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Men's Basketball 11/25/2014 1:27:00 PM Tyler Madsen, Athletics Communications

Men's Basketball Notes: Bulldogs Head to KWC Thanksgiving Classic

Truman Men's Basketball Game Notes (November 28-29, 2014)
PDF Notes | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics

Game #4: Truman (1-2) vs. North Alabama (3-1)

Date: Friday, November 28, 2014 (1 p.m.)
Location: Owensboro, Ky. || Owensboro SportsCenter

Series Record: UNA leads, 2-0.
Last Meeting: Nov. 17, 1989 || UNA won, 80-58 in Florence, Ala.
Series Streak: UNA, W-2
Foster vs. North Alabama: 0-0

Media Links: Live Stats || Live Audio
Social Media: @TrumanAthletics || @TSUBulldogHoops || #TSUGameDay

Probable Starters

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG	Extra
G	#2	Seth Jackson	6'3"	215	SR	21.7	4.3	1.3	C-H 29 pts at NSU
G	#4	Reed Mells	5'11"	160	SR	18.0	5.3	3.3	44% FG, 5 steals
G	#22	Kyle Kanaskie	5'11"	180	SO	4.0	2.7	1.7	57% FG, 27.0 min/gm
C	#35	Patrick Burmester	6'9"	220	SR	5.7	3.3	0.0	7-8 FT, 3 stl, 2 blocks
F	#40	Billy Daniel	6'6"	200	SO	4.0	2.3	1.3	50% FG, 4 O-Reb

Off the Bench

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG	Extra
G/F	#1	Nikola Pesic	6'5"	190	FR	-	-	-	Possible redshirt in '15
G	#3	Isaac Gardner	6'4"	195	r-SR	5.7	1.3	0.7	5 3FG (39%), 11.3 m/g
G	#5	Taurin Hughes	5'11"	185	FR	-	-	-	Possible redshirt in '15
G	#10	Hank Mathews	6'2"	190	r-FR	0.0	0.0	0.0	1 GP, 1 minute
G	#11	Cole Myers	6'3"	200	JR	7.0	2.7	0.7	5 steals, 73% FG
G	#12	Cory Myers	6'3"	195	r-SO	4.7	3.3	2.3	67% FG, 100% FT
G	#13	Zach Fischer	6'4"	180	r-FR	-	-	-	0 GP
G	#20	Jack Green	6'3"	170	FR	-	-	-	Possible redshirt in '15
C	#24	Kiefer Starbird	6'10"	210	SO	-	-	-	0 GP
F	#25	Connor Lusso	6'6"	220	r-FR	-	-	-	0 GP
G	#30	Andrew Vander Zwaag	6'3"	200	JR	4.0	4.3	0.7	4 O-Reb, 2 steals
F	#32	Connor Erickson	6'8"	200	SO	2.0	2.0	0.3	40% FG, 4 O-Reb

Staff

Head Coach: Chris Foster
Career Record: 1-2 || .333 || 1^st season (all at Truman)
GLVC Record: 0-0 || .000 || 1^st season

Assistant Coach: Joe Barrer (1^st season)
Graduate Assistant Coach: Nik Koprivica (1^st season)
Athletic Trainer: Morgan Loscher (1^st season)

Opening Tip:
The Truman men's basketball team will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday in Owensboro, Ky., this weekend, as the Bulldogs compete in the four-team Kentucky Wesleyan Holiday Classic on Friday and Saturday. Truman opens with North Alabama on Friday at 1 p.m. and will then face either Grand Valley (Mich.) State or host KWC on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs are coming off back-to-back one possession road defeats – both by the same 76-74 score – to sit at 1-2 overall on the season. Truman was poised to pick up a giant road victory at Northern (S.D.) State on Sunday, but a buzzer-beating contested three-pointer by the host Wolves tied the game at the end of regulation before NSU hit a winning lay-up with two seconds left in overtime to escape with the win. Seth Jackson scored a career-high 29 points in the loss, while Reed Mells added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Truman's roster this season features 17 players, including 11 guards, four forwards, and two centers. Seniors Isaac Gardner and Patrick Burmester, junior Andrew Vander Zwaag, twin brothers Cole Myers (junior) and Cory Myers (redshirt sophomore), and sophomore Kyle Kanaskie join Jackson and Mells as veteran returners for the purple and white.

