WICHITA, Kan. — With the offense rolling and the team on a three-game winning streak, the Newman men's basketball team hits the road for its final nonconference contest of the regular season, facing William Jewell Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Jets (6-1) are scoring 96.3 points per game over their winning streak, and have outscored opponents by an average of 29.7 over that span. For the season, the team is 21st in the nation with a scoring average of 90.4, and has put up at least 81 points in all six of its victories. While the Jets are busy scoring points, their opponents have a tough time keeping up, reaching the 80-point plateau on just two occasions.
Newman's most recent effort — a 99-77 win over Bethel College —saw the squad shoot 52.1 percent from the field and 46.9 percent from 3-point range while netting 26 fast break points and 22 points off turnovers. Those numbers weren't far off from its season averages of 46.9 from the floor and 39.0 from deep.
Leading scorer James Pegues is also the most accurate shooter on the team. The senior's 16.1 ppg come on 36-of-50 shooting — which puts him eighth in Division II with a 72.0-percent field goal percentage — and hits free throws at an 82.9-percent clip. His 4.7 rebounds per game is tied with fellow senior Gavin Thurman for the team lead, and the duo are two of five players who average double figures in scoring. Thurman went for 27 points against Bethel on Monday to bump his season output to 12.6 ppg, and has eight blocks to lead the team.
Fellow starters Jalen Love, Jarvis Williams and Cortrael Colbert all put up between 11.4 and 12.3 ppg to help the Jets' high-flying offense, with Love adding 3.6 rpg, Williams dishing out 3.0 assists and Colbert leading the team with 3.1 apg and 13 total steals. Junior Daniel Nwosu, who has come off the bench to score 15, 13 and 18 points over the past three games, averages 9.0 ppg and hit 6-of-7 from beyond the arc to help turn back Bethel.
The Cardinals (2-4) are coming off a weekend that saw them open Great Lakes Valley Conference play with a pair of losses to Quincy and Truman State. Three of the team's four losses on the season have come by single digits, including a three-point loss to No. 25 Pittsburg State and a 76-75 defeat at the hands of Truman State Saturday.
Jewell nets 80.5 points per game, led by Darius Tomlin, who averages 18.5 ppg to go with nearly two assists and two steals an outing, and Matt Lassen, who puts up 15.5 ppg. Austin Regier is the team's leader on the glass, pulling in 8.7 rpg to go with 10.0 ppg, while Javier De La Blanca puts up 11.8 ppg and 5.2 rpg. Patrick Whelan rounds out the five players who average double digits with 10.8 ppg, and leads the team with 3.0 apg.
The Jets and Cardinals have met three previous times in Newman's Division II era, with the Jets taking all three. The games have been close though, with Newman's 86-84 win in 2012-13 coming down to a final-second, tiebreaking basket, and last year's 97-90 victory taking two overtimes to decide. Pegues and Colbert each dumped in 16 points in that one to earn the win.
Saturday's contest at the Mabee Center will be broadcast on 1410 AM (KGSO) in Wichita, with live video, audio and statistics available at www.newmanjets.com.
