Men's Basketball Notes: at Southwest Baptist

Game 19: TRUMAN (7-11, 4-6 MIAA) at Southwest Baptist (6-12, 4-6 MIAA)

Date: Saturday, February 2, 2013
Time: 3:30 pm CT
Location: Bolivar, Mo. || John Q. Hammons Court
Radio: 104.7 KRES-FM (Moberly, Mo.) || Listen Online
Video: Watch Online
Live Stats: Regular || Media/Mobile
Game Notes: Truman || Southwest Baptist
Statistics: Truman || Southwest Baptist || MIAA
Social Media: @TrumanAthletics

For Starters:
A three-game road trip starts the month of February for the Truman men's basketball team, as the Bulldogs visit Southwest Baptist on Saturday afternoon for a 3:30 pm contest in Bolivar, Missouri.

The Bulldogs (7-11, 4-6 MIAA) have see-sawed decisions in the past two weeks, picking up two midweek wins while dropping a pair of Saturday contests from Jan. 16-26. Truman has been idle since a 74-68 loss at home on Saturday, Jan. 26 to Fort Hays (Kan.) State and will be hitting the road for just the third time since the turn of the 2013 calendar on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Southwest Baptist (6-12, 4-6 MIAA) fell by a dozen, 87-75, at home on Thursday night to Lindenwood (Mo.). Damion Hooks scored 28 off the bench, but the Bearcats couldn't overcome an 18-point halftime deficit to the Lions.

This is the first of two scheduled contests between the teams this season, as the Bearcats will make the return trip to Kirksville in just 12 days – stepping into Pershing Arena on Thursday, Feb. 14 for the program's annual “Think Pink” game in conjunction with the Bulldog women's team.

Probable Starters:
G – #2 – Seth Jackson – 6'3” – 200 – SO – 10.7 ppg | 4.3 rpg | 1.3 apg | '12 MIAA FOY
F – #5 – Mike Carlson – 6'9” – 200 – JR – 16.7 ppg | 6.2 rpg | 2.1 apg | 86% FT; 29 blocks
G – #12 – Cory Myers – 6'3” – 190 – FR – 6.8 ppg | 2.9 rpg | 4.5 apg | 44% FG; 25 steals
G – #22 – Tom Norton – 5'9” – 170 – SR – 14.0 ppg | 1.0 rpg | 0.9 apg | 3.9 3FG/gm
F – #33 – Tyler Anderson – 6'5” – 210 – SO – 6.1 ppg | 4.3 rpg | 0.5 apg | 59% FG

Off the Bench:
G – #3 – Isaac Gardner – 6'4” – 205 – JR – 6.2 ppg | 1.3 rpg | 0.3 apg | 35 3FG
G – #10 – Matt Patterson – 5'10” – 165 – SR – 2.2 ppg | 0.8 rpg | 1.3 apg | 46% 3FG
G – #11 – Cole Myers – 6'3” – 190 – FR – 4.7 ppg | 2.3 rpg | 1.9 apg | 24 steals
F – #15 – Jaylon Jones – 6'5” – 230 – FR – 4.6 ppg | 1.9 rpg | 0.4 apg | 44% FG
G – #20 – Dominic Kacich – 6'3” – 170 – SO – 6.0 ppg | 0.0 rpg | 1.0 apg | 1 GP
C – #21 – Marek Bush – 6'6” – 245 – JR – 3.2 ppg | 4.3 rpg | 0.2 apg | 25 O-Reb
C – #35 – Patrick Burmester – 6'9” – 235 – SO – 0.8 ppg | 2.7 rpg | 0.5 apg | 6 GP

2013 Redshirts:
C – #24 – Kiefer Starbird – 6'10” – 200 – FR
G – #30 – Andrew Vander Zwaag – 6'3” – 185 – SO
F – #32 – Connor Erickson – 6'8” – 190 – FR

Coaching Staff:
Head Coach: Matt Woodley
Career Record: 15-31 || .326 || 2^nd season
At Truman: Same
MIAA: 9-21 || .300
Assistant Coaches: Todd Lorensen (2^nd season), Matt Fitzpatrick (2^nd season)