Head coach Chris Foster is in his first season as the program's leader, having shifted over one seat after serving as the team's associate head coach last year under then-head coach Matt Woodley. This is Foster's first season as a collegiate head coach.

K-9 Checkup:

The Bulldogs will be playing their second neutral-site game of the season on Friday afternoon and are 1-0 so far this year in those games.
Truman is 0-2 in true road games this season after going 5-4 on the road in 2013-14.
The Bulldogs are shooting 46.4% from the floor this year, including 31.3% (21-of-67) from three-point range. Opponents are shooting 40.6% overall, including 36.0% (18-of-50) from three-point range.
Truman is connecting at 67.1% (55-of-82) from the foul line, while opponents are shooting 68.7% (57-of-83) at the stripe.
The Bulldogs have been out-rebounded in all three games so far, with the team holding a -7.0 margin on the glass.
Seven different Bulldogs have hit multiple three-pointers this season, led by five from senior guard Isaac Gardner.

Scouting This Weekend's Opponents:
On Friday, the Bulldogs will face North Alabama, an NCAA tournament team from a year ago that won 23 games. The Lions returned just one starter from last year's squad but replenished by hitting the junior college route – adding three JC transfers during the offseason.

This year, UNA is off to a 3-1 start, having split against Sunshine State Conference teams Tampa (W 88-87) and Saint Leo (L 83-71) before defeating two non-Div. II programs at home last week. The team has featured some high-scoring games, as UNA is averaging 84.3 ppg while allowing 82.0, and is led offensively with five players averaging double-figures. Jere Vucica (16.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg) is the team's scoring leader, while Marcus Landry is averaging nearly a double-double at 10.5 ppg and 9.3 rpg.

Bobby Champagne is in his 11^th season at the helm of the UNA program, having led the team to four NCAA tournament appearances and a 190-138 overall record.

Truman will then face either the corresponding winner or loser from Friday's other semifinal, either Grand Valley State or Kentucky Wesleyan in the championship (3:15 p.m.) or third-place (1 p.m.) game on Saturday.

GVSU is 2-1 through its first three games this season, having split against two GLVC programs on opening weekend at the Quincy Microtel Challenge (L 58-53 vs. UMSL; W 69-67 vs. QU) before defeating Cedarville (Ohio) by a 71-56 score at home last Saturday. The Laker offense has run predominantly through two players early on – Ryan Sabin (13.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and Ricardo Carbajal (13.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg). Ric Wesley is in his 11^th season at the helm of the GVSU program, having compiled a 226-78 overall record at the school.

KWC – a former member of the GLVC – has opened the 2014-15 campaign at 2-2 overall, with wins against Tiffin (Ohio) (83-66) and Wayne (Mich.) State (73-59) and losses to Northwood (Mich.) (73-72) and Lake Superior (Mich.) State (69-65). The Panthers will host Lane (Tenn.) on Tuesday night prior to the KWC Classic this weekend. Five different players are averaging nine points per game or more, led by Ken-Jah Bosley's 15.5 ppg and Devin Langford's 10.5 ppg. The KWC roster features six players who once played Div. I basketball, including Langford who competed at the Univ. of Illinois. Happy Osborne is in his second season at the helm of the KWC program, having led the Panthers to a 22-9 record in his first season last year.

#UniWatch:
The Bulldogs added a third jersey to their uniform arsenal this season, picking up an anthracite-gray to go along with the team's traditional purple and white choices. The full game notes will be tracking the team's record in each color this year, with the gray being the jersey of choice so far in all three contests.

Jackson, Mells Set New Career-Bests:
It's been a strong start to the 2014-15 season for two of Truman's returning senior guards, as both Seth Jackson and Reed Mells have set new career-highs in scoring throughout the first three games of the year.

Mells opened his senior season with a new personal-best of 25 points against Lake Superior State, before Jackson went for 27 points against Trevecca Nazarene in game two. He then wasted no time breaking that new career-best, as the St. Louis-native scored 29 points in 39 minutes at Northern State last Sunday.

