Weekly Notes: Men's Basketball Returns to Pershing Arena

Truman Men's Basketball Game Notes (January 9-11, 2014)
Full Notes (PDF) | 2013-14 Schedule | 2013-14 Statistics

Game #12: Truman (8-3, 1-2 GLVC) vs. Illinois Springfield (4-6, 0-2 GLVC)

Date: Thursday, January 9, 2014 (7:30 PM CDT)
Location: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena

Series Record: First meeting.
Last Meeting: First meeting.
Woodley vs. Ill. Springfield: 0-0
Series Streak: First meeting.

Game #13: Truman vs. McKendree (6-3, 0-1 GLVC)

Date: Saturday, January 11, 2014 (3:00 PM CDT)
Location: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena

Series Record: First meeting.
Last Meeting: First meeting.
Woodley vs. McKendree: 0-0
Series Streak: First meeting.

Live Stat Link: Regular/Mobile || Media
Live Audio: 104.7 FM KRES (Moberly, Mo.); Brad Boyer (PBP), Hank Janssen (Color)
Live Video Link ($): AmericaOne/B2 Networks
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	11.5	4.5	1.4	12 Off. Rebs
G	#4	Reed Mells	5'11"	165	JR	10.2	3.2	4.4	21 steals
F	#5	Mike Carlson	6'9"	200	SR	18.8	5.5	1.0	11 blocks
C	#21	Marek Bush	6'6"	245	SR	4.1	2.6	0.6	63% FG
G	#22	Kyle Kanaskie	5'11"	170	FR	8.2	3.0	2.6	94% FT

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	6.3	2.2	2.0	50% 3FG
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	3.4	1.5	1.0	53% FG; 4 stl
C	#24	Kiefer Starbird	6'10"	200	r-FR	0.7	0.9	0.0	50% FG; 3 stl
G	#30	Andrew Vander Zwaag	6'3"	185	r-SO	8.1	1.6	1.4	20 3FG; 10 stl
F	#32	Connor Erickson	6'8"	190	r-FR	2.4	2.1	1.0	9 Off. Rebs
C	#35	Patrick Burmester	6'9"	235	JR	1.7	2.7	0.8	7 Off. Rebs
F	#40	Billy Daniel	6'6"	200	FR	3.0	0.9	0.3	6 blocks

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: 26-40 || .394 || 3^rd season (all at Truman)
GLVC Record: 1-2 || .333 || 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:
After a four-game road trip that spanned the turn of the calendar year, the Truman men's basketball team returns to Pershing Arena this Thursday and Saturday to kick off a three-game homestand against east division foes Illinois Springfield and McKendree (Ill.).

The games will mark the first two Great Lakes Valley Conference home games in the 94 seasons of Truman men's basketball, with the Bulldogs carrying an 8-3 overall mark (1-2 GLVC) after a pair of road losses last weekend. Truman came up on the short side of a long trip to the conference's northern-most programs – losing 82-65 at Lewis on Jan. 3 before falling 78-57 at UW-Parkside on Jan. 5.

UIS and McKendree will venture on the road this weekend to face Truman and Quincy as part of a three-day trek, with both squads looking for their first GLVC victory of the season. The Prairie Stars will come to Kirksville on Thursday night with a 4-6 overall (0-2 GLVC) mark, while McKendree stops in Quincy on Thursday with a 6-3 (0-1 GLVC) record before shuttling west for Saturday's early afternoon affair with the Bulldogs.

The Bulldog men will follow the corresponding women's game for the remainder of the season, with Thursday night's men's tipoff slated for 7:30 p.m. and Saturday afternoon's jump-ball set for 3 p.m.

Truman head coach Matt Woodley is in his third season at the helm of the Bulldog program, having posted a 26-40 record during his time in Kirksville.

K-9 Checkup:

The Bulldogs are averaging 79.9 points per game on the season, while allowing just 65.1 on the defensive end for a +14.8 scoring margin. Truman holds the No. 2 scoring defense in the GLVC.
Truman is shooting 48.6% from the floor as a team, including a 37.0% mark from three-point range. In addition, the Bulldogs have a top-third free throw shooting mark in the GLVC, connecting at a 5^th-highest 74.4%.
The Bulldogs hold a slight +1.1 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 second of 291 Div. II teams in turnovers per game at just 8.9. The Bulldogs lead the GLVC in both turnover margin (+5.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.79-to-1).
The team's 7-0 start tied for the fifth--best start in school history, joining teams from 1999-2000, 1998-99, 1963-64, and 1953-54 to win seven in a row before suffering their first loss.

