SALEM, Ore.  Whitman's climb to national basketball relevance -- and then national distinction -- has been painstaking, wrought more in the relative privacy and thankless labor of practice than in the intermittent, public epiphanies of its games. It has been a joy to watch, certainly, and -- one hopes -- a joy to cultivate.

Whitman's rise has also changed the nature of the Northwest Conference, offering the visitor to Walla Walla -- or any Blues host, the game circled on the calendar, ballyhooed in media, spiking attendance by a monochromatically-costumed fan base -- a 40-minute shortcut to temporary illumination by the very spotlight that Whitman has clawed to corner, rep by rep, practice by practice, film session by film session, bus-ride by bus-ride, flight by flight, and of course, win by win.

Playing against that phenomenon but always for each other, the top-ranked, still-undefeated Blues finished the penultimate road trip of their NWC campaign with a 75-59 victory over Willamette on Saturday that suggested bull's-eyes can't overwrite the name stitched on Whitman jerseys, or the motto which binds this team in defensive vigilance.

"They work so well together," Whitman head coach Eric Bridgeland said. "They work so hard on defense in practice. It doesn't always come together like it did tonight. They were dialed in. (The first half) was one of the best defensive halves of our season."

Whitman (17-0, 8-0 in NWC) led by at least 16 points for the entire second half after ending the first on a 20-4 run that made it 36-20 at halftime. The Blues, with 15 points apiece from Tim Howell and Trevor Osborne and 12 from Joey Hewitt, ran their regular-season conference winning streak to 32.

"Everyone was ready to play, and ready to play defensively against a team that is very tough to guard. (Willamette) has three or four guys that can put it on the deck and create," said Bridgeland. "Our guys did an amazing job for the last 30 minutes."

It was a defensive masterpiece, the home team held to just 23 baskets but coaxed into 28 turnovers. Six different players had at least two steals, the team 17. Austin Butler had four steals, his fifth consecutive game with at least four, and has 29 steals over the last seven games. Only two other players in the Northwest Conference -- teammates Jack Stewart and Joey Hewitt -- have more than 29 steals this season.

With eight regular-season games remaining, Butler leads the NWC in steals-per-game and field goal percentage and is second in assists-per-game and blocks-per-game.

"People celebrate scorers. Austin dismantles the other team in so many areas," said Bridgeland. "On the glass. Assists. Blocks. Rebounds. Flat-out defense. People don't celebrate that.

"If he isn't the best defensive player in the country, then he's top two or three."

Neither team was especially crisp during the first 10 minutes, but Whitman dug in and began stringing together stops -- and kept scoring -- around the nine-minute mark. A pair of Howell free throws, a Jaron Kirkley basket, and Ben Beatie's fast-break dunk on a dime from Hewitt gave the Blues their initial burst of what would become an iron-clad separation. Butler hit a free throw after the Bearcats made two at the stripe. Howell scored six of Whitman's next eight points and assisted on the other two, and in a flash, Whitman led 31-18.

Willamette (8-9, 3-5) converted its only basket of the half's final nine minutes, 14 seconds at the 1:43 mark.

Osborne canned a 3-pointer, and Butler's steal and breakaway layup closed out the game's decisive sequence, just before recess.

Osborne finished 5 of 8 on 3-pointers one night after hitting 6 of 6. The Blues, who entered the weekend hitting 37.5 percent (150 of 399) of their 3s, made 10 of 18 at Linfield Friday and 8 of 16 against the Bearcats -- a 52.9 percent weekend from deep.

"Trevor," Bridgeland said, "is obviously on fire."

Kirkley had seven points off the bench. Butler added eight points and five assists. Hewitt, Howell, Osborne, Jack Stewart and Robert Colton each had two steals.

Whitman shot 50 percent from the field.

The Blues return home next weekend and will host the University of Puget Sound at 8 p.m. on Jan. 26.