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NCAA Tournament second round preview; Chapman vs. Whitworth
Posted: Mar 06, 2010

NCAA Tournament second round preview; Chapman vs. Whitworth

SPOKANE, Wash. - Here are all the facts that you need to know to get ready for tonight's Chapman University men's basketball second round NCAA Tournament game against Whitworth University at 7 p.m. in Spokane, Wash. For a more in-depth version of these game notes, please visit our men's basketball home page (http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/mbkb/index) and click on "NCAA Game Notes (Whitworth)." For live stats, audio and video from tonight's game, please click on the following link:

http://www.whitworth.edu/Athletics/Teams/Basketball/livefeed.htm

Meet the Teams
Chapman enters Saturday's second round game with a 24-2 record and a No. 12 national ranking according to d3hoops.com and is a Pool B selection into the field of 61 as an independent qualifier. The Panthers are currently No. 6 in the NCAA West Region Rankings.

Whitworth is 25-2, ranked No.4 according to d3hoops.com and is the top-ranked team in the West Region. The Pirates earned the Northwest Conference (NWC) automatic bid to the NCAA Championships after winning the NWC tournament against George Fox University and an undefeated, 16-0 run through the conference season. Only one other team in NWC history has gone undefeated through conference play and that happened in 2009 when the University of Puget Sound accomplished the feat. The Pirates enter tonights game as one of three teams in the field to have been given a first round bye and are currently riding a 24-game winning streak, the longest current streak in the NCAA at any level. This is the fourth-consecutive appearance and fifth overall for the Pirates in the NCAA Division III Championships.

The Matchup
Tonight's game should be a little more high-scoring than Thursday's 58-47 first round win over Claremont. Whitworth is No. 8 in NCAA Division III in scoring offense averaging 85 points per game. The Pirates are also an excellent three-point shooting team ranking third in three-point field goals made per game (10) and 12th in three-point percentage (39.8%).

As one of the top defensive teams in the nation, Chapman would prefer a much lower scoring game. While Whitworth's strength is its offense and three-point shooting, Chapman's strength is its defense and its ability to hold teams to a low three-point percentage. The Panthers are No. 3 in Division III in scoring defense allowing 56.5 points per game and No. 6 in three-point field goal defense, holding opponents to 27 percent shooting.

Chapman Keys to the Game; Guard Play
Chapman and Whitworth have opposite styles, the team that is able to dictate the tempo will win tonight's game. In addition, it is important for the Panthers to get strong guard play as they did in Thursday's win over Claremont. The game plan for opponents all year has been to double team the Chapman post players while forcing outside shots. Claremont used that strategy on Thursday to no avail as junior G Griffin Ramme and senior G Kyle Wood combined to score 37 points on 5-of-10 three-points shooting. Also important is the ability of the Panthers' guards to limit Whitworth from getting open three-point looks. In the NWC tournament finals against George Fox University last weekend, Whitworth drained a school-record 17 three-pointers.

Game on the Radio

Play-by-play coverage for Saturday's second round game will be aired live at 7 p.m.by Whitworth University and will also be streamed on video. To watch or listen to tonight's game and also view live stats, please visit the Chapman University athletics website and click on the audio/video/live stats link. You can also click on the following link:

http://www.whitworth.edu/Athletics/Teams/Basketball/livefeed.htm

All-Time Series (Since 1994)
This is the third-consecutive season that Chapman and Whitworth have met and the third matchup all-time. Chapman is 1-1 against Whitworth losing 62-47 last season in a neutral site game. The Pirates were able to limit the Panthers to just 27 percent shooting in the game. In 2007, Chapman won 56-53 as seniors Dan Aguilar and Kyle Wood each had a game-high 15 points in the win.

Whitworth  and Chapman vs. Same Opponents
Chapman and Whitworth share three opponents on the 2009-10 schedule; U.C. Santa Cruz, George Fox University and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges. The Panthers are 5-0 this season against those team with three of those wins coming against Santa Cruz. Whitworth is 5-1 against those teams losing 55-54 to Pomona-Pitzer who Chapman beat by 18 in the first game of the season. Whitworth also had narrow wins against George Fox and U.C. Santa Cruz early in the season, two teams that Chapman has played well against.

