Game Notes: 'Dogs Continue Homestand Against East Foes

Truman Men's Basketball Game Notes (February 6-8, 2014)
Full Notes (PDF) | 2013-14 Schedule | 2013-14 Statistics

Game #20: #15 Southern Indiana (16-3, 8-3 GLVC) at Truman (15-4, 8-3)

Date: Thursday, February 6, 2014 (7:30 PM CDT)
Location: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena

Series Record: Southern Indiana leads, 1-0.
Last Meeting: USI won, 92-85, on Dec. 13, 1997, in Evansville, Indiana.
Series Streak: USI W-1

Record in Kirksville: Never met
Last TSU win in Kirksville: Never met
Woodley vs. USI: 0-0

Game #21: Bellarmine (15-4, 7-4 GLVC) at Truman (15-4, 8-3)

Date: Saturday, February 8, 2014 (3:00 PM CDT)
Location: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena

Series Record: Truman leads, 1-0.
Last Meeting: Truman won, 75-67, on Dec. 28, 1966, in Quincy, Illinois.
Series Streak: Truman W-1

Record in Kirksville: Never met
Last TSU win in Kirksville: Never met
Woodley vs. BU: 0-0

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
Social Media: @TrumanAthletics || @TSUBulldogHoops || #TSUGameDay || #GLVCmbb

Projected Starters:

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG	Extra
G	#2	Seth Jackson	6'3"	200	JR	13.9	4.5	1.4	20.5 ppg last 4 gm
G	#4	Reed Mells	5'11"	165	JR	11.4	3.9	5.3	3.74 Ast/TO Ratio
F	#5	Mike Carlson	6'9"	200	SR	21.0	7.0	1.8	22 blocks; 36 3FG
G	#22	Kyle Kanaskie	5'11"	170	FR	6.5	3.1	2.3	87% FT; 15 steals
F	#40	Billy Daniel	6'6"	200	FR	3.2	1.6	0.6	54% FG; 8 blocks

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	5.1	2.0	1.6	15 steals; 88% FT
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	2.7	1.1	0.8	46% FG; 4 stl
C	#21	Marek Bush	6'6"	245	SR	4.1	3.2	0.5	71% FG; 17 O-Reb
C	#24	Kiefer Starbird	6'10"	200	r-FR	0.7	1.0	0.0	60% FG; 3 stl
G	#30	Andrew Vander Zwaag	6'3"	185	r-SO	8.0	1.5	1.5	37 3FG; 11 stl
F	#32	Connor Erickson	6'8"	190	r-FR	2.8	2.0	0.8	48% FG; 6 blocks
C	#35	Patrick Burmester	6'9"	235	JR	1.5	2.2	0.6	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: 33-41 || .446 || 3^rd season (all at Truman)
GLVC Record: 8-3 || .727 || 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:
A grueling stretch of games continues for the Truman men's basketball team this Thursday and Saturday, as the Bulldogs look to rebound from its first loss in nearly a month by hosting two of the Great Lakes Valley Conference's recurring front-runners in Southern Indiana and Bellarmine (Ky.).

The Bulldogs (15-4, 8-3 GLVC) will welcome the 15^th-ranked Screaming Eagles of USI at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6, before bringing in the Knights of Bellarmine at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8. BU had been ranked as high as No. 2 in the top-25 before falling out of the coaches' poll two weeks ago. The Knights were once again the top team "out" in this week's poll.

Truman, meanwhile, holds a firm grip on second place in the GLVC West division after last week's split of home games against division rivals Missouri S&T and 5^th-ranked Drury. The Bulldogs got a program single-game record 48 points from senior Mike Carlson in a 109-105 overtime win against the Miners on Jan. 30 before coming up on the short side of an 88-78 decision with DU on Feb. 1. The Bulldogs, now two games back of Drury in the West, continue to sit two games ahead of Missouri-St. Louis and a full 3½ games in front of Maryville for third and fourth place in the division.

Head coach Matt Woodley is in his third season at the helm of the Bulldog program, having posted a 33-41 record during his time in Kirksville. The team's 15 wins this season have already surpassed win totals from each of Woodley's first two years at the helm.

