Tim Barcus - University Photographer

Men's Basketball 1/9/2015 11:00:00 AM Tyler Madsen, Athletics Communications

MBB Notes: Truman at Illinois Springfield (Saturday, 3 p.m.; Springfield, IL)

Truman Men's Basketball Game Notes (January 10, 2015)
Game #15: Truman (10-4, 2-2 GLVC) at Illinois Springfield (6-5, 0-3 GLVC)

When: Saturday, January 10, 2015 | 3 p.m.

Where: Springfield, Ill. | TRAC
Live Stream: Truman Athletics All-Access
Radio: 104.7 FM KRES | Listen | Announcers: Brad Boyer (PBP) and Hank Janssen (Analyst)
Live Stats: Regular/Mobile | Media (Non-Flash)
Printable Notes: Truman | Illinois Springfield | GLVC
Stats: Truman | Illinois Springfield | GLVC
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TSUBulldogHoops || #TSUGameDay

Series Notes vs. Illinois Springfield

Series Record: Tied, 1-1.
Series Record in Springfield: Never played.
Last Meeting: March 2, 2014 || Illinois Springfield won, 78-72, in Kirksville.
Last Truman Win vs. UIS: January 9, 2014 || Truman won, 76-70, in Kirksville.
Series Streak: UIS, W-1

Probable Starters

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG	Extra
G	#2	Seth Jackson	6'4"	210	SR	20.9	4.5	1.4	GLVC leading scorer
G	#4	Reed Mells	5'11"	160	SR	13.6	3.6	4.0	29.7 min/gm; 28 stls
G	#12	Cory Myers	6'3"	195	r-SO	7.5	2.0	2.9	54% FG; 100% FT
G	#30	Andrew Vander Zwaag	6'3"	200	JR	7.1	2.9	1.4	21 3FG; 5:1 A/TO
F	#40	Billy Daniel	6'6"	200	SO	4.4	3.0	1.1	58% FG; 12 blocks

Off the Bench

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG	Extra
G	#3	Isaac Gardner	6'4"	195	r-SR	7.9	1.7	0.8	25 3FG (46%); 13 m/g
G	#10	Hank Mathews	6'2"	190	r-FR	3.9	0.9	1.1	7 GP; 50% FG, 4:1 A/T
G	#11	Cole Myers	6'3"	200	JR	7.5	3.7	1.8	16 steals; 55% FG
G	#13	Zach Fischer	6'4"	180	r-FR	3.3	1.5	0.3	6 GP; 7-13 FG; 2 blks
G	#22	Kyle Kanaskie	5'11"	180	SO	7.8	3.1	2.6	68% FG; 62% 3FG
F	#25	Connor Lusso	6'6"	220	r-FR	3.7	3.3	0.8	6 GP; 56% FG; 3 stls
F	#32	Connor Erickson	6'8"	200	SO	5.3	2.8	0.2	17 O-Reb; 54% FG
C	#35	Patrick Burmester	6'9"	220	SR	4.2	3.3	0.5	20.3 min/gm; 8 blks
G/F	#1	Nikola Pesic	6'5"	190	FR	-	-	-	Redshirting 14-15
G	#5	Taurin Hughes	5'11"	185	FR	-	-	-	Redshirting 14-15
G	#20	Jack Green	6'3"	170	FR	-	-	-	Redshirting 14-15

Staff

Head Coach: Chris Foster
Career Record: 10-4 || .714 || 1^st season (all at Truman)
GLVC Record: 2-2 || .500 || 1^st season

Assistant Coach: Joe Barrer (1^st season)
Graduate Assistant Coach: Nik Koprivica (1^st season)
Athletic Trainer: Morgan Locher (1^st season)

Opening Tip:
The Truman men's basketball team goes for a perfect 2-0 road weekend through the state of Illinois on Saturday (Jan. 10) afternoon, as the Bulldogs visit the University of Illinois-Springfield for a 3 p.m. tilt.

The Bulldogs are coming off a 75-71 nip-and-tuck road victory at McKendree (Ill.) on Thursday (Jan. 8) night that saw the purple and white improve to 10-4 overall (2-2 GLVC). Senior Seth Jackson re-gained his spot atop the GLVC scoring chart with a 17-point performance – 15 of which came in the second half – while backcourt and class-mate Reed Mells added 16 points, including a pair of free throws in the final seconds to give Truman a two-possession lead. Junior Cole Myers added 13 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench, while five other Bulldogs tallied at least five points apiece.

