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Truman State University Athletics

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George Barlow

Men's Basketball Tyler Madsen, AMR Assistant Director

Men's Basketball Preps for Drury Classic

Truman Men's Basketball Tournament Notes (Games 3 & 4)
Full Notes (PDF) | 2013-14 Schedule | 2013-14 Statistics
Game #3: Truman (2-0, 0-0 GLVC) vs. Cameron (Okla.) (3-2, 0-0 Lone Star)
Date: Friday, November 29, 2013 (1:00 PM CDT)
Location: Springfield, Mo. || O'Reilly Family Events Center
Series Record: Never Met
Woodley vs. CU: 0-0
Last Meeting: Never Met
 
Game #4: Truman (2-0, 0-0 GLVC) vs. Northwest Missouri (3-2, 0-0 MIAA)
Date: Saturday, November 30, 2013 (1:00 PM CDT)
Location: Springfield, Mo. || O'Reilly Family Events Center
Series Record: NWMSU leads, 101-92
Woodley vs. NWMSU: 1-2
Last Meeting: Truman won, 63-56, on March 2, 2013 in Maryville, Mo.
 
Live Stat Links: Regular/Mobile || Media
Live Audio: Friday || Saturday
Social Media: @TrumanAthletics || @TSUBulldogHoops || #TSUGameDay
Opening Tip:
The Truman men's basketball team gets back to work after the Thanksgiving holiday this Friday and Saturday by traveling to Springfield, Mo., for the Comfort Inn/Drury Panthers Classic for a pair of non-conference games.
 
The Bulldogs (2-0) will look to keep its perfect record going into December by facing Cameron (Okla.) on Friday (Nov. 29) at 1 p.m. before turning around and battling long-time MIAA rival Northwest Missouri on Saturday (Nov. 30) at 1 p.m. While Friday's match will be the first ever meeting between the Bulldogs and Aggies, Saturday will serve as the 194th all-time showdown between the Bulldogs and Bearcats.
 
Truman will be playing a countable game for the first time in 18 days when it tips off against CU, as the Bulldogs moved to 2-0 with an 86-47 victory back on Nov. 11 against Central Christian (Mo.) The Bulldogs did play to an 11-point defeat in an exhibition game at Indiana State on Nov. 22, battling the Sycamores to just a five-point game with six minutes to play before the home squad pulled away late with a 9-0 burst.
 
Projected Starters:
G – #4 – Reed Mells – 5'11" – 165 – JR – 13.0 ppg | 3.5 rpg | 6.0 apg | 65% FG
F – #5 – Mike Carlson – 6'9" – 200 – SR – 16.0 ppg | 7.0 rpg | 1.5 apg | 79% FG, 2 blocks
G – #12 – Cory Myers – 6'3" – 190 – SO – 5.0 ppg | 2.0 rpg | 1.5 apg | 2 steals
C – #21 – Marek Bush – 6'6" – 245 – SR – 6.0 ppg | 4.5 rpg | 0.5 apg | 60% FG, 4 O-Rebs
G – #22 – Kyle Kanaskie – 5'11" – 170 – FR – 9.5 ppg | 7.5 rpg | 3.5 apg | 3 steals
 
Off the Bench:
G – #2 – Seth Jackson – 6'3" – 200 – JR – 7.0 ppg | 3.0 rpg | 1.5 apg | 56% FG
G – #3 – Isaac Gardner – 6'4" – 205 – SR – 11.5 ppg | 1.0 rpg | 0.0 apg | 4-18 3FG
G – #11 – Cole Myers – 6'3" – 190 – SO – 0.0 ppg | 0.0 rpg | 0.0 apg | 0 GP
G – #20 – Dominic Kacich – 6'3" – 170 – JR – 5.0 ppg | 2.0 rpg | 2.0 apg | 44% FG
C – #24 – Kiefer Starbird – 6'10" – 200 – rFR – 0.5 ppg | 1.0 rpg | 0.0 apg | 7.0 MPG
G – #30 – Andrew Vander Zwaag – 6'3" – 185 – rSO – 8.5 ppg | 2.5 rpg | 1.0 apg | 50% FG
F – #32 – Connor Erickson – 6'8" – 190 – rFR – 1.0 ppg | 3.0 rpg | 1.5 apg | 8.0 MPG
C – #35 – Patrick Burmester – 6'9" – 235 – JR – 2.5 ppg | 5.0 rpg | 0.0 apg | 1 block
F – #40 – Billy Daniel – 6'6" – 200 – FR – 3.5 ppg | 1.0 rpg | 0.5 apg | 60% FG
 
2013 Redshirts:
G – #10 – Hank Mathews – 6'2" – 185 – FR
F – #25 – Connor Lusso – 6'6" – 210 - FR
 
Staff:
Head Coach: Matt Woodley
Career Record: 20-37 || .351 || 3rd season
At Truman: Same
GLVC Record: 0-0 || .000


Associate Head Coach: Chris Foster (1st season)
Assistant Coach: Mike Annese (1st season)
Athletic Trainer: Nicole Buck (1st season)
 
Tourney Tidbits:
  • The Bulldogs will join weekend host Drury as Great Lakes Valley Conference representatives at the four-team event, with the programs trading opponents following Friday's day one action.
  • The combined record for the four teams entering the weekend is 11-4, with the Bulldogs and Panthers posting a combined 5-0 mark.
  • Tournament-host Drury was the NCAA Div. II national champion last season.
  • The Bulldogs will be making their only scheduled trip to Springfield this weekend, as Drury is slated to visit Pershing Arena on Saturday, Feb. 1 for a 3 p.m. start.
  • This will be the first of two holiday tournaments the Bulldogs will play in this season, as Truman will make a two-day stop at the Quincy Holiday Classic on Dec. 21-22 where it will play Midwest-region programs Hillsdale (Mich.) and Central (Ohio) State in QU's Pepsi Center.
 
