Pacific University Athletics

Men's Basketball Weekly Notebook

2/3/2014 5:00:00 PM

QUICK LINKS: Roster | Schedule & Results | 2013-14 Statistics | NWC Standings | NWC Statistics | D3Hoops.com

THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC MEN'S BASKETBALL
WILLAMETTE AT PACIFIC
Game No. 20/Home Game No. 8
Tues., Feb. 4, 8 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats | Live Audio & Video

GEORGE FOX AT PACIFIC
Game No. 21/Home Game No. 9
Fri., Feb. 7, 8 p.m., Stoller Center, Forest Grove
Live Stats | Live Audio & Video

BOXERS LOOK TO REBOUND WITH RETURN TO THE HOME FLOOR
After taking a pair of tough losses on the eastern Washington road trip, the Pacific men's basketball team returns home with a need to rebound in front of the home crowd.  The Boxers play their final Tuesday game of the season when they host Willamette.  The Boxers will then complete the week when they host George Fox on Friday.

BOXER BYTES
• Pacific put together a balanced scoring effort with six players in double figures and outshot Whitman 46.8 percent to 43.3 percent, but the scoring was not enough to out-do the Missionaries in a 79-68 loss.  Jordan Batey came off the bench to lead the Boxers with 13 points.

• The Boxers had no answer for a torrid scoring performance by Whitworth in Spokane on Saturday night.  The Pirates shot 57.7 percent from the field and a perfect 12 of 12 from the free throw line in an 83-58 win over the Boxers.  Pacific shot 40.8 percent from the field, led by 14 points from Daniel Zitani.

• Pacific saw great improvement at the free throw line in the two eastern Washington games, going 26 of 32 in the two games.  The Boxers hit a season-high 16 of 17 in the loss at Whitman and saw their free throw percentage improve to .685 on the season.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
WILLAMETTE
The Bearcats enter the week tied for eighth in the NWC with Linfield at 1-9 and are 3-16 overall.  Willamette has lost their last six games, not having won since a 78-70 win over Linfield back on Jan. 10.  Pacific's travel partner dropped both games on the eastern Washington swing over the weekend.  On Friday, they took an 87-58 loss at Whitworth.  Willamette outshot the Pirates from the field, making 50 percent of their shots, but Whitworth made seven three-pointers and went 22 of 27 from the free throw line to earn the win.  Alex Brown was the only Willamette player to score in double figures, scoring 21 points.  The Bearcats played a closer game against Whitman on Saturday, falling 88-78.  Willamette once again shot 50 percent from the field and outscored the Missionaries 45-44 in the second half, but again the difference came at the lines with Whitman hitting seven three-pointers and 27 free throws.  Brandon Luedtke led all scorers with 24 points.  Manu Avery leads the Willamette offense, averaging 11.4 points per game.  Luedtke is averaging 11.2 points per game and is the NWC's leading rebounder at 8.2 boards per game.  As a team, Willamette is averaging 65.7 points and 32 rebounds per game while shooting 45.2 percent from the field.  Kip Ioane is in his fifth season as Willamette head coach.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Willamette leads 72-33    AGAINST CLEARY: Pacific leads 4-1
LAST MEETING: Pacific won 56-48 in Salem, Ore., on Jan. 7, 2014

GEORGE FOX
The Bruins enter the week in fourth place in the NWC at 6-4 and are 13-6 overall.  George Fox has won 3 for their last four games and split their games last week.  On Tuesday, the Bruins found themselves shocked on the road by Linfield 74-72.  Linfield outscored George Fox 37-31 in the second half and shot 60 percent from the field.  Ryan Cali won the game with his lay-in with 19 seconds left.  The Bruins shot 52.3 percent from the field, led by a 21-point performance by A.J. Grant.  George Fox returned to the win column on Saturday, beating Pacific Lutheran at home 78-60.  The Bruins pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Lutes 38-25.  Sean Atkins led the way for the Bruins with 23 points while Grant and Spencer Bolte each scored 17.  Bolte leads the George Fox offense, averaging 16.5 points per game, while Atkins is averaging 16.4 points per game.  Atkins is also the Bruins' leading rebounder, averaging 6.2 rebounds per game.  As a team, George Fox is 87.7 points and 34.9 rebounds per game and is shooting a league-leading 48.1 percent from the field.  The Bruins are outscoring opponents by an average of six points per game.  Maco "Shark" Hamilton is in his first year as George Fox head coach.

ALL-TIME SERIES: George Fox leads 43-41    AGAINST CLEARY: George Fox leads 6-1
LAST MEETING: George Fox won 80-68 in Newberg, Ore., on Jan. 11, 2014

PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
A CHANGING IN THE GUARDS: Jordan Batey's (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) saw his improved shooting rewarded with his first start for the Boxers.  Batey came off the bench to score a team-leading 13 points as six players scored in double figures at Whitman on Friday.  For his efforts, Batey received his first start of the season against Whitworth on Saturday and scored three points.  Batey has been a contributor in all 19 games for the Boxers this season.  He enters the week fourth for the team in scoring, averaging 7.1 points per game.  Batey has scored in double figures in three of the team's six games.  His season-high scoring performance came against Whitman on Jan. 4 when he scored 20 points on 6 of 11 from the field.

THIS BUD'S FOR YOU: Budweiser Hawkins (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev.) continues to make consistent improvement in his scoring and has provided solid production as a member of the starting linup.  Hawkins was in double figures for both of Pacific's games last week and has scored double digits in three of his last four games.  Hawkins scored 10 points in both games at Whitman and Whitworth.    He went 4 of 7 from the field against the Missionaries and 5 of 8 against the Pirates.  Hawkins has been tapped to start in each of the Boxers' last five games.  He enters the week averaging 6.3 points per game and is the team's third leading rebounder at four rebounds per game.

