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Men's Basketball 12/5/2014 9:13:00 AM Tyler Madsen, Athletics Communications

Men's Basketball Notes: Truman vs. Quincy (Dec. 6; 3 p.m.)

Truman Men's Basketball Game Notes (December 6, 2014)
PDF Notes | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics

Game #7: Truman (4-2, 0-0 GLVC) vs. Quincy (4-3, 0-0 GLVC)

Date: Saturday, December 6, 2014 (3 p.m.)
Location: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena

Series Record: Quincy leads, 59-54
Series Record in Kirksville: Truman leads, 37-23
Last Meeting: Feb. 27, 2014 || Truman won, 89-85 in Kirksville
Series Streak: Truman, W-3

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

Probable Starters

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG	Extra
G	#2	Seth Jackson	6'4"	210	SR	22.2	3.7	1.3	4 20+ pt gms (14-15)
G	#4	Reed Mells	5'11"	160	SR	14.2	4.0	3.7	29.5 min/gm; 12 stls
G	#22	Kyle Kanaskie	5'11"	180	SO	7.3	2.8	2.3	70% FG; 8 steals
C	#35	Patrick Burmester	6'9"	220	SR	4.3	3.7	0.3	23.3 min/gm; 3 blocks
F	#40	Billy Daniel	6'6"	200	SO	4.8	2.8	1.2	47% FG; 6 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	7.2	1.5	1.0	11 3FG (39%)
G	#5	Taurin Hughes	5'11"	185	FR	-	-	-	Possible redshirt in '15
G	#10	Hank Mathews	6'2"	190	r-FR	9.0	3.0	1.0	1 GP
G	#11	Cole Myers	6'3"	200	JR	6.0	2.5	1.8	8 steals; 70% FG
G	#12	Cory Myers	6'3"	195	r-SO	4.3	2.3	2.0	54% FG; 100% FT
G	#13	Zach Fischer	6'4"	180	r-FR	10.0	3.0	0.0	1 GP
G	#20	Jack Green	6'3"	170	FR	-	-	-	Possible redshirt in '15
C	#24	Kiefer Starbird	6'10"	210	SO	4.0	1.0	2.0	1 GP
F	#25	Connor Lusso	6'6"	220	r-FR	2.0	6.0	1.0	1 GP
G	#30	Andrew Vander Zwaag	6'3"	200	JR	5.7	2.7	0.5	8 3FG, 6 Off. Rebs.
F	#32	Connor Erickson	6'8"	200	SO	3.3	2.3	0.2	8 Off. Rebs; 9.3 min/g

Staff

Head Coach: Chris Foster
Career Record: 4-2 || .600 || 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 Locher (1^st season)

Opening Tip:
The 2014-15 conference season kicks off this Saturday for the Truman men's basketball team when the Bulldogs welcome long-time rival Quincy (Ill.) to Pershing Arena for a 3 p.m. tipoff. Both teams will be looking to get to 1-0 in league play before finals week, with conference action not resuming again until Friday, Jan. 2.

Last season, the Bulldogs earned a season sweep of the Hawks, with Truman winning 79-68 at Quincy on Dec. 7, before picking up an 89-85 home victory in the regular season finale on Feb. 27. It was the first time that the Bulldogs notched a season sweep of QU since the 2005 season, which, added to a 76-50 Bulldog win at the QU Holiday Classic in December 2012, tied the longest winning streak against the Hawks since that 2005 sweep was added to a win in December 2004. Truman has not won four straight against Quincy since a 4-0 stretch spread from Dec. 5, 1963 through Feb. 1, 1965.

Truman is currently in the midst of a three-game winning streak, having backed up its Kentucky Wesleyan tournament title from a weekend ago with a 109-44 thrashing of Lincoln Christian (Ill.) on Thursday night. All 13 Bulldogs that saw the floor ended up in the scorebook, as five different players set new career-highs in points. Seth Jackson led all players with 23 points in just 17 minutes of work, while Kyle Kanaskie's career-best six assists led Truman in putting 27 assists on 42 made baskets. The Bulldogs shot 63.6% from the floor in the game – including a blazing 76.7% in the first half – to finish just 0.5% behind the school record of 64.1%.

Jackson (22.2) and fellow senior guard Reed Mells (14.2) are the two Bulldog regulars who are averaging double-figures in points, with Mells' 4.0 rebounds per game leading all Bulldogs in that department. Truman is shooting 49.7% from the floor on the season and has dropped 50 three-pointers at a 37% rate.

