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Truman State University Athletics

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Men's Basketball Tyler Madsen, AMR Assistant Director

Game Notes: Men to Welcome Saints, Travel to Tritons

Truman Men's Basketball Game Notes (February 20-22, 2014)
Full Notes (PDF) | 2013-14 Schedule | 2013-14 Statistics
Game #24: Maryville (12-11, 6-9 GLVC) at Truman (18-5, 11-4 GLVC)
Date: Thursday, February 20, 2014 (7:30 PM CDT)
Location: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena
 
Series Streak: Truman W-1
Woodley vs. Maryville: 0-0
Record in Kirksville: Tied, 1-1
Last Truman Win in Kirksville: Dec. 3, 2003 – 83-69 (MU W-1)
 
Game #25: Truman at Missouri-St. Louis (13-10, 7-8 GLVC)
Date: Saturday, February 22, 2014 (7:30 PM CDT)
Location: St. Louis, Mo. || Mark Twain Building
 
Series Streak: Truman W-1
Woodley vs. Mo.-St. Louis: 1-0
Record in St. Louis: UMSL leads, 11-4
Last Truman Win in St. Louis: Feb. 4, 1995 – 85-76 (UMSL W-3)
 
Live Stat Links: THURS Regular/Mobile || SAT Regular/Mobile
Live Audio: 104.7 FM KRES (Moberly, Mo.); Brad Boyer (PBP), Hank Janssen (Color)
Live Video Links: THURS || SAT
Social Media: @TrumanAthletics || @TSUBulldogHoops || #TSUGameDay || #GLVCmbb
Projected Starters:
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG APG Extra
G #2 Seth Jackson 6'3" 200 JR 14.3 4.4 1.5 54% FG; 26 O-Reb
G #4 Reed Mells 5'11" 165 JR 11.8 4.1 5.5 3.23 Ast/TO Ratio
F #5 Mike Carlson 6'9" 200 SR 20.8 7.0 1.7 25 blocks; 44 3FG
G #11 Cole Myers 6'3" 190 SO 5.9 2.0 1.8 43% 3-pt; 20 stl
C #21 Marek Bush 6'6" 245 SR 3.9 3.8 0.5 71% FG, 23 O-Reb
 
Off the Bench:
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG APG Extra
G #3 Isaac Gardner 6'4" 205 SR 5.3 0.8 0.0 6 GP; 7 3FG
G #12 Cory Myers 6'3" 190 SO 6.3 1.8 1.5 4 GP; 4 steals
G #20 Dominic Kacich 6'3" 180 JR 2.7 1.1 0.8 46% FG; 4 stl
G #22 Kyle Kanaskie 5'11" 170 FR 6.2 3.0 2.1 16 steals; 88% FT
C #24 Kiefer Starbird 6'10" 200 r-FR 0.7 1.0 0.0 60% FG; 3 stl
G #30 Andrew Vander Zwaag 6'3" 185 r-SO 9.3 1.7 1.4 55 3FG; 12 stl
F #32 Connor Erickson 6'8" 190 r-FR 2.5 1.8 0.8 48% FG; 6 blocks
C #35 Patrick Burmester 6'9" 235 JR 1.5 1.9 0.5 9 Off. Rebs
F #40 Billy Daniel 6'6" 200 FR 2.6 1.4 0.5 50% FG; 9 blocks
 
2013-14 Redshirts:
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG APG Extra
G #10 Hank Mathews 6'2" 185 FR        
F #25 Connor Lusso 6'6" 210 FR        
 
Staff:
Head Coach: Matt Woodley
Career Record: 36-42 || .462 || 3rd season (all at Truman)
GLVC Record: 11-4 || .733 || 1st season

Associate Head Coach: Chris Foster (1st season)
Assistant Coach: Mike Annese (1st season)
Athletic Trainer: Nicole Buck (1st season)
Opening Tip:
The last two-game week of the 2013-14 regular season has reached the Truman men's basketball team, and the Bulldogs go in search of wins No. 19 and 20 with re-matches against Great Lakes Valley Conference pod-mates Maryville (Mo.) and Missouri-St. Louis this Thursday and Saturday.
 
The Bulldogs (18-5, 11-4 GLVC) face a split weekend of games, starting with a Thursday night game against Maryville (12-11, 6-9 GLVC) at 7:30 p.m. in Kirksville's Pershing Arena. Then, on Saturday, Truman hits the road for the final time in the regular season, trekking to Missouri-St. Louis (13-10, 7-8 GLVC) for a 7:30 p.m. game in UMSL's Mark Twain Building.
 
