Caitlin Staver

Men's Basketball 11/24/2015 9:40:00 AM Tyler Madsen, Athletics Communications

Men's Basketball Heads to Springfield for Weekend Classic

Truman Men's Basketball Notes (November 27-28, 2015)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TSUBulldogHoops || #BewareofDog

Game #5: Truman (3-1) vs. Union (Tenn.) (4-0)

When: Friday, November 27, 2015 || 1:00 p.m. (CST)
Where: Springfield, Mo. || O'Reilly Family Events Center
Audio: 104.7 FM KRES (Brad Boyer, Play-by- Play) || Online Feed
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media) || Live Video
Series Record: Never met.

Game #6: Truman vs. Cameron (Okla.) (2-2)

When: Saturday, November 28, 2015 || 1 p.m. (CST)
Where: Springfield, Mo. || O'Reilly Family Events Center
Audio: 104.7 FM KRES (Brad Boyer, Play-by- Play) || Online Feed
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media) || Live Video

Series Record: Truman leads, 1-0 (TSU leads 1-0 in neutral-site).
Last Meeting: Truman def. CU, 87-67, on Nov. 29, 2013, in Springfield, Mo.

Probable Starters

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG	2015-16 Notes
G	#11	Cole Myers	6'3"	195	SR	9.3	3.5	2.5	39% FG, 2.5 Ast/TO
G	#12	Cory Myers	6'3"	195	JR	13.8	4.8	3.8	67% FG, 10 steals
G	#22	Kyle Kanaskie	5'11"	180	JR	12.8	2.0	2.0	50% 3FG; 10-21 3FG
G	#30	Andrew Vander Zwaag	6'3"	200	SR	5.5	4.0	1.5	2 blocks; 100% FT
F	#32	Connor Erickson	6'8"	200	JR	12.3	3.3	1.0	53% FG, 6 steals

Off the Bench

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG	Extra Notes
G/F	#1	Nikola Pesic	6'5"	205	r-FR	3.3	4.3	1.0	15.5 MPG; 7 O-REB
G	#2	Jacob Socha	6'3"	170	SO	-	-	-	Redshirting 2015-16
G	#3	Brodric Thomas	6'4"	175	FR	-	-	-	Redshirting 2015-16
G	#4	Taurin Hughes	5'11"	185	r-FR	4.5	0.5	2.0	2 GP; 57% FG
G	#13	Zach Fischer	6'4"	195	SO	4.5	2.5	0.5	2 GP; 5-6 FT
G	#20	Jack Green	6'3"	180	r-FR	5.5	1.8	1.3	12.0 MPG; 39% FG
G	#24	Jake Velky	6'1"	175	FR	13.0	3.8	1.5	20.5 MPG; 9-14 3FG
F	#25	Connor Lusso	6'6"	225	SO	-	-	-	Redshirting 2015-16
F	#40	Billy Daniel	6'6"	215	JR	6.5	3.0	0.3	60% FG; 15.8 MPG
G	#45	Dwight Sistrunk, Jr.	5'11"	170	r-JR	-	-	-	Has not played

Staff

Head Coach: Chris Foster
Career Record: 23-11 || .676 || 2^nd season (all at Truman)
GLVC Record: 11-7 || .611 || 2^nd season

Assistant Coach: Mike Annese (1^st season)
Graduate Assistant Coach: Nik Koprivica (2^nd season)
Athletic Trainer: Morgan Locher (2^nd season)

Weekly Preview:
One last tune-up before the start of conference play awaits the Truman men's basketball team after the Thanksgiving holiday, as the Bulldogs travel to Springfield for two games at the Drury Thanksgiving Classic. Truman will face the Bulldogs of Union (Tenn.) at 1 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 27) before facing the Aggies of Cameron (Okla.) at 1 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 28). Both games will be played at the O'Reilly Family Events Center on the DU campus.

The Bulldogs picked up two victories last week, defeating Central Christian 102-52 in the team's home opener on Wednesday (Nov. 18) before going on the road to down Upper Iowa by an 84-80 score on Saturday (Nov. 21) night. The Bulldogs shot 51.6% from the floor in the two games and connected on 19 three-pointers. Five players averaged double-figures for the week, including freshman Jake Velky, who shot 71% overall from the floor and averaged 18.0 points per game. Junior Cory Myers averaged 14.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game while hitting 9-of-10 field goals.

Chris Foster is in his second season as the head coach of the Bulldogs and is in his third season with the program overall. He has a career record of 23-11 (.676).

Turkey and Basketball:
This marks the third straight season that the Bulldogs have competed in a Thanksgiving Classic, as Truman looks to stay perfect after a 4-0 mark through the past two seasons. In 2013, the Bulldogs went 2-0 at this same Drury tournament, defeating both Cameron and Northwest Missouri. Then, last season, Truman captured the Kentucky Wesleyan Classic crown with wins against both North Alabama and the host Panthers.

On an additional note, this is the third straight year that a school with the nickname "Panthers" has hosted a Thanksgiving tournament that Truman has attended.

