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Men's Basketball 12/14/2015 10:45:00 AM Tyler Madsen, Athletics Communications

Men's Basketball Notes: Truman vs. Quincy (Dec. 15, 7 p.m.)

Truman Men's Basketball Notes (December 15, 2015)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TSUBulldogHoops || #BewareofDog

Game #10: Truman (6-3, 1-1 GLVC West) vs. Quincy (5-3, 2-0 GLVC West)
Printable Game Notes (PDF)

When: Tuesday, December 15, 2015 || 7 p.m. (CST)
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena
Audio: 104.7 FM KRES (Brad Boyer, Play-by- Play; Hank Janssen, Analyst) || Online Feed
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media) || Live Video

Series Record: Quincy leads, 59-57.
Series Record in Kirksville: Truman leads, 39-23 (Last QU win: Nov. 22, 2011)
Series Record since Truman Joined the GLVC: Truman leads, 5-0.

Last Meeting: Truman won, 84-64, on March 1, 2015 in Kirksville. (GLVC Opening Round)
Last Quincy Win vs. TSU: Quincy won, 62-60, on Nov. 20, 2012 in Quincy.
Series Streak: Truman- W6

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - A long-standing rivalry will be renewed on Tuesday night in Pershing Arena when the Truman men's basketball team plays host to Quincy in a key early-season Great Lakes Valley Conference matchup. Tipoff between the Bulldogs and Hawks is set for 7 p.m.

Both Truman (6-3, 1-1 GLVC) and Quincy (5-3, 2-0 GLVC) carry multi-game winning streaks into Tuesday night's affair, as the Bulldogs have won two straight following a GLVC-opening home loss against Rockhurst. The Hawks, meanwhile, have roared back after stumbling out of the gate with three losses by winning five in a row – including home wins against both Rockhurst and William Jewell to open the league's conference schedule. Quincy's current five-game streak is the longest by any GLVC West division member and ranks as the second-longest winning stretch in the GLVC at the moment (Indianapolis, W-6).

The all-time series between the schools has crept ever-closer in recent seasons, thanks to Truman's current six-game winning streak dating back to November 2012. The Bulldogs trail QU 59-57 overall, however, the purple and white own a strong 39-23 advantage in games played in Kirksville. Truman has won all five contests between the programs since the Bulldog Athletic Department joined the GLVC in the fall of 2013, including three victories – all by double-digits – last season.

Chris Foster is in his second season as the head coach of the Bulldogs and is in his third season with the program overall. He has a career record of 26-13 (.667) and was a former standout guard at the University of Northern Iowa, where he ranks among the program's top-10 in games played, assists, and three-pointers. Foster was a member of the 2003 and 2004 NCAA Div. I tournament squads. He is assisted by Mike Annese, who returned to the program this season after a one-year stint at Minnesota-Crookston, and graduate assistant Nik Koprivica.

About the Bulldogs:
Truman has won two in a row to improve to 6-3 overall after taking two steps forward and one step back through the first seven games to a 4-3 mark. The Bulldogs got a one-point, 76-75 win at William Jewell on Dec. 5 to even their GLVC record to 1-1 before taking down Grace (Neb.) by an 89-65 score on Saturday (Dec. 12) night in Kirksville.

Three Bulldogs are currently averaging double-figures offensively, led by redshirt-junior guard Cory Myers' 13.4 ppg average. He also leads the team in rebounding (5.2 per game), assists (3.3 per game), and steals (18), having started all nine contests. Two other junior starters – guard Kyle Kanaskie (12.7 ppg) and forward Connor Erickson (11.6 ppg) – are atop the 10.0 points per game mark, while both freshman guard Jake Velky (9.8 ppg; 50% 3FG) and senior guard Cole Myers (9.1 ppg; 17 steals) are hovering around the double-digit points mark.

Truman sits in the GLVC's top 25% as a team in five categories, most notably as leaders in turnover margin at +5.7 per game. The Bulldogs are second in three-point defense (30.2% allowed), third in steals per game (8.6), and fourth in both three-pointers made per game (8.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.37).

Cory Myers is tied for the league-high in steals per game (2.00), with twin brother Cole right behind him in a tie for fifth (1.89). Velky is tied for seventh in three-point percentage (15-of-30) and is 14^th overall in the league in field goal percentage (53.6%).

Three Keys to Tuesday Night:

Battle from Beyond: Both Truman (No. 2) and Quincy (No. 3) rank amongst GLVC leaders in team three-point percent defense, as each team is keeping its opposition below 31% from the three-point line this year.
Turning the Tide: Truman (No. 1; +5.7)) and Quincy (No. 2; +3.8) have each excelled in not only forcing turnovers, but also limiting their own this season. The Bulldogs are 6-2 this season when they have equal or fewer turnovers compared to their opponents.
Making the Freebies: Both teams rank amongst the bottom half of the GLVC in free throw shooting, with Quincy shooting 73.8% at the line and Truman connecting at 71.0%.

Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):

#MBBHistory: Tuesday marks the 2,215^th all-time game. TSU has 1,136-1,078 record (.513) in 96^th season.
#80IsGravy: 'Dogs have won last 20 games when scoring at least 80 points (5-0 in 2015-16).
#UniWatch: Say hello to new purple uni's this year; 'Dogs are 4-2 in white's and 1-1 in purple's this yr. No gray sighting yet.
#GottaGetUp: Under HC Foster, Truman is 24-2 when leading at the half. Team just 2-11 when tied/trailing at break.
#WinTheGlass: The Bulldogs are 3-0 this year (14-0 in last two seasons combined) when they out-rebound opponents.