Bulldog Buckets:
·         The Bulldogs are scoring 71.4 ppg on the season (70.4 MIAA), shooting 44.9% from the field (43.9% MIAA), and 36.8% from three-point range (38.3% MIAA). The Bulldogs are connecting at a 70.8% clip from the foul line through all 18 games, with that mark raised to 75.1% in 10 MIAA games.
·         Truman has already surpassed its 2012 road win total (2-12) through five road contests (3-2 in 2013) and is two wins away from matching the 2012 home win total (6-7) with two to play within the friendly confines of Pershing Arena.
·         The Bulldogs have experienced success in the post this year, averaging 28.7 points from inside the lane. That compares to just 24.3 points from in the paint for their opponents for a +4.4 margin by the 'Dogs.
·         Truman has had nine 20+ point outings this season, including a team-best six by junior Mike Carlson. Carlson (vs. WPU; Nov. 9, 2012) and senior Tom Norton (vs. UNK; Jan. 24, 2013) are tied for the team-high this year with 27-point games.
·         During the three-game homestand from Jan. 19-26, Carlson averaged 18.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game in 100 total minutes of action.

'Dogs Amongst the League Leaders:
·         The Bulldogs are ranked in the top-third of MIAA team statistics in three-pointers made per game (2^nd; 8.0), assist-to-turnover ratio (4^th; 1.2), three-point field goal percentage (5^th; 36.8%) and assists per game (5^th; 14.1).
·         Mike Carlson is one of the MIAA's top players statistically this year, ranking third in the MIAA in free throw percentage (86.2%), fourth in blocks (1.3), sixth in scoring (16.7), sixth in steals (1.6), 12^th in field goal percentage (51.8%) and 13^th in rebounding (6.2).
·         Cory Myers ranks seventh in the MIAA in assists (4.5 and 13^th in steals (1.4).
·         Isaac Gardner ranks 10^th in the MIAA in three-pointers made per game (1.9).
·         Fans on the lookout for Tom Norton amongst the MIAA and NCAA leaders will have to wait two more games, when Tom hits the 75% games played mark this year. Currently, his 45.1% three-point percentage would rank fourth in the league, while his 3.9 three-pointers made per game would lead the conference by more than one full triple per game.

Series Notes vs. Southwest Baptist:
Series Record: SBU leads 28-19
Last Meeting: SBU 68, Truman 49 (Feb. 4, 2012 || Bolivar, Mo.)
Series Streak: SBU W-1
Record in Bolivar: SBU leads 18-4 (SBU W-5)
Last TSU win in Bolivar: Truman 81, SBU 68 (Jan. 20, 2007)
Woodley vs. Southwest Baptist: 1-1

Scouting the Bearcats:
Southwest Baptist enters Saturday's contest with Truman sporting a 6-12 overall record (4-6 MIAA), including a 4-5 mark in its home gym this year. The Bearcats have home MIAA wins against Emporia State, Northeastern State and Nebraska-Kearney, and will be concluding a four-game homestand with Saturday's game.

The Bearcats have three players averaging double-figures offensively, led by a pair of 11.8 ppg averages by Preston Guiot and Damion Hooks. Gilbert Gyamfi is adding 10.7 points per game, as they are three of seven players to have played in all 18 team games this season.

On the season, SBU is shooting 42.5% from the floor, 34.8% from three-point range and 71.1% from the charity stripe. They are getting out-rebounded by nearly two per game and are allowing foes to shoot nearly 42% from long-range.

Jeff Guiot is in his ninth season as the program's head coach.

Notably vs. SBU:
·         Mike Carlson made two starts against SBU last season, averaging 14.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. He scored 21 in Truman's win on Dec. 7, 2011.
·         Isaac Gardner has made nine three-pointers in four career games against SBU, averaging 6.8 points per game. He went 6-for-6 from long-range in Truman's win on Dec. 7, 2011.
·         Seth Jackson made two starts against SBU last season, averaging 5.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.
·         Tom Norton has made 11 three-pointers in six career games against SBU, averaging 7.3 points per game. He scored a career-best 15 on Dec. 7, 2010.