Top 'Dogs:

Through games of January 5, the Bulldogs are the nation's No. 2-ranked team in NCAA Div. II turnovers per game (8.9), while also ranking in the nation's top-10 in assist-to-turnover ratio (fourth). The Bulldogs also sit amongst the Div. II top 10% in turnover margin (14^th), scoring defense (17^th), fouls per game (18^th) and scoring margin (26^th).
On an individual level, Reed Mells ranks 26^th nationwide in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.20-to-1), while Mike Carlson sits 36^th in field goal percentage (60.7%).

Inching Towards 1,000:
Senior forward Mike Carlson continues to climb towards the Truman scoring record books, as he sits just 42 points away (958 total) from 1,000 for his career. Just 25 players in Bulldog men's basketball history (most recently, Tom Norton, 2013) have accomplished the feat in 94 seasons of competition.

More impressively is that should the Wisconsin-native reach the four-digit total, he would do so in just three seasons after transferring to Truman following a freshman year at Hope College.

For his career, he is averaging 14.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, having made 61 starts while wearing the purple and white. He has reached double-figures in 50 of his 66 career appearances, including 17 20-point games and three 30-point outings.

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. 2 national ranking in turnovers per game.

Mells and Kanaskie have also played a key role in securing the basketball for transition buckets, combining for 32 steals on the season.

Call them "The Reliables":
The starting lineup has been 80% concrete for the entire season, as Carlson, Mells, Kanaskie and senior Marek Bush have each started all 11 games for the Bulldogs this season.

Sophomore guard Cory Myers started the first four games before suffering an injury and has been replaced in each of the last seven outings by junior guard Seth Jackson.

Inching Towards 1,100:
With two more victories, the Truman men's basketball team will become just the 60^th Div. II program to accumulate 1,100 program wins. There have been 254 all-time Div. II programs, meaning the Bulldogs sit in the top-quarter of all Div. II programs in total victories.

Making a Splash from Downtown:
The Bulldogs have made at least one three-pointer in every game since Feb. 12, 2003, a stretch of 290 consecutive games.

Redshirt sophomore guard Andrew Vander Zwaag has been the team's top three-point shooter this season, connecting on 20 triples at a 39% rate. All three of Truman's other double-digit three-point shooters (Carlson-18, Kanaskie-17, Cole Myers-12) are all shooting at a plus-40% rate from downtown.

Scouting the Prairie Stars & Bearcats:
The men's basketball record book will etch two new programs into the all-time series record chart this weekend, as Truman will battle both UIS and MCK for the first time in school history during its first year of GLVC play.

UIS (4-6, 0-2 GLVC) will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak on Thursday night after the Prairie Stars opened GLVC play with home losses to Maryville (81-67) and Mo.-St. Louis (69-67) last weekend. UIS is 0-4 away from home this season.

The squad is averaging 73.6 points per game with a -3.0 scoring margin on the season and is led by Jacob Williams' 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He has raised those numbers in GLVC games, having averaged 20.0 points per game against MU and UMSL last weekend. Jamall Millison is the team's top three-point shooter with 22 made on the year en route to an 11.3 ppg average.

Ben Wierzba is in his fourth season at the helm of the UIS program, having compiled a 35-55 (.389) record in 90 career games.

McKendree (6-3, 0-1 GLVC) will be playing just its second and third GLVC games this weekend after its Jan. 5 game against Maryville was postponed due to the severe weather that blanketed the Midwest last weekend. The squad opened league play with a 105-78 loss to UMSL on Jan. 3 at home and has just two wins this season against Div. II competition. MCK is 1-1 away from home this year.

Scoring has not been a problem for the Bearcats this season, as the team has topped the 80-point mark seven times for a season average of 85.7 ppg (+6.9 margin). Clinton Happe is one of five MCK players averaging double-figures, leading the way at 18.2 ppg. Arthur Williams is averaging just shy of a double-double with 10.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

Harry Statham is in his 48^th season as the program's head coach and has a career record of 1,075-436. He is the all-time wins leader in men's college basketball history and is the only men's coach in CBB history at the four-year level of any division to reach the 1,000-win mark.

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 tackle a split weekend next Thursday and Saturday, hosting Missouri-St. Louis on Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m. before traveling to Maryville on Jan. 18 for a 3 p.m. tipoff.

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