Hank's History Book – December 15:

Truman is 7-4 all-time in games played on December 15. In the last four victories on the 15^th, the Bulldogs have averaged 102.3 points per game.
December 15, 2014 – Last season, the Bulldogs put up 110 points in a 56-point drubbing of Faith (Iowa) in Pershing Arena. Truman hit a school-record 18 three-pointers in the game, including seven from then-senior Isaac Gardner, en route to shooting 61.1% overall from the floor.
December 15, 2007 – In the opening game of the QU Holiday Classic, the Hawks defeated Truman by a 73-58 score. Banks Estridge had 26 points, six steals, six rebounds, and five assists.
December 15, 1939 – The first December 15 game in Truman history, as the Bulldogs fell 37-26 against Burlington (Iowa) Junior College.

Scouting the Hawks (5-3, 2-0 GLVC):

Quincy will have been idle for 10 days leading into Tuesday night's affair, having most recently won three games in five days from Dec. 1-5 against Lindenwood (88-72 at LWU), William Jewell (89-60), and Rockhurst (77-67). QU averaged 11.7 three-pointers made per game during that stretch.
Picked to finish third in the GLVC West this season by conference coaches, the Hawks are coming off a 13-16 season a year ago, which included a 7-11 conference mark and an opening round loss at Truman in the GLVC tournament.
Kirkwood CC transfer Joseph Tagarelli (6-foot-5 junior forward) ranks fifth in the GLVC in scoring (17.0 ppg) and ninth in rebounding (6.5 rpg). Redshirt junior Evan McGaughey (6-foot-8) ranks second in the league in blocks (14) and ninth in rebounding (6.5 rpg), while junior guard Herm Senor II (5-foot-11) and senior guard Thomas Jackson (6-foot-0) rank third and seventh, respectively, in the GLVC's assist-to-turnover ratio category.
Marty Bell is in his 13^th season at the helm of the QU program, having compiled a 200-154 record. He also serves as the program's director of athletics.

Among the Career Charts:
Both senior guard Andrew Vander Zwaag and redshirt junior guard Cory Myers have made their ways onto a pair of Truman's career individual charts.

Vander Zwaag ranks 9^th in three-pointers attempted (398) and trails Boyd Printy's eighth-most total of 447 (1989-92) as the next-in-line. He recently passed Mike Peterson's 10^th-most total of 385, set from 1997-2001.

Myers, meanwhile, just passed recent team-member Reed Mells for ninth on the all-time steals chart, as his 113 puts him just 13 back of Gary Bussard's 1980-83 total of 126.

"Three"sy-Peesy:
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 344 consecutive games.

Four Peas in a GLVC Pod:
For the 2015-16 season, the GLVC will again be invoking a "pod" system for basketball scheduling, resulting in 18 league matches for all 16 of the conference's schools. While all 16 teams will fall under the East and West divisional standings with no delineation between pods, Truman will play Quincy, Rockhurst, and William Jewell twice each as part of one four-team grouping.

Drury, Missouri S&T, Maryville, and Missouri-St. Louis will link together as the second West division pod, while the quartets of Bellarmine—Illinois Springfield—McKendree—Southern Indiana and Indianapolis—Lewis—Saint Joseph's—Wisconsin-Parkside will comprise the two East division groupings.

At the end of the season, the top 12 teams will compete for the GLVC men's basketball championship. First-round games between seeds 5-12 will be played on Sunday, February 28, with the top-4 seed and first-round winners advancing once again to Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., for the remainder of the tournament the next weekend.

New Men's Basketball Rules:
The NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee made more than 25 rules changes, most of which increase the pace of play, reduce the number of stoppages, and provide better balance between offense and defense.

Notable key rule changes for the 2015-16 season include:

Shot clock time reduced from 35 seconds to 30 seconds.
Timeouts:
- Reduction of 30-second timeouts from four to three, only two of which carry over to the second half.
- A 3-0 second timeout called within 30 seconds of a media timeout will become the media timeout.
- Coaches can only call timeouts during a dead ball situation.
The 10-second backcourt count resets except when:
- Defender causes the ball to go out of bounds;
- Offense retains possession on a held ball; or,
- A technical foul is called on the offensive team.
- Note: A charged timeout by the offensive team results in a new 10-second count.
Removed the five-second closely guarded count on a dribble.
Guarding in the post: Arm bar allowed in post area when offense has back to basket (with or without ball).
Airborne shooter charge plays – cannot score basket on a player-control foul.
Removed the prohibition against dunking the ball while the ball is dead; teams will be allowed to dunk during pre-game and halftime.
Reduced time to 15-seconds for replacing disqualified players.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will follow Quincy back across the Mississippi River for two games this weekend at the Quincy Holiday Classic. Truman will take on Great Midwest Athletic Conference member Ohio Valley at 1 p.m. on Saturday before facing Southern Arkansas at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#32 Connor Erickson: F; 6' 8"; Redshirt Junior

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

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

#12 Cory Myers: G; 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior

#30 Andrew Vander Zwaag: G; 6' 3"; Redshirt Senior

#24 Jake Velky: G; 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

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

#32 Connor Erickson
: 6' 8"; Redshirt Junior
: F

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

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

#12 Cory Myers
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior
: G

#30 Andrew Vander Zwaag
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#24 Jake Velky
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: G