Men's Basketball Notes: Grand View

Truman @ Grand View (Iowa) – Thursday, Nov. 17, 7:30 pm
Sisam Arena (Johnson Wellness Center); Des Moines, Iowa
Audio: 104.7 FM – KRES (Moberly, Mo.); Also streamed online at CentralMOInfo.com
Video: None Available
Live Stats: None Available

PDF Notes

Game Preview:
Coming off a 48-point win in its home opener on Tuesday night, the Truman men's basketball team will turn right around and head to Des Moines, Iowa, for a Thursday night contest against Grand View University, an NAIA program out of the Midwest Collegiate Conference.

The Bulldogs, now 1-2 on the season, visit the Johnson Wellness Center on the GVU campus as part of a homecoming for head coach Matt Woodley and assistant coach Todd Lorensen, both who have ties to the Viking program. Woodley's father, Mike, is the head football coach and his brother, Joe, is the defensive coordinator at Grand View, while Lorensen was a 1,000-point scorer during his three-year career at the school. He also had a one-year stint as an assistant men's basketball coach following his playing career.

Truman came up one point shy of the century mark in its home opener on Tuesday, as freshman Seth Jackson scored 25 points in 19 minutes off the bench in his debut to lead the Bulldogs to a 99-51 victory against Central Christian (Mo.) College. Three other Bulldogs finished in double-figures, with freshman Mike Carlson scoring 17 points and adding ten rebounds for his first collegiate double-double, and guards Tom Norton (15 points) and Isaac Gardner (14 points) combining for six three-pointers and five assists.

The 'Dogs will face a Grand View squad that is 3-2 through its first five games of the 2012 season, having most recently suffered a 68-57 setback at Midland University on Tuesday night.

Truman holds a 3-2 lead in the all-time series with Grand View, although it's been nearly 25 years since the teams last met on the hardwood. The squads played all five times between 1981-1987, with just one occurrence taking place in Des Moines. That meeting was the last time the squads have met, and it was GVU coming away with a 95-73 victory against the 'Dogs. The Vikings have won the past two meetings.

About the 'Dogs:
The Bulldogs are 1-2 on the 2011-12 campaign, having hit home, road and neutral sites through the first five days of the season. The squad is shooting 46% from the field overall, including a 34% mark from three-point range. Truman has taken 73 three-pointers (24.3/game) already this season.

In just one game, Jackson vaulted to the top of the team's scoring average this year after scoring 25 points on Tuesday night. Mike Carlson has 50 total points this season (16.7/game) and is the team's leading rebounder at 6.3 per contest. Tom Norton is third on the squad at 15.0 points per game and has hit 13-of-14 free throws, while Isaac Gardner is the team-leader in minutes at 29.7 per game and is averaging 11.7 points per night.

The team-leader coming off the bench has been junior transfer EJ Hicks, who is averaging 7.0 points and is shooting 53% from the floor.

Head coach Matt Woodley picked up his first collegiate coaching victory on Tuesday night.

Scouting the Vikings:
The Vikings will enter Thursday night's game with a 3-2 overall record, having gone 1-1 at home during an opening weekend tournament.

Grand View is led offensively by three players in double-figures, highlighted by Kody Ingle's 14.7 ppg. Ingle has taken double the amount of shots of any Viking player this season but is shooting just 32% from the floor and 19% from three-point range. Josh Henry (12.3 ppg) and Kevin Smith (10.7 ppg) also are in double-figures offensively, with Henry hitting eight triples at a 57% clip so far this year.

As a team, Grand View is shooting 37% from the field and are being out-rebounded by more than four per game.

Denis Schaefer is in his 14^th season at the helm in Des Moines.

Sharing the Wealth:
The Bulldogs have four players averaging at least two assists per game already this season, led by Carlson and Norton's nine apiece. Hicks and freshman Andrew Vander Zwaag have six assists each, as Truman has an assist-to-turnover ratio above the 1.0 mark (43 assists, 42 turnovers).

MIAA Coaches/Media Poll:
In the annual conference coaches and media polls, released on Oct. 26 by the conference office, Truman was picked tenth in both out of 11 teams. Missouri Southern was the preseason favorite in both.

Bulldog Tip-Ins:
·       The Bulldogs went 7-19 last season, including a 5-17 mark in the MIAA.
·       Truman was 6-7 (4-7 MIAA) in Pershing Arena but just 1-12 (1-10 MIAA) away from home in 2010-11.
·       The team's top two scorers from last season – Alex Henderson (14.7 ppg) and Ethan Freeman (11.5 ppg) – both graduated. However, the next four top scorers all return, headlined by Tom Norton's 10.3 ppg average last season.
·       Norton hit a team-high 62 three-pointers last season and connected at a 37.3% rate. He also shot 83% (50-for-60) from the charity stripe.
·       Vesko Filchev averaged 9.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last season, while shooting 51.4% from the floor.
·       Then-freshman guard Isaac Gardner and Pat Sodemann each averaged 16.8 minutes per game, with Gardner scoring 6.7 points and Sodemann scoring 4.8 points. Gardner hit 42% from three-land (42-for-100), while Sodemann was an 86% foul shooter (30-for-35).
·       The Bulldogs averaged 69.2 points per game, while allowing 75.8 (-6.6).
·       Truman had an assist/turnover ratio of 0.9, while opponents were at 1.2.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs head to St. Louis for its third game in five days this Saturday (Nov. 19) for a 3:00 pm tipoff with GLVC-member Maryville University.

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