Game Preview:
The Bulldog men's basketball team will host Pittsburg State University on Saturday in the conference home opener at 3:00 p.m. in Pershing Arena. Truman lost by just two points to the Gorillas last season in Pershing, the team's last meeting, 58-56 back in January.
The Bulldogs have lost their last four games, including Wednesday night's conference opener at Missouri Southern 89-43, and are 2-6 and 0-1 in the MIAA while the Gorillas are 5-2 and won their MIAA opener at home against Missouri Western 77-71.
Truman is fourth in the current MIAA statistics in three-point shooting percentage at 35% and second in triples made per game at 7.8. Meanwhile, the Gorillas are tops in the conference in steals at just under 12 per game and led the league in free throw shooting at 72% with the most trips by any conference team to the line.
Pittsburg State swept the season series last year after the Bulldogs did it to them in the 2009-10 season. The Gorillas won 91-68 in Pittsburg but had to dodge four straight misses from the field by the Bulldogs in a 58-56 win in Kirksville.
About the Bulldogs:
First year head Coach Matt Woodley is not the only thing new with Truman Basketball this season. Eight new players have been brought in to fill the departure of seven seniors from a year ago. The Bulldogs have just one senior (Vesko Filchev) and one returning junior (Tom Norton) on their roster of 15 this season with Woodley at the helm.
Norton is leading the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game while redshirt freshman Mike Carlson and junior transfer E.J. Hicks are also averaging above 10 points a game through the team's first eight. Carlson is averaging 11.5 while Hicks is 10.3 while shooting 54% from the field.
Norton and sophomore guard Isaac Gardner have each attempted over 50 triples so far this season with Norton making 21 and Gardner 20. Freshman Seth Jackson has also shot the ball well in his first season as a collegiate. Jackson is 21-of-42 (50%) and is averaging 9.5 points per game.
Truman lost a two-point game to Abilene Christian (Texas) and a six-point game to Angelo State (Texas) to open the season and have wins over Central Christian (Mo.) and Grand View (Iowa). The Bulldogs lost by three to Maryville (Mo.), seven to both Quincy (Ill.) and Upper Iowa prior to conference play beginning.
Last Time Out:
at Missouri Southern 89, TRUMAN 43
JOPLIN, Mo. - - The defending MIAA champions got a career night from center Keane Thomann and the Missouri Southern State University Lions defeated the Truman Bulldogs 89-43 in the conference opener on Wednesday night. Thomann scored 31 points to pace the Lions while the Bulldogs were led by Seth Jackson's 11.
With the score knotted at eight apiece, the second ranked team in Division II threw on a press and quickly went on a 9-0 run. They would go on a 15-0 run later in the period to break the game wide open and led at the half 50-21.
Thomann scored 21 in the first half and then 10 points in the first four minutes of the second before coming out of the game with 31 points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes of work. Southern's All-American candidate Jason Adams finished with just 10 points but had a career high 10 assists in 25 minutes.
Jackson was 5-of-7 from the field to lead the 'Dogs with 11 while EJ Hicks added 10 with a pair of blocks.
With a three-pointer on the night, Tom Norton eclipsed the 150 made threes for his Bulldog career and is now four away from eighth all-time in Bulldog history. Norton finished with seven points.
Bulldog Tip-Ins:
· The Bulldogs are off to a 2-6 start in 2011-12 after going 7-19 (5-17 MIAA) last year.
· Truman is shooting 44.4% from the field as a team, including 35.6% (62-for-174) from three-point range.
· The Bulldogs are connecting at a 69.9% (107-for-153) mark from the free throw line.
· Truman is out-rebounding opponents by a +0.6 margin (34.1-33.5).
· The Bulldogs have hit at least eight three-pointers in all but two games this season.
· Only three times this season has Truman been outscored in the second half.
· The Bulldogs have posted a 1-to-1 assist-turnover ratio in all but one game (at ACU) this year, including a season-best 18a-10t ratio against Grand View.
Topping the Charts:
· Tom Norton (7 at GVU) and Isaac Gardner (6 at MU) both put themselves on the all-time single-game program chart with three-pointers made in the two nonconference games.
· Norton has 150 career three-pointers made, ranking him 9th already on Truman's career 3-pointers made list. He is four behind Jiri Mikl (1999-2003; 154) for 8th.
· Norton, through two-plus seasons, is shooting .891 from the free throw line (117-for-131), which qualifies him for the top spot all time at Truman (minimum 100 made; both Scott Matthews (1993-94) and Mike Peterson (1987-89) finished their careers at .848).
· Senior center Vesko Filchev is fifth all-time in career blocks with 76. He needs one to tie Erik Hansen (1982-87; 77).
Scouting the Gorillas:
Pittsburg State is 5-2 on the young season following their 77-71 home win over Missouri Western on Wednesday night.
Eric Ray leads the team in scoring at 13.9 points per game while shooting 35% from beyond the arc and dishing out 3.1 assists per game.
The Gorillas also feature two of the top three rebounders in the MIAA in senior Andra Bailey and junior JaVon McGee. Bailey is second with 8.4 boards per game to go with his 11.7 points and 52% shooting percentage while McGee is pulling down 7.7 rebounds per contest with 10.7 points and a team-high 15 steals.
Both Ray and Bailey were honorable mention all-MIAA selections last season.
Kevin Muff is in his second season at Pittsburg State and guided the team to a 13-13 record last season and a 9-13 mark in MIAA play.
Up Next:
The top two three-point shooting teams will be on display next Wednesday night as the Bulldogs (7.8/3pg) entertain the Southwest Baptist Bearcats (11.3/3pg) in a home conference game. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. It will be the final home game in December for the Bulldogs.