GLV-"C"een at the Top:
The Truman program ranks amongst the GLVC's top-three in a variety of categories through the first two full weeks of the season, including ranking first in turnover margin (+6.5), second in three-pointers made (9.8/game), three-point defense (27.5%), and scoring defense (65.5 ppg allowed), and third in scoring margin (+20.8) and steals (9.5/game).

Individually of note, both Cory Myers and Cole Myers rank amongst the league's top-10 in steals, as Cory has the most overall in the conference with 10 (2.50/game), while Cole ranks ninth in the league with 1.75 per game.

Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):

#MBBHistory: This weekend marks the 2,210^th & 2,211^th all-time games. TSU has 1,133-1,076 record (.513) in 96^th season.
#80IsGravy: 'Dogs have won last 18 games when scoring at least 80 points (3-0 in 2015-16).
#UniWatch: Say hello to new purple uni's this year; 'Dogs are 2-0 in white's and 1-1 in purple's this yr. No gray sighting yet.

Scouting the Opponents:
Union (Tenn.) "Bulldogs" (4-0)

Members of the NCAA Div. II Gulf South Conference, Union is off to a 4-0 start this season with wins against Lemoyne-Owen, Spring Hill, Central Baptist, and Brewton-Parker.
The Bulldogs were picked third in the GSC preseason poll, and both SR G Marterrace Brock and JR G Ashanti Day were named preseason all-GSC picks.
UU is averaging 82.8 ppg this season and is shooting 40.7% overall from the floor. SR G Jordan Montgomery leads the team at 18.5 ppg and is shooting 65% (15-of-23) from 3FG range. Brock is right behind him at 18.3 ppg, while SR G Roy Bullock is averaging 13.8 ppg.
David Niven is in his seventh season at the helm of the UU program, with a career record of 117-74. Last year's squad went 20-11 overall (13-9 GSC) and reached the NCAA Div. II tournament – bowing out in the first round against Barry (Fla.).

Cameron (Okla.) "Aggies" (2-2)

Members of the NCAA Div. II Lone Star Conference, Cameron has started the season with a pair of split tournament weekends and will play twice (home vs. Dallas Christian on Nov. 24 and at Drury on Nov. 27) before facing Truman on Saturday.
The Aggies were picked sixth in the eight-team LSC preseason poll, which is where the squad finished last season after going 13-15 overall.
Three starters average in double-figures for CU, led by SR F Jamaal Brantley (14.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg). SR F Deondre Ray (13.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg), and FR G JV Long (11.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg) also spearhead the Aggie attack.
CU is averaging 80.0 ppg and shooting 50.4% from the field; however, the team shoots just 58.2% from the foul line and is allowing opponents to shoot nearly 36% from beyond the arc.
Nate Garnet is in his third season at the helm of the CU program, with a career record of 24-31.

New Men's Basketball Rules:
The NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee made more than 25 rules changes, most of which increase the pace of play, reduce the number of stoppages, and provide better balance between offense and defense.

Notable key rule changes for the 2015-16 season include:

Shot clock time reduced from 35 seconds to 30 seconds.
Timeouts:
- Reduction of 30-second timeouts from four to three, only two of which carry over to the second half.
- A 3-0 second timeout called within 30 seconds of a media timeout will become the media timeout.
- Coaches can only call timeouts during a dead ball situation.
The 10-second backcourt count resets except when:
- Defender causes the ball to go out of bounds;
- Offense retains possession on a held ball; or,
- A technical foul is called on the offensive team.
- Note: A charged timeout by the offensive team results in a new 10-second count.
Removed the five-second closely guarded count on a dribble.
Guarding in the post: Arm bar allowed in post area when offense has back to basket (with or without ball).
Airborne shooter charge plays – cannot score basket on a player-control foul.
Removed the prohibition against dunking the ball while the ball is dead; teams will be allowed to dunk during pre-game and halftime.
Reduced time to 15-seconds for replacing disqualified players.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will open conference play next weekend (Dec. 3-5) with a split trip against a new set of "pod" foes from the GLVC West division. Truman will host Rockhurst in Pershing Arena on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m. before visiting William Jewell in Liberty, Mo., on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 4 p.m. Both games can be viewed online for free on the GLVC Sports Network or can be heard online at http://www.centralmoinfo.com.

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Players Mentioned

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

#32 Connor Erickson: F; 6' 8"; Redshirt Junior

#13 Zach Fischer: G; 6' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore

#20 Jack Green: G; 6' 4"; Redshirt Freshman

#04 Taurin Hughes: G; 5' 11"; Redshirt Freshman

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

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

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

#12 Cory Myers: G; 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior

#01 Nikola Pesic: G/F; 6' 5"; Redshirt Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

#32 Connor Erickson
: 6' 8"; Redshirt Junior
: F

#13 Zach Fischer
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore
: G

#20 Jack Green
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

#04 Taurin Hughes
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

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

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

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

#12 Cory Myers
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior
: G

#01 Nikola Pesic
: 6' 5"; Redshirt Freshman
: G/F