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KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—The Truman State Men's Basketball team moved up to #6 in the NABC poll this week, and will be back on the road for three games in five days as they take on Illinois Springfield, Quincy and Southern Indiana. The Bulldogs enter this week winners of seven straight games--they downed UIndy and Lewis at Pershing this past weekend after a two week layoff. They led nearly wire to wire against the Greyhounds in a twelve point win, and went back and forth with the Flyers as they grinded out a seven point win.
The Bulldogs are going up against the Prairie Stars of UIS for the first time this season while they are playing Quincy and USI for a second time each. The first meeting with Quincy was a 96-91 thriller in overtime at Pershing Arena last December that went to the Bulldogs. Cade McKnight led the way with 25 points in the game while Turner Scott, Hunter Strait and Masen Miller all racked up 18 while Dylan Peeters scored 17 with ten boards. Truman opened 2021 with a win over USI 76-69 at home. Elijah Hazekamp led the Bulldogs that day with 16 points and seven rebounds.
At 16.8 points per game, McKnight now is eighth in the GLVC in scoring average. He has broken the 20 point barrier twice this season with 26 against UMSL (one shy of his career high) and 25 against Quincy. He's broken through the 900 point mark with 932 career points and is just 68 shy of joining the thousand point club.
Peeters is second in the GLVC with 9.6 rebounds per game. He's also second on the team with 13.2 points per game and leads with 13 blocks. His double-double count is at seven, tied for third best in the nation with Cam Martin of Missouri Southern.
Scott is averaging a career high 10.5 points per game, and needs just 92 more to reach 1,000 career points. He is first in the GLVC with 6.3 assists per game by a wide margin--second place is Conley Garrison at 5.0. His 6.3 helpers are ranked sixth in the country. He has now passed Jimmy Gooden for fifth place in program history with 384 assists. Cory Myers is in fourth place with 471. With 24 three pointers, he is third on the team--behind Masen Miller with 34 and Hazekamp with 29. Hazekamp had his first Bulldog double-double against UIndy with 18 points and 15 boards last Thursday.
Hunter Strait reached double figures for the seventh time this season with 15 against Lewis, and is averaging 9.4 points per game as the sixth man.
As a team, Truman is second in the GLVC in scoring with 79.8 points per game and first in scoring defense at 67.5 points allowed per game. The Bulldogs have a scoring differential of +12.3, well ahead of second place Southwest Baptist's +8.8. The Bulldogs also rank first in three point percentage at 40.5%, and overall shooting percentage at 51.3%.
Prairie Stars Scouting Report
Keymonta Johnson is second on the team with 14.5 points per game and leads in rebounds with 7.6; fifth best in the GLVC. Chase Robinson is sixth in the GLVC with 18.2 points per game.
They are averaging 71.1 points per game and allowing 72.5. They enter the game 7-8, but with just two wins in their last seven.
Hawks Scouting Report
Viktor Kovacivic and Tanner Stuckman combined for 60 points in the first game against the Bulldogs this season. Stuckman is fourth in the GLVC with 18.5 points per game, and Charles Callier is 22nd at 13.1--including 42 made three pointers.
The Hawks come into this weekend with a record of 5-11, but have won two of their last four--beating McKendree and UIS.
Screaming Eagles Scouting Report
Josh Price has been a dominant force for USI this season, leading the GLVC in rebounds with 9.9 per game and leads the team in scoring with 19.8 points per game--second in the conference. They lead the GLVC in rebounding margin with +9.1, grabbing 40.3 boards per game. They also hold teams under 40% from three--best in the GLVC.
USI enters the week winners of five straight, and will host Quincy and Drury before the Bulldogs.
Series Histories
The Bulldogs have a short history with Illinois Springfield and Southern Indiana, having not met the Prairie Stars prior to joining the GLVC and only playing the Screaming Eagles once. Overall, the Bulldogs have beaten the Prairie Stars seven times in eight meetings, including each of the last six. Earlier this season the Bulldogs picked up their third win in ten meetings against the Screaming Eagles.
Truman has a long history with Quincy, having played 126 times. Truman has won 65 of them, including the last six.
Coming Up
The Bulldogs will enter the home stretch of the season after this busy road trip. Next up will be a trip to William Jewell on the 20th followed by the last home weekend of the season against Rockhurst and Southwest Baptist.