UIS, meanwhile, comes into Saturday afternoon's contest having lost four in a row – including an 87-76 decision at home on Thursday night to Quincy. The Prairie Stars (6-5) are still in search of their first GLVC victory, having lost by 26 at both Missouri-St. Louis and Maryville last weekend. UIS is 4-2 at home this season; however, the blue and white squad has just one home win against an NCAA Div. II opponent – coming on Dec. 1 against Lincoln (Mo.).

Saturday's contest will push the Bulldogs across the first quarter of conference play, with the Bulldogs currently 1.5 games back of division-leading UMSL (3-0) in the GLVC West division. The tight race has Drury (3-1) a half-game back, followed by Maryville (2-1) and Truman. Three teams – Missouri S&T, Quincy, and William Jewell – are each 2.5 games back at 1-3, with Rockhurst still in search of their first conference win at 0-4.

The meeting on Saturday afternoon will be just the first between the two squads in Springfield, as the Bulldogs and Prairie Stars met for the first two times last season in Truman's first year of GLVC play. Truman won the regular season showdown by a 76-70 score in Kirksville, before UIS exacted revenge in the opening round of the GLVC tournament with a 78-72 victory. Mells averaged 12.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game against the Prairie Stars last year, with Jackson added 10.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Junior Andrew Vander Zwaag – fueled by a 17 point outing in the GLVC tournament – averaged 13.5 points per game and shot 50% from three-point range.

K-9 Checkup:
The Bulldogs come into Saturday afternoon's game as the GLVC's No. 3 offensive and No. 4 defensive team, having averaged 82.9 points per game while giving up just 63.6 points per game on the defensive end. That has led to the conference's No. 2 scoring margin, with the Bulldogs also ranking second in the league in three-point percentage (40.1%), steals per game (10.1), turnover margin (+6.9), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.66).

Senior guard Seth Jackson leads the Bulldogs and the GLVC 20.9 points per game, with the St. Louis-native also now tied for 10^th on Truman's all-time scoring chart with 1,283 career points. He matched Justin Matthews' four-year (1988-92) total on Thursday night and is just 24 back of Bob Young's ninth-place total of 1,307. Jackson has six 20-point performances this season – including a career-high 33 against Quincy on Dec. 6 – and is the GLVC's leading scorer in conference-only games at 23.5 points per game.

Fellow senior guard Reed Mells ranks second on the squad in scoring at 13.6 points per game and also sits in the GLVC's top-10 in steals (2.2/game; 5^th), assists (4.0/game; 6^th), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.68; 10^th). He and Jackson – along with fellow senior Isaac Gardner – are creeping towards 100 career games played, with all three sitting in the 90s (Gardner: 96; Mells: 93; Jackson: 92). Mells' total includes his two seasons at Missouri Western.

From there, it's been a "next man up" philosophy for the Bulldogs on the offensive end this season, as five other players are averaging between 7-8 points per game, including Gardner (7.9), sophomore Kyle Kanaskie (7.8), redshirt-sophomore Cory Myers (7.5), junior Cole Myers (7.5), and junior Andrew Vander Zwaag (7.1). As a team, the Bulldogs are shooting 49.7% from the floor, including 40.1% from three-point range and 73.7% from the foul line. Opponents check in at 41.9% overall, 33.9% from three-point, and 69.0% from the charity stripe.

Chris Foster is in his first season along the Bulldog sideline as the program's head coach, having moved over one seat this season after serving as the team's associate head coach a year ago. This is Foster's first season as a collegiate head coach, and he is the 13^th head coach in program history. The former Northern Iowa standout ranked among the program's top-10 in games played, assists, and three-pointers while helping lead the Panthers to the 2003 and 2004 NCAA Div. I tournament.