Truman is after season sweeps of both programs, as the Bulldogs dispatched UMSL 83-66 at home on Jan. 16 before holding off MU two days later in St. Louis by a 63-61 score. Currently, the Bulldogs are in a three-way tie for fourth in the overall GLVC standings and have nearly locked up second place in the GLVC West – leading UMSL by three games with just three to play.
 
The Bulldogs are coming off a 1-1 road trip to Indiana last weekend, as Truman came up one possession short at then- 5th-ranked Indianapolis, 75-73, on Feb. 13, before rebounding with an 83-74 win at Saint Joseph's on Feb. 15. Both senior Mike Carlson and junior Seth Jackson averaged more than 21 points per game, while junior Reed Mells averaged 10.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game. The Bulldogs shot 51% from the floor against the two Hoosier State schools but went just 67% from the foul line.
 
Head coach Matt Woodley is in his third season at the helm of the Bulldog program, having posted a 36-42 record during his time in Kirksville. The team's 18 wins this season have already matched the combined win total from Woodley's first two seasons.
 
K-9 Checkup:
  • Truman is averaging 80.6 points per game on the season (9th in GLVC) and is allowing just 69.4 on the defensive end (3rd in GLVC) for a +11.2 scoring margin (4th in GLVC). In GLVC-only games, the Bulldogs have a +4.4 scoring margin (78.3 – 73.9), ranking seventh-best in the league.
  • The Bulldogs are shooting 49.0% from the floor as a team, including a 37.6% mark from three-point range. In addition, the Bulldogs rank fifth in the GLVC in free throw shooting, checking in at 75.1% on the year.
  • Truman has taken care of the basketball to a nationally-recognized tune this season, ranking ninth out of 291 Div. II teams with a mere 9.7 turnovers per game. The Bulldogs continue to lead the GLVC, and rank fifth in Div. II, with a 1.67 assist-to-turnover ratio.
  • The 15 three-pointers Truman made against Iowa Wesleyan on Dec. 16 marked the second-most in program history, tying three other games with that total. The all-time record is 16, set on Jan. 7, 2002 at Central Missouri.
  • The Bulldogs have also put three new single-game free throw marks in the record book this season, including an 11-for-11 (100%) line against UMSL on Jan. 16 – matching two other perfect marks in program history (last: 2007). Truman also has a .964 (27-for-28) effort (UIS; Jan. 9) that is fourth-best all-time, while Mike Carlson's 19-of-20 effort that night also set a new Pershing Arena single-game best and marked the second-most by an individual in both columns in Truman history.
 
Top 'Dogs:
  • Through games of February 16, the Bulldogs are the nation's No. 5-ranked team in assist-to-turnover ratio. Truman also sits amongst the Div. II top-10% in scoring margin (26th) and assists per game (28th).
  • On an individual level, junior guard Reed Mells fell to No. 10 nationally this week in assist-to-turnover ratio, as he now sits at 3.23-to-1. The Missouri Western transfer also ranks 30th nationally in assists per game.
  • Senior forward Mike Carlson sits 26th in Div. II points per game (20.8) and 79th in field goal percentage (55.8%). He also is in the GLVC top-10 in scoring (3rd), free throw percentage (8th), and blocks (10th), while ranking 11th in rebounding.
  • Sophomore guard Cole Myers is the 9th-best three-point shooter by percentage in the GLVC, checking in at 43.4% on the season. Fellow sophomore Andrew Vander Zwaag is sixth in the GLVC in three-pointers made per game at 2.4, while sitting 10th in three-point percentage (42.6%).

Carlson Among GLVC's Elite:
In addition to Mike Carlson's aforementioned season-long statistics in previous sections, the Wisconsin-native has been one of the conference's best in GLVC-only contests this season. Through 15 league games for all 16 GLVC teams, Carlson ranks second in scoring at 21.9 per game, sixth in rebounding at 7.7 per game and 11th in three-pointers made at 2.07 per game.
 
The senior also moved into the program's all-time top-10 in career scoring last weekend, surpassing Dan Storck and Brian Brown to now sit with 1,230 points in two-plus seasons at Truman. Next in his sight is Justin Matthews, currently ninth all-time with 1,283 career points.
 
Logging the Miles:
With Truman running what has been mostly a seven- or eight-man rotation since mid-January, many Bulldogs have been forced to play ample minutes throughout much of conference play.

Reed Mells is tied for the most minutes played in GLVC-only games (36.1), while Mike Carlson ranks seventh in GLVC-only contests at 34.0 minutes per game. Five different 'Dogs are at 25 minutes or more per game, with two others checking in between 18 and 21 per night.
 
Speaking of Milestones…:
Junior guard Seth Jackson is also making a move up the career scoring charts, as the St. Louis-native needs just 33 more points to become the 27th member of Truman's 1,000-point club. He has a career scoring average of 12.7 ppg and is a career 47% shooter from the floor. This season, he is averaging 14.3 ppg (15.7 in GLVC-only games) and is shooting 54% overall.
 
