Weekly Notes: Men's Basketball Looks to Add to Win Streak

Truman Men's Basketball Game Notes (January 16-18, 2014)
Full Notes (PDF) | 2013-14 Schedule | 2013-14 Statistics

Game #14: Truman (10-3, 3-2 GLVC) vs. Missouri-St. Louis (9-4, 3-2 GLVC)

Date: Thursday, January 16, 2014 (7:30 PM CDT)
Location: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena

Series Record: UMSL leads, 22-12.
Last Meeting: UMSL won, 89-83, on Nov. 24, 2009 (St. Louis).
Series Streak: UMSL W-1.
Record in Kirksville: UMSL leads, 11-8.

Last TSU win in Kirksville: Nov. 22, 2008 – TSU won, 65-59.
Woodley vs. UMSL: 0-0

Game #15: Truman at Maryville (8-4, 2-2 GLVC)

Date: Saturday, January 18, 2014 (3:00 PM CDT)
Location: St. Louis, Mo. || Moloney Arena

Series Record: Maryville leads, 2-1.
Last Meeting: MU won, 70-57, on Dec. 30, 2012 (Kirksville).
Series Streak: MU W-2.
Record at Maryville: MU leads, 1-0.

Last TSU win at Maryville: N/A
Woodley vs. MU: 0-2

Live Stat Links: THURS Regular/Mobile || SAT Regular/Mobile
Live Audio: 104.7 FM KRES (Moberly, Mo.); Brad Boyer (PBP), Hank Janssen (Color)
Live Video Links: THURS ($) || SAT – TBD
Social Media: @TrumanAthletics || @TSUBulldogHoops || #TSUGameDay || #GLVCmbb

Projected Starters (based on last game):

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG	Extra
G	#2	Seth Jackson	6'3"	200	JR	11.8	4.8	1.5	14 Off. Rebs
G	#4	Reed Mells	5'11"	165	JR	11.2	3.8	4.6	3.53 AT Ratio
F	#5	Mike Carlson	6'9"	200	SR	19.3	6.0	1.2	14 Blocks
G	#22	Kyle Kanaskie	5'11"	170	FR	7.3	3.2	2.5	92% FT
F	#40	Billy Daniel	6'6"	200	FR	2.5	0.9	0.6	41% FG

Off the Bench:

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG	Extra
G	#3	Isaac Gardner	6'4"	205	SR	5.3	0.8	0.0	6 GP; 7 3FG
G	#11	Cole Myers	6'3"	190	SO	5.6	2.1	1.9	11 steals
G	#12	Cory Myers	6'3"	190	SO	6.3	1.8	1.5	4 GP; 4 steals
G	#20	Dominic Kacich	6'3"	180	JR	3.2	1.3	1.0	46% FG; 4 stl
C	#21	Marek Bush	6'6"	245	SR	4.1	2.8	0.7	66% FG
C	#24	Kiefer Starbird	6'10"	200	r-FR	0.9	1.1	0.0	60% FG; 3 stl
G	#30	Andrew Vander Zwaag	6'3"	185	r-SO	8.8	1.5	1.3	27 3FG; 11 stl
F	#32	Connor Erickson	6'8"	190	r-FR	3.7	2.3	1.0	6 blocks
C	#35	Patrick Burmester	6'9"	235	JR	1.8	2.6	0.7	9 Off. Rebs

2013-14 Redshirts:

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG	Extra
G	#10	Hank Mathews	6'2"	185	FR
F	#25	Connor Lusso	6'6"	210	FR

Staff:
Head Coach: Matt Woodley
Career Record: 28-40 || .412 || 3^rd season (all at Truman)
GLVC Record: 3-2 || .600 || 1^st season

Associate Head Coach: Chris Foster (1^st season)
Assistant Coach: Mike Annese (1^st season)
Athletic Trainer: Nicole Buck (1^st season)

Opening Tip:
Looking to build on a two-game conference winning streak, the Truman men's basketball team faces divisional opponents Missouri-St. Louis and Maryville (Mo.) in a split weekend of competition this Thursday and Saturday.