K-9 Checkup:

The Bulldogs are averaging 80.7 points per game on the season, while allowing just 67.8 on the defensive end for a +12.9 scoring margin. Truman holds the GLVC's No. 2 scoring defense and fourth-best scoring margin.
Truman is shooting 49.1% from the floor as a team, including a 36.9% 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 76.1%.
The Bulldogs hold a +1.6 rebounding margin on the season (8^th in the GLVC).
Truman has taken care of the ball to a nationally-recognized tune this season, as the Bulldogs rank sixth out of 291 Div. II teams with just 9.6 turnovers per game. The Bulldogs also continue to lead the GLVC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.75-to-1) while also sitting second in turnover margin (+3.4).
The Bulldogs are grabbing 7.3 steals and draining 8.2 three-pointers per game this season, which both enter the week as the fourth-best marks in GLVC play.
Truman has put up five of the top-12 field goal percentage nights in program history this season, including most recently the top overall mark (59 total attempt minimum) in last Thursday's 109-105 OT win against Missouri S&T. The Bulldogs shot 64.4% in that game, surpassing the previous program high of 64.1%, set on March 1, 1975 against Northwest Missouri. Other top-10 performances this season came against Lincoln Christian (8^th; 58.6%), Rockhurst (t-9^th); 57.6%) and Faith Baptist (t-9^th; 57.6%).
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 also put three new single-game free throw marks in the record book this season, including an 11-for-11 (100%) line against UMSL on Jan. 16 – matching two other perfect marks in program history (last: 2007). Truman also has a .964 (27-for-28) effort (UIS; Jan. 9) that is fourth-best all-time, while Mike Carlson's 19-of-20 effort that night also set a new Pershing Arena single-game best and marked the second-most by an individual in both columns in Truman history.
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.
The Bulldogs have made at least one three-pointer in every game since Feb. 12, 2003, a stretch of 298 consecutive games.

Top 'Dogs:

Through games of February 2, the Bulldogs are the nation's No. 4-ranked team in assist-to-turnover ratio. Truman also sits amongst the Div. II top-10% in scoring margin (21^st), free throw percentage (23^rd), and turnover margin (27^th).
On an individual level, junior guard Reed Mells remains the nation's leader in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.74-to-1, while also ranking 34^th in assists per game. He also is in the GLVC top-3 in both categories (leading A-T Ratio).
Senior forward Mike Carlson sits 23^rd in Div. II points per game (21.0) and 60^th in field goal percentage (56.6%). He also is in the GLVC top-10 in scoring (3^rd), blocked shots (7^th), and free throw percentage (8^th), while ranking 12^th in rebounding.
Sophomore guard Cole Myers is the 9^th-best three-point shooter by percentage in the GLVC, checking in at 44.2% on the season. Fellow sophomore Andrew Vander Zwaag is 14^th in three-pointers made per game at 2.0.

Inside Carlson's Big Night:
Senior Mike Carlson continued to make ink marks in the men's basketball record book during what's been an astounding senior season, attacking the individual single-game charts with his 48-point scoring outburst against Missouri S&T on January 30.

His two free throws with 1:29 to play in regulation gave him 43 points on the night, tying him with the previous single-game record – set on Jan. 8, 1994 by Scott Matthews against Emporia (Kan.) State. Then, just 19 seconds into OT, he made two more to break the record before adding a breakaway dunk and a single FT seconds later to finish just two shy of 50.

The Wisconsin-native hit 17-of-23 field goals, including 4-of-7 from three-point range, while also draining 10-of-12 free throws in the game. He added 13 rebounds for a double-double.

It marked Carlson's fifth 30+ point game of the season and set the highest total by a GLVC player (and in a GLVC game) since UW-Parkside's LaVontay Fenderson dropped 52 against SJC on Feb. 12, 2009. He also jumped five spots on Truman's career scoring list in the game, moving up to No. 14 all-time with 1,141.

Jackson Continues Blazing Stretch … Approaches 1,000:
Junior guard Seth Jackson has provided a consistent second scoring option for the Bulldog offense this calendar year, as he has posted eight straight double-figure games dating back to January 9. During the eight-game stretch, he is averaging 17.4 points per game, including a 20.5 ppg mark during the team's last four contests.

On the season, Jackson is averaging 13.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 53% from the field and 74% from the foul line.

Looking ahead, Jackson is inching closer to becoming the 27^th member of Truman's 1,000-point club, as the St. Louis-native sits at 902 through 72 career contests (12.5 ppg career average).

