Men's Basketball | 12/1/2015 10:15:00 AM
Game #7
Truman (4-2, 0-0 GLVC West)
vs. Rockhurst (3-2, 0-0 GLVC West)
When: Thursday, December 3, 2015 || 7:30 p.m. (CST)
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || Pershing Arena
Audio: 104.7 FM KRES (Brad Boyer) || Online Feed
Live Stats || Live Stats (Media) || Live Video
Series Record: Truman leads, 21-13.
Series Record in Kirksville: Truman leads, 12-4.
Series Record since Truman Joined the GLVC: Truman leads, 2-0.
Probable Starters
Off the Bench
Redshirting
Staff
Head Coach: Chris Foster
Career Record: 24-12 || .667 || 2nd season (all at Truman)
GLVC Record: 11-7 || .611 || 2nd season
Assistant Coach: Mike Annese (1st season)
Graduate Assistant Coach: Nik Koprivica (2nd season)
Athletic Trainer: Morgan Locher (2nd season)
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - With the calendar turn to December, the Truman men's basketball team sets its sights on Great Lakes Valley Conference play, as the Bulldogs kick off the 2015-16 league slate on Thursday (Dec. 3) night by hosting Rockhurst at 7:30 p.m. in Pershing Arena.
The Bulldogs – off to a GLVC West-best 4-2 start to the 2015-16 season – will host a Rockhurst squad that is also off to a solid start this year, having posted wins in three of its first five games to enter at 3-2 overall. Truman will close the weekend with a trip to Liberty, Mo., to face William Jewell – who opens at Quincy on Thursday night – on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Thursday night marks the 35th all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and Hawks, with Truman holding a 21-13 edge. The Bulldogs hold a 12-4 advantage in games played in Kirksville and are 2-0 against the Hawks since joining the GLVC in the 2013-14 season. Truman picked up an 88-71 victory in Kansas City on Jan. 23, 2014, before beating the Hawks by a 89-65 score last season on Jan. 24, 2015, in Pershing Arena.
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 24-12 (.667) and was a former standout guard at the University of Northern Iowa, where he ranks among the program's top-10 in games played, assists, and three-pointers. Foster was a member of the 2003 and 2004 NCAA Div. I tournament squads.
About the Bulldogs:
Truman's 4-2 start this season has been backed by one of the stronger non-conference slates played by most NCAA Div. II teams, as five of the six contests have been against regional Div. II opposition. The Bulldogs have gotten it done by posting the GLVC's top turnover margin at +5.2, while also ranking in the top-three league-wide in three-pointers made per game (9.2), three-point defense (30.4%), and steals per game (8.3).
The Bulldogs are averaging 81.3 points per game while giving up just 71.8, for a scoring margin of +9.5. Truman is shooting 47.5% from the floor and 75.9% from the foul line but continue to look to bring up its three-point shooting, which checks into Thursday night at just 33.1%.
Four players – including three starters – are averaging double-figures on the offensive end, led by a trio of juniors – Cory Myers (14.8 ppg), Kyle Kanaskie (12.5 ppg), and Connor Erickson (11.3 ppg). Freshman Jake Velky has come off the bench to average 10.5 ppg, while the Bulldogs' two senior starters – Cole Myers and Andrew Vander Zwaag – are hovering near that 10 ppg mark at 9.7 and 7.3, respectively.
Thursday night marks just the second home game for the Bulldogs this season, with Truman sitting at 1-0 after a 102-52 drubbing of Central Christian College of the Bible on November 18.
Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):- #MBBHistory: Thursday marks the 2,212th all-time game. TSU has 1,134-1,077 record (.513) in 96th season.
- #80IsGravy: 'Dogs have won last 19 games when scoring at least 80 points (4-0 in 2015-16).
- #UniWatch: Say hello to new purple uni's this year; 'Dogs are 3-1 in white's and 1-1 in purple's this yr. No gray sighting yet.