Early Season Recap:
The Bulldogs are off to a 2-0 start for the first time since the 2008-09 season, when that squad opened with five straight wins to kick off the year. This marks only the second time since 2000 that a Truman team has opened 2-0.
 
Truman has played two regular and three exhibition games this season, going 2-0 in countable contests against Lincoln (Ill.) Christian (92-52; Nov. 9) and Central (Mo.) Christian (86-47; Nov. 11). The Bulldogs have shot 50% from the floor and 72% from the foul line in those two games but have struggled to connect from long-range by hitting just 16-of-59 for 27%. Truman has dominated the glass, pulling down 34 total offensive rebounds en route to a +18.5 differential on missed shots, while also forcing 23 steals.
 
Senior Mike Carlson has been nearly flawless from the floor this season, going 11-of-14 overall and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe for 16.0 points per game in just over 21 minutes per contest. He has added 7.0 rebounds per game and is the team leader with two blocks.
 
Newcomer guard Reed Mells, a junior transfer from Missouri Western, is another Bulldog who has gotten off to a fast start by averaging 13.0 points and 6.0 assists per game. He has a 6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio and leads the Bulldogs with six steals.
 
Senior guard Isaac Gardner is also averaging double-figures through two games at 11.5 per night, with the sharpshooter already making more two-pointers this season than all of last season combined. In 2012-13, Gardner made 60 three-pointers and four two-pointers, while this season he has hit five from inside the arc and four from beyond the arc.
 
Freshman guard Kyle Kanaskie has made a quick impact on the Bulldog stat sheets by averaging 9.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. He is shooting 50% from the floor and has averaged a team-high 25.5 minutes per game through two games.
 
Top 'Dogs:
  • Truman boasts the GLVC's top defense through the early portion of the season, allowing just 49.5 points per game. That leads to Bulldogs also holding the league's top scoring margin at +39.5.
  • The Bulldogs are the top rebounding team in the GLVC at +18.5 per game as well as the top distributors (21.5 assists per game) and thieves (11.50 steals per game).
  • Carlson ranks fifth in the GLVC in field goal percentage (78.6%).
  • Mells (6.00/game) and Kanaskie (5.50/game) rank second and fourth in the GLVC in assists. The tandem also rank first (KK) and third (RM) in assist-to-turnover ratio.
  • Cory Myers is part of a six-way tie for top free throw shooting honors in the GLVC at 100% (6-for-6).
 
Scouting the Aggies:
Members of the Lone Star Conference, Cameron checks into Friday afternoon's game with a 3-2 overall record, having alternated wins and losses through its first five games. The Aggies most recently split a pair of games at the Texas A&M-Kingsville Classic, falling 90-71 to Texas A&M-International before bouncing back with a 78-65 win against Texas-Permian Basin.
 
CU is averaging 78.8 points per game on the season while allowing 74.4 ppg. The squad is shooting 47% from the floor but just 31% from three-point range. CU is a 77% free throw shooting squad and has a +1.8 rebounding margin.
 
Three players average double-figures offensively, including LSC Preseason Player of the Year Craig Foster, who leads the squad with 16.4 ppg and 4.8 apg. Desmond Henry (15.6 ppg) and Will Cook (15.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg) also shoulder a heavy load for CU on both ends of the court.
 
The Aggies also made an appearance in the NCAA tournament last season, falling in the first round to St. Mary's (Texas) 75-57.
 
Nate Gamet took over this season as the program's head coach this year after spending five seasons as the program's assistant coach. He is a native of Princeton, Missouri, who came to CU after spending five seasons as an assistant coach at Northwest Missouri State.
 
Scouting the Bearcats:
The Bearcats will host Peru (Neb.) State on Tuesday night before venturing to Springfield this weekend and are off to a 3-2 start on the season. The squad has wins against Upper Iowa, William Jewell and Baker along with losses to Southwest Minnesota and Midwestern (Texas) State.
 
NWMSU is averaging 77.2 ppg on the season while allowing 69.8 ppg. The squad is shooting 48% from the floor, 38% from three-point range, and 80% from the free throw line. The Bearcats have a +0.2 rebounding margin and have forced 12 additional turnovers than they've committed.
 
The team has five players averaging double-figures, led by Dillon Starzl at 16.8 ppg. He is also the team's leading rebounder at 5.6 per contest, while Bryston Williams (12.2 ppg), Conner Crooker (12.0 ppg), Grant Cozad (11.2 ppg) and DeShaun Cooper (10.3 ppg) also have been in the scoring column this season.
 
Ben McCollum is in his sixth season at the helm of the NWMSU program and has a career record of 89-60 at the school.
 
Making a Splash from Downtown:
The Bulldogs have made at least one three-pointer in every game since Feb. 12, 2003, a stretch of 281 consecutive games.
 
Up Next:
The Bulldogs kick off GLVC play next Saturday (Dec. 7) when it renews a long-time rivalry with Quincy (Ill.). Truman and the Hawks are set for a 7:30 pm tipoff at QU's Pepsi Arena.
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