Men's Basketball 1/10/2012 9:10:00 AM Tyler Madsen, Truman Athletics

Men's Basketball Notes: at Missouri Western

TRUMAN (4-10, 2-5 MIAA)
@ Missouri Western (6-7, 1-6 MIAA)

Wednesday, Jan. 11, 7:30 pm
MWSU Fieldhouse; St. Joseph, Mo.

Audio: 104.7 FM – KRES (Moberly, Mo.); Also streamed online at CentralMOInfo.com
Video: http://www.b2livetv.com/partner_members.asp?id=295
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/missouri/mbball/xlive.htm

PDF Notes

Game Preview:
The Truman (4-10, 2-5 MIAA) men's basketball team will look to pick up its first MIAA road win of the 2011-12 campaign on Wednesday night when it travels to Missouri Western (6-7, 1-6 MIAA) for a 7:30 pm tipoff in St. Joseph.

Both the Bulldogs and Griffons are out to snap four-game MIAA losing skids, having both gone winless in league play since December 7^th when Truman beat Southwest Baptist and Missouri Western downed Missouri Southern.

The two teams have been nearly identical in conference play, both dropping a handful of tight decisions with one solid win to hang their hats upon. For the Bulldogs, it's been a quartet of close losses (three coming away from home) since that Dec. 7^th 80-79 win against SBU, while the Griffons have been in each of their four games – against all but one of the same opponents as Truman – since a stunning 75-67 home win against then-No. 1 MSSU.

Truman is coming off a 65-47 loss at Northwest Missouri on Saturday afternoon in a game that never grew to more than 11 at any point until the waning minutes as the Bearcats iced the game at the charity stripe. The squad has dropped five straight MIAA road affairs dating back to last season, with the last win coming in St. Joseph on Feb. 19, 2011 against the Griffons.

In that game – which snapped a then-13 game MIAA road losing streak – the Bulldogs got 13 points and 13 rebounds from Ethan Freeman, while Pat Sodemann tied the game-high with 17 points to lead Truman to a 91-79 victory. Tom Norton and Vesko Filchev added 15 points apiece, as Truman tied the program's single-game high for points in the all-time series against Missouri Western.

All-time, the Griffons hold a 37-23 lead dating back to the first ever meeting in 1926. Despite the recent success for Missouri Western, Truman was undefeated for nearly 50 years by going a perfect 11-0 from 1926-1974 when the Griffs finally got on the board with a ten-point win on Dec. 14, 1974.

Three to Watch:
1.     Long-Range Attack. Both the Bulldogs (6.6) and Griffons (5.8) rank amongst the top-half of the MIAA in three-pointers made per game; however, both also appear in the top-half of three-point defense as each team holds its opponents to 36% or less from beyond the arc.
2.     Keeping 'em Off the Boards. Missouri Western features two of the conference's six best offensive rebounders in Lavonte Douglas (3^rd) and Jeff Reid (6^th). Truman ranks fourth in the MIAA in defensive rebounding at 25.0 per game.
3.     Converting the Freebies. The Bulldogs are shooting 69% from the free throw line this season, but Missouri Western is at an MIAA-worst 60.7% with no regular foul shooters hitting better than 69%.

A Fast Check of the Regulars:
·       Freshman Seth Jackson, at 11.2 ppg overall, is the team's leading scorer both overall and in MIAA (12.6) games. He is also the team's top rebounder at 4.6/game and is 43-for-54 (80%) from the line with two 20+-point games this year.
·       Redshirt freshman Mike Carlson is averaging 10.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. He has started all 14 games and leads the squad with 11 blocks.
·       Junior guard Tom Norton ranks third on the squad at 10.8 points per game as the third player in double-figures. He has made 31 triples this season and is 34-for-43 (79%) from the free throw line.
·       Junior transfer EJ Hicks is averaging 9.8 ppg and is the team's assist leader (34).
·       Sophomore Isaac Gardner has made 31 triples and is averaging 8.1 points per game.
·       Freshman Patrick Burmester has started 13 of 14 games and is averaging 4.8 ppg and 4.1 rpg. He also has nine blocks and is shooting 52% from the floor.
·       Senior Vesko Filchev has played in six games overall and in each of the past three, averaging 4.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in nearly 11 minutes per game. He is shooting 63% from the floor.
·       Freshman Tyler Anderson has earned five starts this season and is averaging 3.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. He has averaged more than a point and a rebound more per game in MIAA play.
·       Sophomore Marek Bush has played in 13 of the team's 14 games and is the team-leader on the offensive glass (20).
·       Freshman Andrew Vander Zwaag has played in all but two games this season, averaging 4.2 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. He is fourth on the squad with ten triples.

Bulldog Tip-Ins:
·       The Bulldogs are 4-10 (2-5 MIAA) in 2011-12 after going 7-19 (5-17) last year.
·       Truman is shooting 42.6% from the field as a team, including a 34.4% (93-for-270) mark from three-point range.
·       The 'Dogs are getting to the free throw line an average of 22 times per game, for a total of 33 additional attempts than their opponents on the year. Truman is connecting at a 68.6% (208-for-303) mark on the year.
·       The Bulldogs have had six different players lead them in scoring this season, led by Jackson's team-high five times.
·       Truman has had six 20-point scoring outings this season, led by Tom Norton's 27 at Grand View and Seth Jackson's 25 against Central Christian. Jackson is the only player this year to top 20 points in a game twice.
·       The Bulldogs continue to rank amongst the MIAA's top-third in three-pointers (6.6/gm, 4^th in MIAA) and defensive rebounding (25.0/gm, 4^th in MIAA).
·       Of 70 total starts in the 13 games this season, 46 (65.7%) have been made by freshmen and 54 (77.1%) have been made by newcomers overall (Hicks + freshmen).
·       Isaac Gardner became only the third player in program history to post a 1.000% mark with six (or more) three-point attempts in a single-game with his 6-for-6 night against SBU on Dec. 7.

Scouting the Griffons:
Missouri Western enters Wednesday night ranked last in the MIAA at 1-6 (five games back of MIAA-leading Northwest Missouri) with an overall record of 6-7. The squad started 4-0 in nonconference play before dropping seven of its next nine.

The Griffons are led by three players in double-figure scoring, including TJ Johnson at 13.4 ppg, James Harris at 12.2 ppg and Lavonte Douglas at 10.8 ppg. Each of the trio excels in another area, with Johnson shooting 46% with nine blocks, Harris posting a team-high 3.4 assists/game and Douglas ranking fifth in the MIAA in rebounding at 7.0 per contest.

Missouri Western is 5-3 at home on the year, though just 1-3 in MIAA affairs. Their signature win this season came on Dec. 7 in an eight-point win against then-No. 1 MSSU. Harris led all players with 26 points and seven assists in the game.

Tom Smith is in his 24^th season at MWSU, having compiled a 435-252 record in St. Joseph. He is in his 37^th season overall.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs wrap up a three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon at Lincoln University (2-10, 2-5 MIAA). Tipoff from Jefferson City's Jason Gym is set for 3:30 pm.

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