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KIRKSVILLE - - The Truman men's basketball team heads to St. Joseph, Mo., for its final Saturday road game of the 2010-2011 season this weekend, as the Bulldogs battle Missouri Western at 7:30 pm inside the Looney Fieldhouse.

Truman (6-17, 4-15 MIAA) restored some regularity to its schedule late this week, as the Bulldogs closed a four game in seven day stretch on Wednesday night at Northwest Missouri. Northwest handed Truman its worst loss of the season, 89-46, after jumping to a fast 21-2 start and never allowed the Bulldogs to move closer.

Missouri Western (11-13, 9-10 MIAA) finds itself in the thick of a five-team race for the sixth through eighth spots in the upcoming MIAA tournament, as the Griffons are tied with Pittsburg State and Emporia State for the final three slots in the field. Southwest Baptist (8-11 MIAA) and the aforementioned Northwest Bearcats (7-12) sit on the outside looking in currently with three games to play in the regular season. The Griffs are closing a four-game homestand on Saturday night and have their last two, earning a 96-88 victory against SBU and a 94-72 win against winless-Lincoln.

Media Information:

104.7 FM KRES is the official radio home of Truman football, men's basketball and women's basketball. Brad Boyer and Hank Janssen will provide coverage throughout the season of Truman basketball on the Moberly-based station.

KRES broadcasts its sports coverage online at centralmoinfo.com. Fans can also watch MIAA games on their computer this season through AmericaOne/B2 Networks for a fee.

Live stats for all Bulldog games throughout the season will be made available via links on the men's basketball schedule page at TrumanBulldogs.com.

'Dog Bites:

· Senior Ethan Freeman is averaging nearly a double-double on the season (11.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg) and is the MIAA's top rebounder (both total and defensive). He has ten double-doubles on the season and has set new career-highs this year in points, rebounds and assists. Freeman has also been just short of the program's first triple-double in nearly 20 years twice this season, most recently ending two assists shy (14-10-8) against Nebraska-Omaha on Feb. 12.

· Senior Alex Henderson is the team's leading scorer at 14.1 ppg and has 17 double-figure games this year. He has hit 43 3-pointers at a 38% clip and is a 78% free throw shooter. He set a new career-high with 26 points against Nebraska-Omaha on Feb. 12 and topped the 20-point mark for the fifth time this year in that outing.

· Sophomore Tom Norton is third on the team in scoring at 10.1 ppg and has drained a team-high 55 3-pointers this season. He also set a career-high in points (21) against Nebraska-Omaha on Feb. 12, doing so off the bench. He is 45-for-52 from the free throw line this year and is a 90% career free throw shooter.

· Junior Vesko Filchev is fourth on the team in scoring, checking in at 9.5 ppg. He is shooting 52% from the field and leads the squad with 22 blocked shots. Vesko has also recorded three double-doubles this year.

· Freshman Isaac Gardner leads the Bulldogs in three-point shooting percentage (44.0%) and is averaging 7.0 points per game. He has started two times this season and is averaging nearly 18 minutes per game.

· Senior Stefan Garrison has started 17 of 21 games this year and is averaging 4.2 points per game. He has two double-figure scoring games this season.

· Freshman Pat Sodemann scored a career-high 18 points in Truman's Feb. 5 win against Southwest Baptist and is averaging 4.3 points per game. He is one of just six Bulldogs to play in all 23 games this season and is 24-for-28 (86%) from the free throw line.

· Senior Brian Nwelue ranks second on the team in blocks with 14 and is one of the squad's top defenders. He has pulled down 23 offensive rebounds and is averaging 3.2 points per game.

The Freeman/Henderson Watch:

Both Ethan Freeman (983) and Alex Henderson (975) are inching closer to the 1,000 career point mark with three games to play in the regular season. If they stay on their current averages, they both are set to crack the century mark next Wednesday (Feb. 23) at Lincoln. Never in Truman's history have two players reached the 1,000-point mark in the same game.

There are 23 members of the 1,000-point club, with Nick Certa (04-08) reaching it most recently. Three players eclipsed the barrier in the 2007 season (Andy Calmes, Austin Kirby, Grant Agbo), with Kirby and Agbo doing so within three games of each other. That is the closest two Truman teammates have reached the century mark.

Free Throw Extravaganza:

Truman has taken 520 free throws (22.6 per game) this season, up from last season's 16.4 per game, and most since the 1999-2000 team's 24.2 attempts per game average.

A Look at the Griffons:

The Griffons have ridden up and down stretches all season, posting multi-game winning streaks three times and multi-game losing streaks four times. Currently, Missouri Western has won two straight, fresh off the heels of a five-game skid.

Senior transfers Jonathan Phelps (18.6 ppg) and P'Allen Stinnett (17.0 ppg) lead the team offensively, backed by 117 combined three-pointers. As a team, Missouri Western has drained 217 threes on the season and have seven active players that have dropped ten or more.

MWSU, however, has a -5.2 rebounding margin and are averaging just eight offensive rebounds per game. The Griffons are strong from the stripe, connecting at a 72% clip as a unit.

Tom Smith is in his 23^rd season with the program and 36^th season overall as a collegiate head coach. He has a mark of 428-242 at MWSU and has 598 career victories.

Earlier This Year:

(Jan. 12) KIRKSVILLE - - Freshman Isaac Gardner scored a career-high 21 points and hit four three-pointers off the bench, but the Bulldogs were outscored in the second half by a dozen on the way to a 78-63 defeat to Missouri Western.

The Bulldogs (4-9, 2-7 MIAA) got a three-pointer right before the halftime buzzer by Matt Patterson to head into the break down three, 32-29, but, after the teams battled to a 55-52 Griffon lead with 10:51 to play, MWSU (7-7, 5-4 MIAA) went on a 20-5 run to open up an 18-point cushion at 75-57 with less than three minutes remaining on the clock. TJ Johnson led the second-half charge for the Griffs, scoring 16 of his team-high 21 in the final 20 minutes.

Gardner helped keep the 'Dogs in the game through the first half, taking 13 points into the break behind 5-of-8 shooting and a pair of triples. He added eight more in the second half to set a new career-high and marking his fifth double-figure game of the season. No other Bulldog reached the ten-point mark, with Alex Henderson (9) and Vesko Filchev (8) coming closest.

The MIAA's leading rebounder, Ethan Freeman, pulled down just three and played only 18 minutes (13 in the second half) after struggling with foul trouble early. On the night, Missouri Western out-boarded the 'Dogs, 34-29, as Truman shot 43% from the field and 7-of-20 from beyond the arc.

Up Next:

Truman hits the road for the final time this season, traveling to visit conference-newcomer Lincoln (Mo.) in the state capital of Jefferson City at 7:30 pm on Wed., Feb. 23. The Blue Tigers are 2-21 overall (0-19 MIAA).