The Bulldogs (10-3, 3-2 GLVC) host UMSL (9-4, 3-2 GLVC) in a battle of second-place Great Lakes Valley Conference west division squads at 7:30 pm on Thursday night before traveling to Maryville (8-4, 2-2 GLVC) on Saturday afternoon for a 3 pm tilt with the Saints. Both games will be the first of two between the teams this season, as Truman is joined by UMSL, MU and Quincy as one of two west division "pods" for scheduling purposes.

Truman is coming off a clean sweep of east division teams last weekend, downing Illinois Springfield 76-70 on Thursday night before drubbing McKendree 91-60 on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs recovered from an 0-2 trip the weekend prior to close out the school's winter break with a pair of victories. Thursday night's game will mark the first GLVC home game with students back on campus.

Truman head coach Matt Woodley is in his third season at the helm of the Bulldog program, having posted a 28-40 record during his time in Kirksville.

K-9 Checkup:

The Bulldogs are averaging 80.5 points per game on the season, while allowing just 65.1 on the defensive end for a +15.4 scoring margin. Truman holds the GLVC's No. 1 scoring defense.
Truman is shooting 48.0% from the floor as a team, including a 36.5% mark from three-point range. In addition, the Bulldogs have a top-third free throw shooting mark in the GLVC, connecting at a 4^th-best 76.3%.
The Bulldogs hold a +2.6 rebounding margin on the season (10^th in GLVC).
Truman has taken care of the ball to a nationally-recognized tune this season, as the Bulldogs rank fourth of 291 Div. II teams in turnovers per game at just 9.0. The Bulldogs lead the GLVC in both turnover margin (+5.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.81-to-1).
The Bulldogs earned win No. 1,100 in program history with its 91-60 victory against McKendree on Jan. 11. Truman is just the 60^th Div. II program to reach that milestone, sitting in the top-25% of all Div. II programs in total victories.
Truman has put up three of the top field goal shooting nights in program history this season, including the 6^th-best mark vs. Lincoln Christian (.586), the 7^th-best mark vs. Faith Baptist (.576), and the 10^th-best mark vs. Iowa Wesleyan (.563).
The 15 three-pointers Truman made against Iowa Wesleyan on Dec. 16 marked the second-most in program history, tying three other games with that total. The all-time record is 16, set on Jan. 7, 2002 at Central Missouri.
The Bulldogs have made at least one three-pointer in every game since Feb. 12, 2003, a stretch of 292 consecutive games.
Truman is a perfect 9-0 this season when dishing out at least 15 assists in a game.

Top 'Dogs:

Through games of January 11, the Bulldogs are the nation's No. 4-ranked team in both NCAA Div. II turnovers per game (9.0) and assist-to-turnover ratio. Truman also sit amongst the Div. II top-10% in turnover margin (11^th), scoring defense (16^th), scoring margin (17^th), fouls per game (18^th) and free throw percentage (21^st).
On an individual level, junior guard Reed Mells ranks ninth nationwide in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.53-to-1) and 35^th in steals per game (2.2), while senior forward Mike Carlson sits 55^th in field goal percentage (58.2%) and 65^th in points per game (19.3).
Carlson is fourth in the GLVC in points per game, while sophomore guard Andrew Vander Zwaag's 2.1 three-pointers per game is good for 13^th place in the league listings.

Mr. 1,000:
Senior forward Mike Carlson became just the 26^th player in 94 seasons of Truman men's basketball to reach the 1,000 point mark for a career, when his jumper in the paint at the 12:42 mark of the second half against McKendree dropped through the net. The transfer from Hope College has reached the milestone in two-plus seasons of action at Truman, and is averaging a career-best 19.3 points per game and is shooting 58% from the floor during his senior season.

For his career, he is averaging 14.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, having made 63 starts while wearing the purple and white. He has reached double-figures in 52 of his 68 career appearances, including 18 20-point games and four 30-point outings (three in 2013-14).

New Backcourt Protecting the Rock:
The Bulldogs' new backcourt duo of junior Reed Mells and freshman Kyle Kanaskie has paid early dividends, as the tandem has combined for nearly 19 points and seven assists per game. In addition, both players sport an assist-to-turnover ratio of at least 3.2-to-1, helping to play a major role in the team's No. 4 national ranking in turnovers per game.

Mells and Kanaskie have also played a key role in securing the basketball for transition buckets, combining for 40 steals on the season.