Home Court Advantage
Whitworth is currently riding a 21-game home-court winning streak. Since 2001-02, they are 85-10 (.895) in Whitworth Fieldhouse. Over the last five years they are even better with a 52-3 (.945) record.

More Chapman Notes

Panthers'  NCAA Tournament History
Thursday's win was Chapman's first postseason win since the 1983-84 season when they beat U.C.R. in the third place game of the NCAA Division II West Regionals. This is Chapman's 10th NCAA tournament appearance in school history although it is their first in the NCAA Division III Championships. The Panthers had an impressive run of six postseason berths in seven years from 1956-63 under head coach Don Perkins. In the midst of that run, Chapman reached the ‘Elite 8' in 1958 and lost in the College Division national championship game in 1960. Chapman last appeared in the postseason during the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons under head coach Walt Hazzard.

Winning Consistency
This is Chapman's fifth-consecutive 20-win season. In fact, after going 24-3 a year ago, only St. Thomas (Minn.) (.946), Washington (Mo.) (.927) and Findlay (Ohio) (.906) have a higher winning percentage than Chapman (.904) in all Divisions over the past two seasons. The only Division I school in the top-10 in winning pct. is the University of Kansas (.844).

Players to Watch
Chapman has benefited from a quintet that has started nearly every game together the past two years: seniors Kyle Wood, Dan Aguilar and Jared Kaiser, and juniors Justin Riley and Griffin Ramme. Ramme and Wood have provided the firepower for the Panthers, averaging 13.5 and 13.3 points per game each. Ramme has 60 three-pointers this season, shooting over 46 percent from the arc. Meanwhile, Riley leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 15.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game and has 10 double-doubles.

Meet Head Coach Mike Bokosky
On December 7, 2009 in a 74-44 win over U.C. Santa Cruz, Bokosky won the 300th game of his career. In 2007-08, Bokosky became Chapman's all-time winningest coach - a history that spans nearly 90 years. He followed that up the next year by leading the Panthers to a 24-3 record and the most victories in a season in 49 years. The Panthers went on to win their fourth consecutive Division III Independents West Region championship.

 "Bo" has guided Chapman to five straight 20-win seasons and 17 consecutive winning seasons. Bokosky is also in his eighth year serving as an Assistant Athletic Director at Chapman.

Prior to Chapman, Bokosky served as an assistant coach in the Big West at Cal State Fullerton and U.C. Irvine where he recruited and coached future NBA players Scott Brooks, Tom Tolbert, Bruce Bowan, Bob Thornton and Johnny Rogers.

 More Whitworth Notes

NCAA Tournament History
This is the fourth-consecutive and fifth overall appearance for the Pirates in the NCAA Division III Championships and they are 2-0 against teams from the SCIAC. Last season, Whitworth defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 81-63 in the first round before losing to Puget Sound in the secound round. In 2008 Whitworth beat Occidental College in the first round in Spokane. Prior to moving to NCAA Division III, Whitworth participated as a member of NAIA Division II where they made several playoff appearances.

Players to Watch
The Pirates are led by four double-figure scorers, three of whom are seniors. Senior F Nate Montgomery is the 2009-10 NWC Player of the Year and averages 16.6 ppg and 8.0 rebounds. First-year starter Eric Beal has excelled at the point guard position earning first-team All-NWC honors while averaging 14.2 points per game to go along with 5.74 assists per game. He ranks 16th in the nation in assists. Also averaging in double-figures are seniors David Riley (13.3 ppg.) and Bo Gregg (11.2 ppg.)

Meet Head Coach Jim Hayford
Hayford reached the 200-win mark for his career in 2009 when Whitworth beat Claremont in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championships. In nine seasons at Whitworth, Hayford has compiled a 188-54 record with seven 20-win seasons, five NCAA Division III Championships appearances and four NCW Coach of the Year awards.

by Chris Watts
Sports Information Assistant