DUBUQUE — No. 3 Jefferson continues to roll through their opponents with Tuesday (Dec. 14) night’s beating of an undersized Dubuque Hempstead, 67-47.

The win moves Jefferson’s record to 5-0 (2-0 in the MVC). The matchup saw two of the conference’s top six leading scorers in Jefferson’s Jarrod Uthoff (29.8) and Hempstead’s Gage Heffernan (21.7).

Uthoff picked up right where he left off Saturday night   when he scored a school-record 44 points. In the first half Jarrod accounted for 22 of the J-Hawks 32. Uthoff finished with 40 points on 16-24 shooting (8-10 on free throws). He also added 15 rebounds. On the other side Heffernan finished with a team-high 15.

When asked about his game Uthoff continues to praise his teammates.

“My teammates are very unselfish and passed the ball well,” he said.

Jefferson started off the game sluggish, struggling to get anything going offensively. At the end of the first quarter the J-Hawks maintained an 8-7 advantage.

“We were physically cold and our play was icy at the beginning,” Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman said. “Our defense helped our offense and we finally looked for our high-low offense where we found success.”

That was as close as the game got. Jefferson went on a 15-2 run to start the first four minutes of the second quarter. The J-Hawks found their success by getting the ball into the paint. Alec Saunders, who finished with 13 points, had four assists to help Uthoff to 18 points in the second frame.

Jefferson made another large run in the third, outscoring the Mustangs 17-4 in the first four minutes.

“We played better defense and had them reacting to us more, which lead to easy baskets in transition. Jarrod really went to work,” Ordman said.

Jefferson dominated nearly every aspect of the game, including the battle of the boards, where it had a 39-22 advantage. To the casual observer one might see only Uthoff, but as Ordman has mentioned numerous times during the young season, the group is made up of unselfish young men who are all making key contributions for a team victory.

Jefferson has greatly improved on the defensive end, forcing their opponents into double-digit turnovers in each of their five games.

“With the big leads we try to work on defensive habits no matter what the score is and certain offensive executions,” Ordman said. “I’m a little concerned that Washington had a close contest against Davenport West. We haven’t been in that type of game yet.”

Jefferson’s starters have not yet needed to play four full quarters. Friday promises to give the J-Hawks their first true test of the season against cross-town rival Washington at the Warriors’ gym. On paper this promises to be an exciting match-up of state tournament qualifying teams from a year ago.

“It will be a tough game,” Uthoff said. “The team is full of good players. It will be a tremendous atmosphere and we’re looking forward to it.”

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JEFFERSON: Meiborg 1 3-4 5, Kramer 0 0-0 0, Olson 2 0-0 5, Saunders 5 1-2 13, Uthoff 16 8-10 40, Brown 0 0-0 0, Larson 0 0-0 0, Heying 0 1-2 1, Denny 0 0-0 0, Rooney 0 0-0 0, Hemphill 0 1-2 1, Steckler 0 0-2 0, Selberg 0 0-0 0, Kelly 0 0-1 0, Mueller 1 0-0 2, Goodell 0 0-0 0, Eivins 0 0-2 0. Totals 25 15-24 67.

HEMPSTEAD: Johnson 2 1-3 5, Duwe 4 2-4 12, Viertel 0 0-0 0, Leach 1 2-3 4, Breitbach 1 3-4 5, Sindberg 0 2-2 2, Heffernan 6 3-5 15, Hermsen 1 0-0 2, Canfield 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 13-21 47.

Halftime—Jefferson 48. Hempstead 5. 3-point goals—Hempstead 2 (Duwe 2) Jefferson 2 (Saunders 1, Olson 1). Foul Out—Canfield.