Magic Number – 70:
When Truman has reached the 70 point mark on offense this season, the team is a perfect 10-0. In two-plus seasons under coach Woodley, Bulldog teams are 25-13 when reaching that 70-point mark in a single game.

Knocking Down Freebies:
Truman's .964 (27-for-28) effort from the free throw line against Illinois Springfield on Jan. 9 set a handful of new marks, including the second-best team percentage all-time. Mike Carlson's 19-of-20 effort that night set a new Pershing Arena single-game best and were the second-most by an individual in both columns in Truman history.

For the year, the Bulldogs are hitting 76.4% of their free throw chances and are on pace to set a new single-season program record.

Scouting the Tritons & Saints:
A former MIAA rival kicks off the weekend for Truman, as the Bulldogs welcome back the Missouri-St. Louis Tritons to Pershing Arena on Thursday night. The two squads played 27 of their 34 all-time meetings as members of the MIAA from 1981 through 1996. This season, UMSL is out to a 9-4 overall start, having played four of the same five opponents as Truman to a 3-2 GLVC record.

The Tritons have a +7.5 scoring margin and lead the GLVC in three-point shooting at 43.4%. UMSL is just 2-2 away from home this season, but did pick up a pair of road wins at McKendree (105-78) and Ill.-Springfield (69-67) to kick off league play.

A balanced starting lineup sees all five regular starters averaging double figures, led by Femi John's 14.1 ppg. Aareon Smith has added 12.2 ppg and a team-best 6.5 rpg, while Darlan Cartharn and Michael Weber co-lead the Tritons with 34 triples each.

Bob Sundvold is in his first season at the direction of the UMSL program – after serving stints as the head coach at Central Missouri and Missouri-Kansas City. He has a 9-4 record at UMSL and a 134-112 record overall as a collegiate head coach.

Maryville, meanwhile, carries an 8-4 record (2-2 GLVC) into the weekend and will host Quincy on Thursday night prior to Truman's visit on Saturday afternoon. The Saints earned a split last weekend, downing Lewis 83-74 in 2OT on Jan. 9 before falling 84-63 to UW-Parkside on Jan. 11.

A true defensive battle is in line for Saturday afternoon, as the Bulldogs and Saints boast the top two defenses in the GLVC – with Maryville sitting at 66.1/game behind Truman's 65.1/game mark. MU is led offensively by Armon Provo's 15.6 ppg average, fueled by 35 made three-pointers on the season. Asa Toney is the second Saint in double-figures at 14.3 per contest.

Kevin Carroll is in his fourth season at the helm of the MU program, having compiled a 52-46 record at the school.

Bulldogs Pegged Fifth in GLVC West:
Head coach Matt Woodley's squad was picked to finish fifth in the GLVC West Division preseason coaches' poll.

The Bulldogs finished six points ahead of William Jewell for the fifth spot in the West division, as selected by all 16 league coaches. Defending NCAA Div. II national champion Drury (Mo.) earned 10 first-place votes and 115 total points to lead the West, while Maryville (Mo.) notched the remaining six first-place votes in the West to land second with 107 points.

A tight battle put third and fourth separated by just one point, with Missouri-St. Louis (87) and Quincy (86) taking those spots. The Bulldogs and WJC were followed by Missouri S&T (37) and Rockhurst (34) to round out the West.

On the Eastern side of the league, Bellarmine logged nine first-place votes and 113 total points to earn preseason favorite status, followed by Southern Indiana (101; three first-place votes), Indianapolis (95; two first-place votes) and Lewis (83; two first-place votes) in the top half. UW-Parkside, Illinois Springfield, Saint Joseph's and McKendree slid in fifth through eighth respectively.

The Bulldogs will play an 18-game conference slate in 2013-14 during their first season as GLVC members, playing Maryville, Missouri-St. Louis and Quincy twice each, while facing the other 12 programs just once. The top four teams from each division, along with four wild card teams, will qualify for the 12-team conference tournament that follows the regular season.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs return to the floor with a three-day, two-game road trip to Kansas City, where Truman will face Rockhurst (5-7, 1-4 GLVC) on Jan. 23 and William Jewell (6-7, 2-3 GLVC) on Jan. 25.

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