The Bulldogs have handed out 89 assists to just 55 turnovers while forcing opponents into 95 miscues with just 45 assists.

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, and he is the 13^th head coach in program history.

Bulldog Tweetables:

With a win, Truman will raise the program's all-time record to 1,115-1,067. This is the 95^th season of Bulldog men's basketball.
Truman went 12-2 at home last season, going 7-2 in GLVC play and winning by an average of 9.1 ppg.
The Bulldogs held five of their nine GLVC home opponents to 70 or fewer points in 2013-14.
Truman is connecting at 73.2% (112-of-153) from the foul line, while opponents are shooting 70.4% (81-of-115) at the stripe.
The Bulldogs have been out-rebounded in five of six games so far, with the team holding a -4.8 margin on the glass.
On the flip side, the Bulldogs have been extra careful with the basketball this year, posting equal or fewer turnovers than their opponents in all six games.
Truman has a turnover margin of +6.7 on the season, while forcing 40 more turnovers than they've committed in 2014-15.
Seven different Bulldogs have hit multiple three-pointers this season, led by 11 from senior guard Isaac Gardner.

Scouting the Opponent:
Quincy will play its first true road game of the season on Saturday afternoon, as the Hawks are 4-3 overall with a 4-2 record at home and an 0-1 record at a neutral-site venue.

Like Truman, the Hawks have been in a position to win all of their games so far this year, with the team's three losses coming by two points (Grand Valley State), one point (Lindenwood), and six points in overtime (Central Missouri). However, QU has only defeated one Div. II opponent so far, with that coming in the team's season-opening 109-107 triple overtime home win against Ferris (Mich.) State.

Three QU players are averaging double-figures offensively, with Scottie Bruxvoort (13.0 ppg), Thomas Jackson (12.3 ppg) and Godson Eneogwe (11.6 ppg). Both Jackson and Eneogwe are in their first seasons with the program, having transferred in this past off-season.

The Hawks are shooting 49% from the floor but just 32% from three-point range and 66% from the charity stripe.

Marty Bell is in his 12^th season as the program's head basketball coach and his eighth as the program's athletic director with an overall record of 186-138.

Last Season vs. QU:
The Bulldogs won both games against QU last season, averaging 84 points per game and holding QU to 76.5 points on the defensive side. While Jackson (18.5 ppg) and Mells (9.5 ppg, 6.0 apg) helped lead the Bulldogs, both games were truly the Mike Carlson show, as last year's Bulldog all-American torched the Hawks to a tune of 38.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

Truman shot 55% from the floor against QU last year and hit 19 three-pointers in two games. In addition, the Bulldogs took care of the ball to a tune of just 16 total turnovers in 80 minutes of action.

Bulldog Hat Trick:
The current three-game winning streak for the Bulldogs has seen the team put up strong numbers on both ends of the court, as Truman has topped the 85-point mark in two of the games, while holding two of the opponents below 65 points on the defensive end. The Bulldogs have shot the ball at a 53% clip and have dropped 29 three-pointers at a 42% rate.

The Bulldogs' 65-point win against Lincoln Christian is the largest margin of victory by any GLVC program this season, with Truman topping Missouri S&T's 106-46 win against Ozark (Mo.) Christian on Dec. 1 with its Dec. 4 victory.

#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 four contests to a tune of 2-2. The Bulldogs are 2-0 in their white jerseys this season.

Jackson Pacing the GLVC:
Thanks to four 20+ point performances through the team's first six games of the season – five coming against NCAA Div. II opposition – senior guard Seth Jackson is leading the Great Lakes Valley Conference at 22.2 points per game. He is one of five players currently averaging at least 20 points per game, with the St. Louis-native currently edging out Cameron Vines from Saint Joseph's College (22.0 ppg).

Jackson also ranks ninth in the league in field goal percentage.

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 312 consecutive games.

Up Next:
Finals week is on the horizon for the Bulldog men, with the end-of-semester exams scheduled for this upcoming Monday through Friday. However, once those are in the books, Truman will take to the court again next Saturday (Dec. 13) when it hosts Central Christian (Mo.) at 6 p.m. in Pershing Arena.

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Players Mentioned

#05 Mike Carlson: F; 6' 9"; Senior

#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

Players Mentioned

#05 Mike Carlson
: 6' 9"; Senior
: F

#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