Outside the Wittenberg men’s basketball locker room, not much was expected of this year’s team. The Tigers were picked fourth in the North Coast Athletic Conference, and that wasn’t a shot at the program, just a realistic assessment of a team that lost seven seniors.

For that reason, it would be easy to describe the team’s 3-0 start as surprising. You just won’t catch the players saying that.

“I’m not surprised at all,” said junior guard Zack Leahy, who’s averaging 12 points per game. “We’ve talked ever since the start of the season about how much potential this team has. Our chemistry is so good this year. We all get along and share the ball so well. It would be a surprise to a lot of people. Everyone we talked to wasn’t expecting a lot this year. We’re happy to be surprising people.”

The Tigers’ perfect mark will be tested in a big way twice this week at Pam Evans Smith Arena: first with the 7:30 p.m. home opener against Marietta (2-1) today and then at 7:30 Saturday against No. 16 Wooster (3-1).

“We’ve got something to prove against Marietta,” Leahy said. “They spanked us last year down there (87-63), so we’ve got to do the same to them. Obviously, to start out with our fifth game playing Wooster at home, that’s huge. I think we’re ready for it.”

The Tigers have won all three games by double digits: 61-44 over Johns Hopkins, 69-52 over Case Western and 66-54 over Capital. Their victory at Capital on Nov. 20 was especially impressive because the Crusaders were the preseason pick to win the Ohio Athletic Conference. Marietta was picked to finish second.

“I don’t want to downplay in any way how much we like our team and how pleased we are to be 3-0, but it’s a very small sample size,” Wittenberg coach Bill Brown said. “The key, as it is every year, is to build from where you’re at. In this case, we can build from some success.”

Wittenberg’s biggest strength so far has been defense. It leads the NCAC in scoring defense (50 points per game). In holding its opponents to 54 points or less in three straight games, it accomplished something it something it didn’t do all of last season.

The Tigers have been especially strong on defense in the first half. They held Johns Hopkins to 18 points and Capital to 16.

The star on offense has been 6-foot-4 sophomore wing Sam Collins, a first-year starter from Cleveland Heights who’s leading the team with 13.3 points per game. He’s shooting 55 percent from the field.

“The thing every coach has said about Sam since they’ve known him — and this goes back to his youth days — is his overall energy level comes very easy. He doesn’t have to think about it. He doesn’t have to force himself to play with great energy. You combine that energy with that athleticism and you’ve got something for sure.”