Knocking Down Freebies:
For the year, the Bulldogs are hitting 75.1% of their free throw chances and are on pace to topple the current single-season program record. The top placeholder at the moment is 73.4%, set by the 1999-00 squad.
 
Letting It Fly:
This year's Bulldog team has made 193 three-pointers through 23 games, putting it on pace to make a significant climb in the all-time single-season top-10 chart. The 2014 edition of Truman basketball already is up to eighth-most in a single-season and continues to sit on the outside range of reaching the top single-season mark of 246.
 
The first two seasons under Woodley have resulted in 205 made (2011-12) and 201 made (2012-13) three-pointers.
 
The Bulldogs have also made at least one three-pointer in every game since Feb. 12, 2003, a stretch of 302 consecutive games.
 
Postseason (GLVC/NCAA) Outlook:
Seven tickets have now been punched to the 2013-14 Deaconess GLVC men's basketball tournament, with Truman being joined by Drury (14-1), Indianapolis (13-2), UW-Parkside (12-3), Lewis (11-4), Southern Indiana (11-4), and Bellarmine (10-5) as squads guaranteed at least one more game after the regular season concludes next Thursday night.
 
The top-12 teams – regardless of division – qualify for the postseason tournament, with the overall winner earning the league's automatic berth into the 2014 NCAA Div. II Midwest regional. The top-4 seeds (each division winner plus the next two teams via win percentage) earn first-round byes and automatically advance to Evansville, Ind., for quarterfinal play at the Ford Center, while seeds 5-8 host a first-round game on Sunday, March 2 against seeds 9-12.
 
Truman currently sits in a tie for fourth in the league with Lewis and USI, with that trio trailing 3rd-place UWP by one game. The Bulldogs have already clinched – at minimum – a first-round home game and top-8 seed.
 
In addition, fans will be on the lookout this week for the first NCAA regional poll, which debuts on Wednesday (Feb. 19) afternoon. The first (of three) regional polls (also: Feb. 26 & March 5) will outline the top-10 teams in the region, with the top-8 receiving a tournament berth come the selection show on March 9.
 
As a reminder, the Bulldogs were picked to finish fifth in the GLVC West division in the preseason coaches' poll.
 
Scouting the Saints:
MU comes to Pershing Arena on Thursday night having just completed a three-game in five-day road stretch, as the Saints lost at both Southern Indiana (64-61) and Bellarmine (76-72) before holding off McKendree (75-72) in a makeup game from early January on Monday night. The Saints are currently fifth in the GLVC West and 10th in the league's combined standings entering the week.
 
Guards Asa Toney (15.0 ppg, 4.7 apg) and Armon Provo (15.5 ppg, 43.6% 3-pt) lead the Saints offensively but were limited to just 19 combined points in the first meeting between the teams this season. Myles Jerrett scored 14 points and added seven rebounds for MU, while Mike Carlson led the Bulldogs with 21 points in Truman's 63-61 win on Jan. 18.
 
Kevin Carroll is in his fourth season at the helm of the MU program, having compiled a 55-54 record at the school.
 
Scouting the Tritons:
Like Maryville, UMSL checks into this week's play riding a three-game losing streak, having fallen by double-digits against UIndy, at USI, and at BU in its last three outings. The team is markedly better at home than on the road this year, posting 10 wins in 13 games at home compared to just a 2-7 road record. UMSL is currently third in the GLVC West and eighth in the league's combined standings and will visit Quincy on Thursday night.
 
Three Tritons average double-figures offensively, led by Tylor Wimbish's 14.0 ppg and 61% field goal line. Femi John checks in at 12.7 ppg, while Darian Cartharn has drained 52 triples on the season en route to 10.2 ppg. Earlier this season, Wimbish led UMSL with 15 points, but the Bulldogs used a 32-10 start to never look back on the way to an 83-66 home win on Jan. 16. Mike Carlson dropped 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Reed Mells scored 10 points and handed out 10 assists alongside zero turnovers.
 
Bob Sundvold is in his ninth season as a collegiate head coach and first at the helm of the UMSL program. He has a career 137-118 record with previous stops as an assistant at Missouri, Missouri State, Iowa State, Toledo, and Eastern Illinois, along with head coaching experience at Central Missouri, UMKC, Toledo, and the ABA's Kansas City Knights.
 
Up Next:
The Bulldogs close out the 2013-14 regular season with a home tilt against long-time arch-rival Quincy on Thursday, Feb. 27. Tipoff against the Hawks in Pershing Arena is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
Truman is also in line to potentially host a first-round GLVC tournament game on Sunday, March 2. Game time is yet to be determined for that afternoon.
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