- #GottaGetUp: Under HC Foster, Truman is 22-2 when leading at the half. Team just 2-10 when tied/trailing at break.
- #WinTheGlass: The Bulldogs are 2-0 this year (13-0 in last two seasons combined) when they out-rebound opponents.
- #DeckTheHalls: Truman looking to continue perfect December record under HC Foster, having gone 6-0 in 12th month last year.
Lifting the League Lid:
The Bulldogs have won three straight conference-openers, dating back to its final season as members of the MIAA in 2012-13, as Truman earned a win against Missouri Western before picking up back-to-back victories to start league play against Quincy in both 2013-14 and 2014-15.
Hank's History Book – December 3:- December 3, 2011 – Then-freshman Seth Jackson scored 17 points and added 10 rebounds, as Truman earned its first conference win for Matt Woodley in a 66-57 home win against Pittsburg State.
- December 3, 2005 – The Bulldogs went to 5-1 with a 62-53 win at Lincoln, getting 14 points from Chip Sodemann and an 11-point, 6-assist game from Derek Lindsey.
- December 3, 1946 – The first Dec. 3 game in program history, as Truman defeated Chillicothe Business 74-29 in just the second game under the tenure of head coach Boyd King. That year's squad finished 30-2.
Scouting the Hawks (3-2, 0-0 GLVC):- The Hawks are coming off a 7-19 season in 2014-15, finishing seventh in the GLVC West with a conference mark of 3-15.
- This season, after being picked eighth in the GLVC West preseason coaches' poll, RU has earned wins against MIAA members Washburn (75-51) and Missouri Southern (80-73), with losses coming at both Central Missouri (77-71) and Newman (92-64).
- The Hawks have gotten it done defensively, boasting the GLVC's top field goal defense (39.1%) and No. 2 scoring defense (66.2), while also ranking fourth in rebounding margin at +3.8.
- 5-foot-8 junior guard Malachi Nix – a transfer from Div. I Fairleigh Dickinson – leads the team at 16.0 ppg and 4.6 apg, while 6-foot-3 freshman guard Austin Levan ranks second on the team at 13.0 ppg.
- 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Austin Hagan is the GLVC leader in field goal percentage (75.9%), while 6-foot-5 junior forward Adam Fatkin is third in GLVC shooting at 64.0%.
- Drew Diener is in his first season as the program's head coach, having previously served a six-year stint at Cardinal Stritch – an NCAA Div. III program – located in Milwaukee, Wis. He went 168-43 at CSU.
"Three"sy-Peesy:
After last season's record-breaking three-point barrage setting a new single-season program standard at 288, this year's team is off to a strong start again, with 55 triples made through the first six contests. At this pace, the 2015-16 edition of Bulldog basketball would finish with 257 through the 28 regular season contests.
Truman has seen sustained success from distance throughout program history, with the Bulldogs having made at least one three-pointer in every game since Feb. 12, 2003 – a stretch of 341 consecutive games.
Four Peas in a GLVC Pod:
For the 2015-16 season, the GLVC will again be invoking a "pod" system for basketball scheduling, resulting in 18 league matches for all 16 of the conference's schools. While all 16 teams will fall under the East and West divisional standings with no delineation between pods, Truman will play Quincy, Rockhurst, and William Jewell twice each as part of one four-team grouping.
Drury, Missouri S&T, Maryville, and Missouri-St. Louis will link together as the second West division pod, while the quartets of Bellarmine—Illinois Springfield—McKendree—Southern Indiana and Indianapolis—Lewis—Saint Joseph's—Wisconsin-Parkside will comprise the two East division groupings.
At the end of the season, the top 12 teams will compete for the GLVC men's basketball championship. First-round games between seeds 5-12 will be played on Sunday, February 28, with the top-4 seed and first-round winners advancing once again to Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., for the remainder of the tournament the next weekend.
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.
