Men's Basketball Notes: Truman at #9 Bellarmine (Jan. 14; 7 p.m.)

Truman Men's Basketball Notes (January 14, 2016)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TSUBulldogHoops || #BewareofDog

Printable Game Notes (PDF)

Game #16: Truman (12-3, 4-1 GLVC) at #9 Bellarmine (11-2, 4-0 GLVC)

When: Thursday, January 14, 2016 || 7 p.m. (CST)
Where: Louisville, Ky. || Knights Hall
Audio: 104.7 FM KRES (Brad Boyer, Play-by- Play; Hank Janssen, Analyst) || Online Feed
Live Stats || Live Stats (Mobile) || Live Video

Series Record: Truman leads, 2-1
Series Record in Louisville: Bellarmine leads, 1-0
Series Record Since Truman Joined GLVC: Series tied, 1-1

Last Meeting: February 5, 2015 || #5 Bellarmine won 89-73 (Louisville, Ky.)
Last TSU Win vs. BU: February 8, 2014 || Truman won 92-90 (Kirksville, Mo.)
Series Streak: Bellarmine- W1

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - The top of the Great Lakes Valley Conference West meets the top of the Great Lakes Valley Conference East this Thursday night, as division co-leaders Truman and Bellarmine square off in Louisville, Ky., for a 7 p.m. (CST) tussle in BU's Knights Hall.

The Bulldogs (12-3, 4-1 GLVC West) and 9^th-ranked Knights (11-2, 4-0 GLVC East) each come into Thursday night's affair riding eight-game winning streaks, as Truman earned conference wins Nos. 3 and 4 last Thursday and Saturday with home drubbings of both McKendree and Illinois Springfield. Meanwhile, Bellarmine is coming home after a road trip to the west side of the GLVC footprint, having picked up victories at William Jewell and Rockhurst last weekend as well.

Thursday night's showdown will be the fourth all-time between the two squads, as Truman owns a 2-1 lead in the all-time series. The schools have split their two GLVC-sanctioned bouts, with the Bulldogs winning 92-90 on a Reed Mells buzzer-beater in Pershing Arena on Feb. 8, 2014, before the Knights bested the 'Dogs by an 89-73 score in Louisville last season. The change in pod-scheduling this season resulted in a repeat trip to the Derby City, with Bellarmine slated to make a Kirksville return in the 2016-17 season.

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 32-13 (.711) 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 UNI's 2003 and 2004 NCAA Div. I tournament squads. He is assisted by Mike Annese, who returned to the program this season after a one-year stint at Minnesota-Crookston, and graduate assistant Nik Koprivica.

About the Bulldogs:
Truman, whose current eight-game winning streak matches last year's season-long, is tied atop the GLVC West divisional standings with Quincy, as both the Bulldogs and Hawks are 4-1 through five of the 18 league games. The Bulldogs' 12 wins mark the most of any GLVC West squad and are tied for the most by any GLVC team this season (Southern Indiana; 12-2).

Overall on the season, the Bulldogs are shooting 48.2% from the floor, which includes a 35.9% mark from three-point range. Truman is shooting 69.3% from the foul line and has forced nearly 100 more turnovers (249-154) than it has committed.

In what may be one of the most balanced squads in the country, Truman has five players averaging double-figures, with two others adding at least eight points per contest. Junior guard Cory Myers has been the go-to for the Bulldogs this season, as the Ankeny, Iowa-native leads the team in scoring (12.5 ppg), rebounding (4.7 per game), assists (4.1 per game), steals (35), and minutes per game (29.6). Two other junior starters – forward Connor Erickson and guard Kyle Kanaskie – check in right behind him at 12.3 and 11.8 ppg respectively, while two seniors – guards Cole Myers and Andrew Vander Zwaag – are averaging 10.8 and 10.4 ppg.

Truman also continues to creep up many of the conference's team rankings; however, the Bulldogs maintained (and expanded) their dominance in both turnover margin and assist-to-turnover ratio through last week's games. Truman's +6.33 turnover margin is nearly double that of second-best Missouri S&T (+3.57), while the team's assist-to-turnover ratio (1.55) is .14 better than Missouri-St. Louis' second-place 1.41.

The Bulldogs also now lead the GLVC in three-point field goals (9.7 per game) and steals per game (9.5), while also ranking in the top-25% in scoring offense, scoring margin (+12.8), and scoring defense (72.1).

Thursday's Three Keys:

Weather the Storm: Knights Hall has been one of the toughest venues for opposing teams in NCAA Div. II, as Bellarmine has an 81-5 record at home since the start of the 2010-11 season. The Knights are 8-0 at home this season.
Raise the Tempo: The Bulldogs are averaging 74.0 possessions per game (1.15 points per possession), while the Knights are going at a slower pace of 67.6 (1.17 pts/poss). The teams are similar (0.97 vs. 0.98) in defensive efficiency as well, so if Truman can quicken the pace, it could be in their favor.
Hit From Deep: Truman is the GLVC-leader in three-pointers per game, with the team's 3-pt percentage rising drastically in the last six games (31.3% in first nine; 43.0% in last six). BU defends the arc at 32.9% (7^th-best in GLVC).