STILL PLAYING BIG: Pacific's contests against Whitman and Whitworth have not been the best for Daniel Zitani (Sr., Oakland, Calif.), but his efforts still made a difference.  Zitani scored 11 points to go along with seven rebounds on Friday at Whitman, which included a 5 for 5 effort from the free throw line.  On Saturday, Zitani finished with 14 points on 5 of 11 from the field.  Zitani continues to be a leader in the conference in many statistical categories.  Despite his reduced scoring last week, Zitani leads the NWC in scoring with an average of 18.6 points per game.  He also ranks second in rebounding, averaging 7.7 boards per game.  In addition, Zitani leads the league in field goals made (127), free throws made (94) and total points (329).  He also ranks second in the total rebounds (146) and defensive rebounds (101), third in blocked shots (22), fourth in offensive rebounds (45) and fifth in minutes per game (31.2), total minutes (592) and field goal percentage (.518).

ANOTHER DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Mitch Wettig (Jr., Bend, Ore.) continued to show solid production, coming up with his third double-double of the season at Whitman on Friday.  Wettig scored 11 points to go along with 10 rebounds, coming off the bench as Head Coach Tim Cleary adjusted the lineup to account for the Missionaries' rapid style of offense.  He also had three assists.  Wettig enters the week as one of the top rebounders in the league and one of the league's top three-point threats as a small forward.  He is tied for fourth in the NWC with an average of 6.8 rebounds per game and ranks third with a .449 three-point percentage.  Wettig also ranks third in defensive rebounds (91), is tied for fourth in total rebounds (129) and tied for eighth in offensive rebounds (38).

BALL SECURITY: Despite giving up a season-high 21 turnovers to Whitman on Friday, Pacific continues to be the top team in league in terms of ball security. The Boxers enter the week averaging 10.5 turnovers per game, well ahead of second place Pacific Lutheran (11.5 per game).  The Boxers ranked eighth among NCAA Division III teams in turnovers per game in the last Division III stats report, released on Jan. 30.  The Boxers were also ranked sixth in fewest turnovers with 189.  Pacific has finished with single digit turnovers in four of their last five games, including just nine against Whitworth on Saturday.

STRONG DEFENSIVE TEAM: Pacific continues to be one of the top defensive teams in the NWC.  The Boxers enter the week leading the league in points allowed at 63.5 points per game.  They ranked 32nd in the Jan. 30 NCAA Division III statistics report in the category.  Additionally, Pacific also ranks second in the NWC and 64th in Division III in opponent field goal percentage (.419) and fourth in opponent three-point percentage (.330).

KEEPING IT CLEAN: Pacific is responding to the new national emphasis by referees on clean play by keeping their fouls down.  The Boxers are committing just 15.8 personal fouls per game, ranking the Boxers first in the NWC and 23rd among NCAA Division III teams.  Pacific also ranks 26th in Division III in fewest fouls with 268 (as of Jan. 30).  Pacific saw its first foul disqualifications of the season against Puget Sound on Jan. 24 after going 14 games without a player fouling out.

STREAKING: Pacific saw their best win streak in over a decade end with the loss to Whitworth on Jan. 3.  The six-game win streak, which began with a 53-35 home win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Nov. 22 was the team's best since the 1999-2000 season, when the Boxers won six straight to close out the first half of their NWC season and won the first three games of the second half of the schedule.

FASTEST TO 10 WINS: With their victory over Pacific Lutheran on Jan. 18, Pacific amassed 10 wins in the fewest games since the 1999-2000 season.  Pacific reached the 10-win plateau in 15 games this season.  It is also the second 10-win season under Head Coach Tim Cleary.  The Boxers needed 16 games to reach 10 wins in 2012-13 on their way to a 15-10 finish.

CLEARY APPEARING ON WEEKLY SMALL COLLEGE HOOPS PODCAST: Head Coach Tim Cleary is one of five coaches regularly featured on a Portland small college basketball podcast hosted by Comcast SportsNet NW hoops analyst Greg Crawford.  The Portland Metro Small College Hoops podcast runs live every Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. (Cleary usually appears on the show in the 9:52 p.m. time slot).  The live stream and archived podcasts can be accessed at www.blogtalkradio.com/smallcollegehoops.

SEASON HONORS: The following Pacific players have earned weekly honors during the course of the 2013-14 season:

Daniel Zitani: NWC Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week for week of Dec. 16-22 for scoring 23 points and 12 rebounds in 71-70 overtime victory over Occidental...NWC Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week and D3Hoops.com Team of the Week for week of Dec. 9-15 for scoring 47 points with two double-doubles in wins at Pomona-Pitzer and Pacifica...NWC Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of Nov. 11-17 after averaging 20.2 points per game and led the Boxers in scoring in two of the three games of their season-opening Southern California road trip.

PACIFIC PICKED FIFTH IN NWC PRESEASON POLL: Northwest Conference coaches have picked Pacific to repeat their fifth place finish in the annual preseason poll released in early November.  The Boxers received 30 of a possible 72 points in the poll after finishing 15-10 overall and 9-7 in the NWC last season.  Whitworth is selected to repeat as conference champion, receiving 70 votes and seven of the league's nine first place votes.  Whitman is picked second with 58 points and two first place votes.  Lewis & Clark was picked third with 48 points, followed by George Fox (44), Pacific (30), Puget Sound (27), Pacific Lutheran (23), Linfield (19) and Willamette (14).