Looking Around the MIAA:
The Bulldogs have eight conference games to play in the 2012-13 season and currently sit in a three-way tie for ninth at 4-6 through 10 games. The top four teams receive a bye into the 12-team MIAA tournament quarterfinals – set to begin on Thursday, March 7 in Kansas City's historic Municipal Auditorium. Meanwhile, seeds 5-8 will host seeds 9-12 in on-campus first-round action on Monday, March 4, with the four winners set to advance to the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Truman, while currently sitting even with Missouri Southern and SBU for ninth, is just two games back of fourth-place and currently own tiebreakers against Missouri Western (4-7 MIAA), Nebraska-Kearney (3-8) and Lincoln (2-9) due to wins earlier this season. In addition, Lindenwood (5-4) is not eligible for the MIAA tournament this season due to its reclassification to NCAA Div. II, so all teams below them will slide up one spot come tournament time.

Central Missouri holds a two-game lead on Northwest Missouri and is 2.5 games in front of Northeastern State as the second half of conference play begins this week.

Mr. 1K:
With his team-opening three-pointer in the January 19 game against Central Missouri, senior guard Tom Norton became the 25^th-member of Truman's 1,000-point club. 756 of Norton's 1,047 career points have come from beyond the three-point line, while his 252 total triples put him second all-time in Truman history. He needs 48 more to tie Steve Schieppe's top mark of 300 career triples.

Norton has the chance to move a handful of spots up the career points chart as well, as he is just 51 points away (currently 22^nd) from tying Chip Sodemann's 18^th-place mark of 1,098 – set from 2002-06.

Bring Some Chips to This Block Party:
Junior Mike Carlson has a team-high 29 blocks this season, giving him 54 through 46 career games as a Bulldog. He ranks 10^th all-time in Truman history, needing one more to tie Greg Gordon's ninth-place mark of 55 – set from 1983-85. He is 13 back of Brian Brown's 8^th-place total of 67, set from 1997-2000.

Seeing Double:
The Bulldogs have a pair of identical twin guards this season in freshmen Cole and Cory Myers. The duo have combined to make 30 starts in their first seasons at Truman and rank 2^nd/3^rd on the team with 25 (Cory) and 24 (Cole) steals.

Big Men Producing in the Post:
Post players Tyler Anderson and Marek Bush are averaging 9.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game combined at the No. 5 spot in the Truman rotation. Anderson (36-of-61; 59.0%) and Bush (23-of-44; 52.3%) are also converting at a high rate close to the hoop and rank 2^nd/3^rd on the team with 51 combined offensive rebounds.

The Reliables:
Mike Carlson and Seth Jackson are the only two Bulldogs to start all 18 games this season, while freshman guard Cory Myers has earned a starting nod in each of the team's last 17 games.

“Free”bies:
Overall through 10 MIAA games, the Bulldogs are shooting 75.1% (145-for-193) from the charity stripe. Helping contribute to those numbers is a combined 107-for-124 (86.3%) line from Mike Carlson, Tom Norton, Seth Jackson and Cory Myers – Truman's top four scorers.

Getting to the line has been a key factor under second-year coach Matt Woodley, as the Bulldogs are 2-18 in games where the opponent makes more free throws than the 'Dogs. Truman is 13-13 in games where it makes more than its opponent.

Making a Splash from Downtown:
The Bulldogs have made at least one three-pointer in every game since Feb. 12, 2003, a stretch of 270 consecutive games.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs close the three-game road trip with a trek to Pittsburg (Kan.) State and Northeastern (Okla.) State next Thursday and Saturday. Truman and PSU will tipoff at 7:30 pm on Feb. 7, while the Bulldogs and NSU will meet for the second time this season at 3:30 pm on Feb. 9. NSU hit a last-second shot to win the Quincy Holiday Classic on Dec. 19, beating Truman 72-71.

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