Scouting the Knights:

The 9^th-ranked Knights check into Thursday night at 11-2 overall (4-0 GLVC) and are one of three teams (Southern Indiana, No. 20 Indianapolis) still unbeaten in GLVC play.
BU leads the GLVC in three major categories – field goal percentage (50.7%), field goal percentage defense (40.6%), and scoring defense (66.5 ppg).
Rusty Troutman (#5, 6'5", JR) is the team's offensive leader, averaging 20.0 points per game (No. 3 in GLVC). He is shooting nearly 60% from the floor and has made 25 three-pointers at a 48% clip. He is also an 80.2% foul shooter.
Yasin Kolo (#31, 6'10", SR) and George Suggs (#4, 6'10", SR) rank second and third in scoring at 12.8 ppg and 10.1 ppg. Kolo is the team's leading rebounder (6.8), while Suggs has hit 27 triples at a 47% clip this year.
Scott Davenport is in his 11^th season at the helm of the BU program and has a 241-84 overall record at Bellarmine. He has a matching career record.

Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):

#MBBHistory: Thursday's game will mark the 2,221^st in program history. TSU has 1,142-1,078 overall record (.514) in 96^th season.
#80IsGravy: 'Dogs have won all 26 games under HC Foster when scoring at least 80 points (11-0 in 2015-16).
#UniWatch: Say hello to new purple uni's this year; 'Dogs are 10-2 in white's and 2-1 in purple's this yr. No gray sighting yet.
#GottaGetUp: Under HC Foster, Truman is 30-2 when leading at the half. Team just 2-11 when tied/trailing at break.
#WinTheGlass: The Bulldogs are 4-0 this year (15-0 in last two seasons combined) when they out-rebound opponents.

Hank's History Lesson – January 14:

Truman is 13-11 all-time in games played on January 14.
The Bulldogs last played on January 14 in the 2011-12 season, as the Bulldogs fell 68-64 at Lincoln during Matt Woodley's first season as the Truman head coach.
Truman's last win on January 14 came in the 2008-09 season in a 69-67 home win against Missouri Western. Patrick Fandja scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Ethan Freeman scored 16 points off the bench.

Additional Notes from Saturday:
In the midst of Truman's 95-79 victory against Illinois Springfield on Saturday, two individuals made dents on the all-time single-game program charts.

Senior guard Andrew Vander Zwaag hit nine three-pointers, which ranked second-most all-time in a single-game. He matched Eivind Gronli (December 1988 vs. Quincy), Tom Norton (January 2013 vs. Neb.-Kearney), and Steve Schieppe (February 1988 vs. Central Missouri), while finishing just one behind Isaac Gardner's program record of 10, which came against Hannibal-LaGrange in February 2012.
Junior guard Cory Myers notched his second double-double of the season in the game, logging 11 assists to go with his 13 points. The 11 assists tied for the third-most in single-game program history and were the most in a game against an NCAA-II opponent since Banks Estridge's 11 vs. Emporia State in March 2007.
Myers also added six steals, which not only tied for the GLVC's single-game high this season but also marked the second-most in a game in Truman history. He finished one back of Scott Matthews' seven, which came against Central (Iowa) in November 1993. Estridge again had the most recent high-water mark, grabbing six at Quincy in December 2007.

I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends:
Truman has been incredibly generous with the rock this season, averaging nearly16 assists per game overall. The Bulldogs, who have topped the 20-assist mark in a game four times this season, are 8-0 this year and 21-3 during the past two seasons when they dish out at least 15 assists in a game.

"Three"sy-Peesy:
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 350 consecutive games.

In addition, the No. 13 has been the Bulldogs' lucky/unlucky number this season, as Truman has knocked down 13 triples in a game five times this year. In order to make the program's all-time single-game team top-10, a current eight-way tie for eighth-most is currently held by the No. 14.

Checking the Career Charts:
Three Bulldog regulars are creeping up a handful of career individual charts, as senior Andrew Vander Zwaag, senior Cole Myers, and junior Cory Myers have seen their all-time numbers climb in recent outings.

Vander Zwaag now ranks 8^th all-time in three-pointers (171) and 9^th all-time in three-point attempts (437). He needs 15 more makes to tie Andy Guethle's 7^th-best mark of 186 three-pointers (1996-2000) and anoth 10 attempts to match Boyd Printy's 8^th-best total of 447 three-point tries (1989-92).

The Myers twins find themselves dead even in career steals with 118 apiece, which ties them for ninth all-time. They both trail Gary Bussard's 8^th-place total of 126 (1980-23) as next in line.

Cory Myers (a redshirt junior) also moved into the top-10 in assists last week, passing Guethle and Andy Calmes (2003-07) to move into ninth all-time. He is three back of Ethan Freeman's total of 278 (2007-11) with Banks Estridge's mark of 319 (2005-09) sitting in 7^th place.

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.

Up Next:
Truman reverses course on I-64 and heads back west to Evansville, Ind., for a Saturday afternoon game against Southern Indiana. The Bulldogs and Screaming Eagles (12-2, 4-0 GLVC East) will tip off at 3 p.m. on the 16^th.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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

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

#30 Andrew Vander Zwaag: G; 6' 3"; Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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

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

#30 Andrew Vander Zwaag
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Senior
: G