And I Would Walk 500 … or, 3,000 Miles:
The Bulldogs have faced a brutal travel schedule to open the 2014-15 regular season, as Truman will put more than 3,000 miles on the tires traveling to Nashville, Tenn., Aberdeen, S.D., and Owensboro, Ky.

Truman will come home for the first time on Thursday, Dec. 4, to face Lincoln Christian (Ill.) College.

GLVC Preseason Poll Released:
The Bulldog men's basketball program was picked fourth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division preseason coaches' poll, announced on Oct. 29 by the league office.

Truman garnered 77 points to check in two points back of West No. 3 Quincy. Drury picked up all 15 possible first-place votes (coaches could not vote for their own team) to lead all teams with 120 points, followed by West No. 2 Missouri-St. Louis at 95 points.

The Bulldogs were followed by Maryville (72 points), William Jewell (53 points), Missouri S&T (42 points), and Rockhurst (30 points) in the West Division.

Meanwhile, Bellarmine took home the top spot in what's predicted to be a highly-competitive East Division with six first-place votes and 102 total points, followed by Lewis (96 points, five first-place votes), Indianapolis (93 points, three first-place votes), and Wisconsin-Parkside (90 points, two first-place votes). Southern Indiana (79 points) sits a clear-cut fifth, followed by a tight cluster of Illinois Springfield (39 points), Saint Joseph's (36 points), and McKendree (33 points) to round out the poll.

A Whole New Venue:
The Great Lakes Valley Conference's 20 league championships sites have been determined for the 2014-15 season, with the most notable change to the GLVC Championship schedule coming in basketball.

The 2015 GLVC Men's and Women's Basketball Championship Tournament will enter into its first of a two-year agreement with the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., just minutes outside St. Louis. The league's premiere event had been held the past two years at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, but a two-year schedule conflict with the venue required the GLVC to relocate. The 2015 event will begin with first-round competition on campus sites on March 1, with eight quarterfinalists on both the men's and women's side advancing to Family Arena for tournament action, March 5-8. Tickets for the 2015 GLVC Men's and Women's Basketball Championship Tournament are expected to go on sale in late November.

Found: 20 Wins!:
Last year's Bulldog team became the first to win 20 games since the 2005-06 team capped its season with a 20-9 record. Only five previous Bulldog teams – 1946-47 (30-2), 1947-48 (29-2), 1978-79 (20-9), 1998-99 (26-7), 2005-06 (20-9) – reached the 20-win mark in a season.

In addition, the Bulldogs' 13 conference wins last season set a new program record, as only two other Bulldog teams reached the dozen win mark during their respective conference slates.

Letting It Fly:
Last year's Bulldog team made 233 three-pointers through 27 games, marking the second-most all-time on the single season chart. That number has topped 200 each of the last three seasons, beginning with 205 in 2011-12 and 201 in 2012-13.

The Bulldogs have also made at least one three-pointer in every game since Feb. 12, 2003, a stretch of 309 consecutive games.

Up Next:
After spending the month of November covering nearly every side of the Midwest, the Bulldogs return home for eight straight regular season home games in December and early January – beginning on Dec. 4 against Lincoln Christian (Ill.) College. Tipoff against the Red Lions is set for 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#35 Patrick Burmester: C; 6' 9"; Senior

#40 Billy Daniel: F; 6' 6"; Sophomore

#32 Connor Erickson: F; 6' 8"; Sophomore

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

#02 Seth Jackson: G; 6' 4"; Senior

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

#25 Connor Lusso: F; 6' 6"; Redshirt Freshman

#10 Hank Mathews: G; 6' 2"; Redshirt Freshman

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

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

Players Mentioned

#35 Patrick Burmester
: 6' 9"; Senior
: C

#40 Billy Daniel
: 6' 6"; Sophomore
: F

#32 Connor Erickson
: 6' 8"; Sophomore
: F

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

#02 Seth Jackson
: 6' 4"; Senior
: G

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

#25 Connor Lusso
: 6' 6"; Redshirt Freshman
: F

#10 Hank Mathews
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

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

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