Bulldog Tweetables (<140>

Thursday marks the 2,190^th game in program history, with the team holding a 1,120-1,069 all-time record in 95 seasons.
The past three games have marked the first times this season that Truman has trailed at the half – the Bulldogs are 9-2 when leading at the break.
Getting to the foul line has been a staple for Truman this year, finishing 9-0 when it makes more from the stripe than its opponents.
The Bulldogs have been out-rebounded in 10 games, with a 4-0 record coming when Truman ended on the positive side.
Truman has forced more turnovers than it has committed in every game this year, leading to 20.6 ppg off opponent miscues.
Seven different Bulldogs have hit at least 10 three-pointers this season, led by 25 from senior guard Isaac Gardner.
Truman ranks in the GLVC's top-half in 13 of 19 statistical categories and in top-25% in 10 of 19.

To Be the Best…You've Gotta Beat the Best:
The Bulldogs' NCAA Div. II schedule has been the toughest of any of the GLVC's 16 schools, with the team holding the sixth-best strength-of-schedule of all Div. II programs through Jan. 4. Truman's countable opponents had an overall record of 51-25 (.671), which gives only the Bulldogs, Quincy (.647), and UMSL (.604) with +.600 opponent winning percentages at this point.

As a result, the Bulldogs have the easiest strength-of-schedule of all GLVC teams the rest of the way, with Truman's future opponents holding a .544 cumulative winning percentage. At this pace, however, Truman will still have the GLVC's best SOS come the end of the regular season.

Scouting the Prairie Stars:
UIS brings the GLVC's No. 3 rebounding total into Saturday afternoon's game, as the Prairie Stars are looking for their first conference victory after three straight league losses to open the slate.

Mark Weems, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, leads three players averaging double-figures offensively, as his 13.4 ppg average ranks 22^nd in the GLVC. He's joined as a team-leader by 6-foot-2 junior Jamall Millison (12.8 ppg) and 6-foot-10 senior Dylan Sparkman (11.1 ppg), with Sparkman also grabbing a team-best 6.5 rebounds per contest. He, along with 6-foot-0 senior guard Kentrell King (4.4 ppg, 4.8 apg) are the only two Prairie Stars to have started all 11 games this year.

On Thursday night, Weems came off the bench to lead UIS with 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting, while 6-foot-1 Lewis & Clark CC transfer junior guard Davi Austin posted 16 points and five assists in 27 minutes.

The Prairie Stars rank in the GLVC's top-half in defensive rebounding (2^nd), rebounding offense (3^rd), field goal defense (8^th), and rebounding margin (8^th), but otherwise sit 10^th-13^th in most categories.

Bill Walker is in his first season at UIS having come from serving as an assistant coach at Drake University. He also has had Div. I stops at Texas A&M, Minnesota, and Alabama-Birmingham, while also serving as an assistant at Central Missouri and UMSL.

Just Like Last Year:
This season's GLVC slate has started eerily similar to last season for the Bulldogs, with the purple and white sitting at 2-2 after opening with a win against Quincy, losses to Wisconsin-Parkside and Lewis, and a third-weekend opening win on the McKendree/Illinois Springfield circuit.

Last year's McKendree/Illinois Springfield weekend kick-started a seven-game winning streak that eventually culminated with 12 wins in the team's final 15 regular season games. Truman defeated UIS at home 76-70 before downing McK 91-60 on this weekend last year.

Bulldogs Scoring the Free Ones:
Just one year removed from setting the program's new standard for single-season free throw shooting at 74.1%, the 2014-15 Bulldogs are looking to challenge the newly-established number this season. Through the first 13 games, the Bulldogs have connected on 73.7% of their team free throws, making 210 of the 285 total taken from the charity stripe. Truman was 15-of-16 from the line – including a 14-for-14 mark in the second half – on Thursday night.

Helping fuel that high number from the line is redshirt sophomore Cory Myers, who currently is riding the longest free throws made streak in program history at 39 consecutive from the line. He is a perfect 28-for-28 this season, which combines with a 10-for-10 mark prior to a season-ending injury last year and the final free throw of his freshman campaign in 2012-13. His final free throw against Iowa Wesleyan on Dec. 19 broke the previous program record of 31, set in the 2009-2010 season by Tom Norton.

Bombs Away:
In addition to the high free throw totals, the Bulldogs are also on pace to set a new program record in three-pointers made in a single-season with 133 through the first 14 games this year. The all-time record of 246 (in 26 games) was set in 2001-02, with last year's squad coming up 13 triples short.

The Bulldogs have topped 200 each of the last three seasons, beginning with 205 in 2011-12 and 201 in 2012-13.

