REDLANDS, Calif.  Whitman completed a three-game road sweep of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Thursday afternoon.
Nearly the entire roster left fingerprints on the broom.

Tim Howell scored a season-high 28 points to pace six Blues in double figures, and top-ranked Whitman shot a season-best 56.8 percent from the floor in hammering the University of Redlands 119-93 in a men's nonconference basketball game.

Joey Hewitt, Trevor Osborne and Jaron Kirkley added 15 points apiece for Whitman (9-0), which opened this road trip with a narrow victory over Occidental on Sunday -- shooting a season-low 37.5 percent. It was more efficient in thumping La Verne on Monday, and was near the top of its game Thursday.

"No question, it was our best game of the year in terms of being focused, and in terms of playing well offensively and defensively and doing what we do," Blues head coach Eric Bridgeland said. "We were able to make some adjustments on the fly in the full-court game and change up pressures."

Whitman's scoring total was its second highest of the season (it scored 122 against Gallaudet on Nov. 18) and its most prolific of the year away from home. The Blues had 20 assists on 42 made field goals in 74 attempts.

"From a personnel standpoint, everyone that stepped on floor was engaged and played well," said Bridgeland. "Everyone added value."

Kirkley had nine points, including baskets on three straight possessions and four of five, as the Blues mounted a 15-5 run inside the 12-minute mark of the second half to push their lead over 20.

"It was great to see Jaron get going," Bridgeland said of the sophomore guard, who was 5 for 5 from the floor. "He's one of the hardest workers we have. He spends so much time on film and working on his shot. He is really letting the game come to him."

Following Kirkley's burst, a 3-pointer by Jack Stewart pushed the lead to 26 near the eight-minute mark.

Robert Colton and Austin Butler each scored 12 points for Whitman. Butler also had nine rebounds, four assists and three steals, drawing praise for his offensive-minded approach from Bridgeland.

"We talked about some of the things that we needed to do to get better. Redlands is good; we were excited for a great game," Bridgeland said. "We knew they'd test us, and this was a great outing for our guys right before Christmas."

Stewart, who had made just six of his previous 22 3-point attempts, hit 3 of 6 on Thursday and had nine points along with four assists.

Whitman methodically built a 59-47 halftime lead. The 12-point margin -- achieved when Howell hit a contested floater along the right side of the lane inside the final five seconds -- was the Blues' fattest of a back-and-forth first half.

Howell was 6 for 6 at the free throw line and led all first-half scorers with 13 points. He played 11 minutes before halftime, after seeing just 12 all game in Monday's 96-67 victory at La Verne.

Colton had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, and Hewitt and Osborne had eight points apiece. Butler added seven points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Whitman had first-half success creating turnovers (11), just not at the clip to which it is accustomed, and compensated with a superb shooting half. The Blues made 22 of 39 field goals and 7 of 14 from beyond the three-point arc.

The Bulldogs, who retained the services of leading scorer Trevor Baker after he missed three games with an injury, hung around until the break thanks primarily to the long ball. Redlands (2-6) was 8 of 15 on 3-pointers in the opening half.

Cedric Jacobs-Jones had six points and six rebounds off the bench for the winners. Ben Beatie added five rebounds and four assists, and Darne Duckett swiped four steals. Hewitt, Howell and Kirkley had two steals each for the Blues, who forced 24 turnovers and had 14 steals as a team.

Whitman plays the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 6 p.m. on Dec. 29 in Las Vegas in the opening round of the D3hoops.com Classic.

Notes: Whitman out-rebounded Redlands 46-33 … Whitman came into Thursday leading all NCAA Division III teams in steals per game at 18 … Hewitt entered the contest averaging three steals per game, which leads all Northwest Conference players and is tied for eighth nationally. Six of the NWC's top 11 players in steals-per-game are Blues, including Butler (who is second at 2.5), Stewart, Howell, Duckett and Osborne … Butler leads all NWC players in blocked shots per game at 1.9, which ranks 38th in the nation … The Blues handed Redlands its second loss against a team ranked in the D3hoops.com Top 25. The Bulldogs fell 69-60 to 11th-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater on Dec. 2 … Redlands dropped to 0-4 against the Northwest Conference this season. It lost to Pacific once and the University of Puget Sound twice. Its home-and-home against the Loggers featured a pair of close, high-scoring games (118-112, 116-115).