MARIETTA, Ohio  Prior to the dawn of this surreal and scintillating hoop campaign, Whitman had never gone undefeated in the regular season.

Never hosted a conference tournament championship game.

Never won a conference tournament title.

Never defeated its Spokane-based rival in a conference playoff.

Never won 30 games in a season, or in a row.

Never been one of the last eight Division III teams in America still standing.

"Never" has simply been no match for the top-ranked Blues, who fought as brothers into the program's first-ever sectional final by unravelling Hardin-Simmons for a 102-82 victory in an NCAA Division III tournament sectional at Ban Johnson Arena here Friday.

Whitman (30-0), which got 28 points from Tim Howell and swiped 24 steals, will play either Marietta or Rochester at 4 p.m. PT here Saturday for a berth in the national semifinals.

Go ahead and add "being fazed" to the "never" casualty list. When Hardin-Simmons rapidly erased Whitman's 10-point halftime lead, tying the game four times in the first five minutes of the second half, the Blues didn't blink, flinch, back down, worry -- or even notice.

"Our nonconference schedule was tough," Whitman head coach Eric Bridgeland said. "Our conference has diverse teams that play a lot of difficult styles to prepare for. There's not a lot we haven't seen.

"You play champions in this tournament. They're tough. They believe they're going to win. They make runs," he added. "As long as the pace is right and the tempo is right, that's all we're focused on."

The tempo was right for Whitman's flawless finishing kick, a cacophony of sneaker-squawk that began with three huge baskets by Joey Hewitt, buttery and blistering transition work by Jase Harrison, two massively crucial 3-pointers by Jack Stewart, and a parade of 1-on-5 defensive dissections from Howell, who had five of the six Whitman baskets during a sequence that stretched the lead to 21 with 2:03 to go.

The underwriters included Austin Butler (13 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals) and the Blues unassumingly essential posts, Cedric Jacobs-Jones and JoJo Wiggins.

"I'm so proud of Austin. I'm so proud of JoJo and Cedric," said Bridgeland. "JoJo in the first half, and Cedric in the second… They flipped the tide. They gave us three- or four-minute spurts that shifted momentum."

The Blues, who never surrendered the lead, seized it for good on Hewitt's 3-pointer with 14:50 to play. Whitman had made just 1 of 10 from deep to that point. Wiggins followed with a put-back, and Hewitt answered a Cowboys score by converting a Howell feed in transition while being fouled. The free throw made it 66-60, Blues.

The lead ticked to eight when Hewitt pulled up in transition to knock out a jumper.

It was 70-64 after Harrison scored on the drive. Butler, who made 5 of 6 free throws, tallied twice from the stripe, then found a streaking Harrison with a perfect bounce-pass to set up his transition layin.

Stewart's 3's pushed the Blues' advantage to 80-68 with 9:26 to play -- and 12 points was the closest Hardin-Simmons (24-7), champions of the American Southwest Conference, would get down the stretch.

"As long as we were running, we were okay with it," Bridgeland said. "That's just how it is."

The Cowboys shot a blistering 63.5 percent from the floor, but that did not offset their 30 turnovers.

That precedent was set from the opening jump.

Whitman's defensive pressure was like a vat of acid in the first half. The Blues had 14 steals by halftime, two more than their per-game average (which ranks fourth in the nation). Only Hardin-Simmons' uncanny shooting touch kept it from completely dissolving. The

Cowboys made 16 of 25 field goals (64 percent) before halftime, partially mitigating the damage wrought by 17 turnovers.

The Blues' ebullient thievery opened vast swaths of floor-space -- Howell's preferred hunting ground -- and the junior point guard was ready to eat. He led all first-half scorers with 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting.

Hewitt added 13 points; Whitman scored 20 points off turnovers by recess.

However, Whitman's long-range shooting woes continued, preventing the inflation of a more robust cushion. The Blues were 1 for 8 on 3-pointers -- on good, open, in-flow looks, too.

But Whitman was too good, defensively, too composed and lethal, offensively, for the wayward stroke to matter. Hewitt had 21 points and five steals in the game. Harrison (who has 21 steals in the Blues' five postseason games) had 18 points, six steals and five rebounds.

Stewart had five steals. Howell had five rebounds and four assists.

And "never" never had a chance.