Truman has seen sustained success from distance throughout program history, with the Bulldogs having made at least one three-pointer in every game since Feb. 12, 2003 – a stretch of 319 consecutive games.

#UniWatch:
The Bulldogs added a third jersey to their uniform arsenal this season, picking up an anthracite-gray to go along with the team's traditional purple and white choices. The full game notes will be tracking the team's record in each color this year, with only the white kit (7-2) and gray kit (3-2) seeing action so far.

Found: 20 Wins!:
Last year's Bulldog team became the first to win 20 games since the 2005-06 team capped its season with a 20-9 record. Only five previous Bulldog teams – 1946-47 (30-2), 1947-48 (29-2), 1978-79 (20-9), 1998-99 (26-7), 2005-06 (20-9) – reached the 20-win mark in a season.

In addition, the Bulldogs' 13 conference wins last season set a new program record, as only two other Bulldog teams reached the dozen win mark during their respective conference slates.

Scratching Records:
The Bulldogs used the month of December to re-write a handful of single-game team record columns – most notably on Dec. 15 when the team drained a program-high 18 three-pointers in a win against Faith Baptist. Truman broke a nearly 13-year old record that had been previously set on Feb. 7, 2002 at Central Missouri, when the Bulldogs hit 16 three-pointers in a loss at then-CMSU.

This year's squad also now holds the Nos. 2 and 4 spots on the field goal percentage charts, with the squad's 63.6% night against Lincoln Christian and 61.1% night against Faith Baptist knocking a February 1992 night against Washburn (63.0%) down one spot to No. 3. The program's all-time record of 64.1% against Northwest Missouri (March 1975) still stands despite the team's 66.7% night against Central Christian this year since the minimum 60 field goal attempts required was not reached against the CCCB Saints (36-for-54).

Truman also currently holds the GLVC's top scoring margin by any team this season, with the team's 65-point win against Lincoln Christian holding the No. 1 slot. The Bulldogs also have two wins ranked No. 6 in that category, with 56-point wins against both Central Christian and Faith Baptist.

A Whole New Venue:
The Great Lakes Valley Conference's 20 league championships sites have been determined for the 2014-15 season, with the most notable change to the GLVC Championship schedule coming in basketball.

The 2015 GLVC Men's and Women's Basketball Championship Tournament will enter into its first of a two-year agreement with the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., just minutes outside St. Louis. The league's premiere event had been held the past two years at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, but a two-year schedule conflict with the venue required the GLVC to relocate. The 2015 event will begin with first-round competition on campus sites on March 1, with eight quarterfinalists on both the men's and women's side advancing to Family Arena for tournament action, March 5-8. Tickets for the 2015 GLVC Men's and Women's Basketball Championship Tournament are expected to go on sale in late November.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs return to St. Louis next Thursday night for the first of two meetings with GLVC West division pod-mate Missouri-St. Louis. The Tritons, who are currently atop the GLVC West at 3-0 (11-2 overall), will host Truman at 7:30 p.m. on January 15.

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Players Mentioned

#35 Patrick Burmester: C; 6' 9"; Senior

#40 Billy Daniel: F; 6' 6"; Sophomore

#32 Connor Erickson: F; 6' 8"; Sophomore

#03 Isaac Gardner: G; 6' 4"; Redshirt Senior

#02 Seth Jackson: G; 6' 4"; Senior

#22 Kyle Kanaskie: G; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#25 Connor Lusso: F; 6' 6"; Redshirt Freshman

#10 Hank Mathews: G; 6' 2"; Redshirt Freshman

#04 Reed Mells: G; 5' 11"; Senior

#11 Cole Myers: G; 6' 3"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#35 Patrick Burmester
: 6' 9"; Senior
: C

#40 Billy Daniel
: 6' 6"; Sophomore
: F

#32 Connor Erickson
: 6' 8"; Sophomore
: F

#03 Isaac Gardner
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#02 Seth Jackson
: 6' 4"; Senior
: G

#22 Kyle Kanaskie
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: G

#25 Connor Lusso
: 6' 6"; Redshirt Freshman
: F

#10 Hank Mathews
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

#04 Reed Mells
: 5' 11"; Senior
: G

#11 Cole Myers
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G