

2006-07 Roster

2006-07 Statistics