Mells & Kanaskie Providing Backcourt Spark in 2013-14:
The Bulldogs' new starting backcourt of junior transfer Reed Mells and freshman Kyle Kanaskie have helped guide the purple and white to high assist and low turnover outputs through the team's first 19 games. Each player has started all 19 contests, with the tandem combining for 17.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 7.6 assists per game with 36 three-pointers and 50 steals.

Knocking Down Freebies:
For the year, the Bulldogs are hitting 76.1% of their free throw chances and are on pace to smash the current single-season program record. The top placeholder at the moment is 73.4%, set by the 1999-00 squad.

The team's top-six scorers (Carlson, Jackson, Mells, Vander Zwaag, Kyle Kanaskie, and Cole Myers) are a collective 78.2% (241-for-308).

GLVC Tournament Outlook:
With just seven games to play in the 2013-14 season, bids will begin to get locked up for the 12-team GLVC tournament as early as this week for league front-runners UW-Parkside and Drury, who are both 10-1 in league play.

The top-12 teams – regardless of division – qualify for the postseason tournament, with the overall winner earning the league's automatic berth into the 2014 NCAA Div. II Midwest regional. The top-4 seeds (each division winner plus the next two teams via win percentage) earn first-round byes and automatically advance to Evansville, Ind., for quarterfinal play at the Ford Center, while seeds 5-8 host a first-round game on Sunday, March 2 against seeds 9-12.

Truman currently sits in a three-way tie for fourth in the league with USI and Lewis at 8-3, with that trio trailing 3^rd-place Indianapolis at 9-2. The Bulldogs have a 3½ game lead on the current No. 9 seed – Maryville – and hold a 5½ game lead on No. 13 McKendree with just seven games to play. With one win this weekend, the Bulldogs could clinch a tournament berth and have an outside shot of clinching a top-8 seed with two wins.

As a reminder, the Bulldogs were picked to finish fifth in the GLVC West division in the preseason coaches' poll.

Scouting the No. 15 Screaming Eagles (16-3, 8-3 GLVC):
USI brings in the most consistent playoff experience of any GLVC program, having reached 24 NCAA Div. II tournaments – including each of the last three years and having only missed out three times since the 1992-93 season. The Screaming Eagles also have a national championship to their name – having brought home the title in 1995.

This season, USI is poised to make another postseason run, having won its first 11 en route to its current 16-3 record. The Eagles are coming off a 2-0 weekend at home against Ill.-Springfield (W 90-72) and McKendree (W 90-74) that followed an 0-2 trip through a pair of games at Lewis & UW-Parkside.

Senior Aaron Nelson is the team-leader both in scoring (20.2 ppg) and rebounding (13.1), while having also amassed 29 blocks. He is joined in double-figures by guard Lawrence Thomas (10.5 ppg; 27 3FG) and Orlando Rutledge, who checks in at 10.3 ppg. The squad lives on the glass, posting a +16.0 rebounding margin while attacking the glass to a tune of 14.1 offensive rebounds per game.

Rodney Watson is in his fifth season at the helm of the USI program, having compiled a 111-27 record at the school.

Scouting the Knights (15-4, 7-4 GLVC):
Once ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation, Bellarmine has posted back-to-back victories after suffering four losses in five games to East Division opponents in late-January. Like USI, Bellarmine has experienced post-season success, reaching the tournament each of the past five seasons and having captured the 2011 national championship.

On the year, BU holds the GLVC's No. 2 scoring margin at +14.4 and is the league's top defensive team in field goal percentage – allowing foes to shoot just 40.8% against them. The Knights are also averaging an incredibly-high 5.74 blocks per game and will stop at Quincy on Thursday night prior to venturing to Kirksville on Saturday.

Keisten Jones is the team-leader from the floor, shooting 60% and averaging 16.1 ppg, while Jake Thelen ranks second in scoring (14.8) and first in rebounding (7.5). Vance Hall is the third Knight in double-figures, averaging 12.7 points per contest. Like Truman, BU is unafraid of chucking up the three-ball, shooting 35% on the season behind 390 total attempts.

Scott Davenport is in his ninth season at the BU helm, having compiled a 193-74 record at the school.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs head to the Hoosier state for a pair of inter-division games next weekend, as Truman stops at No. 8 Indianapolis on Thursday (Feb. 13) night before stopping at Saint Joseph's on Saturday (Feb. 15) afternoon.

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