Men's Basketball | 1/15/2016 9:45:00 AM
Game #17: Truman (12-4, 4-2 GLVC) at Southern Indiana (12-3, 4-1 GLVC)
When: Saturday, January 16, 2016 || 3:15 p.m. (CST)
Where: Louisville, Ky. || Physical Activities Center
Audio: 104.7 FM KRES (Brad Boyer, Play-by- Play; Hank Janssen, Analyst) || Online Feed
Live Stats || Live Stats (Mobile) || Live Video
Series Record: Southern Indiana leads, 2-1
Series Record in Evansville: Southern Indiana leads, 2-0
Series Record Since Truman Joined GLVC: Series tied, 1-1
Last Meeting: February 7, 2015 || Southern Indiana won, 81-70 (Evansville, Ind.)
Last TSU Win vs. USI: February 6, 2014 || Truman won 71-68 (ot) (Kirksville, Mo.)
Series Streak: Southern Indiana- W1
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - Two teams coming off tough losses on Thursday night will look to rebound against each other on Saturday afternoon, as the Truman men hope to salvage a .500 road trip weekend when they visit the University of Southern Indiana for a 3:15 p.m. contest in Evansville, Ind.
The Bulldogs (12-4, 4-2 GLVC West) found themselves down early and couldn't recover on Thursday night in the Derby City, as 9th-ranked Bellarmine improved to 12-2 (5-0 GLVC East) with an 86-57 decision against Truman. Meanwhile, just west on I-64, the Screaming Eagles of USI led for nearly the entire game against Quincy but a pair of late turnovers by the host Eagles and clutch free throw shooting by the visiting Hawks propelled QU to a 96-92 win. The loss dropped USI out of a first-place tie with BU and halted its own eight-game winning streak, moving the Screaming Eagles to 12-3 overall on the season, 4-1 in the GLVC East.
Saturday afternoon's showdown will be the fourth all-time between the two programs, as Southern Indiana owns a 2-1 lead in the all-time series. The schools have split their two GLVC-sanctioned bouts, with the Bulldogs winning 71-68 in overtime in Pershing Arena on Feb. 6, 2014, before the Screaming Eagles toppled Truman by an 81-70 decision last year in Evansville. The change in pod-scheduling this season resulted in a repeat trip to the Stoplight City, with USI 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 32-14 (.695) 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:
The Bulldogs saw their eight-game winning streak come to a crashing halt on Thursday night, as Truman found itself down 17 at the half and couldn't recover in an 86-57 defeat at No. 9 Bellarmine. Truman shot just 36% from the field, including just 18% from three-point range, while BU countered at 57% overall and 44% from beyond the arc. Redshirt junior Cory Myers scored a team-high 15 points, connecting on four field goals and six free throws, while both junior Billy Daniel and redshirt freshman Nikola Pesic shared the team-high with five rebounds apiece.
Overall on the season, the Bulldogs are shooting 47.6% from the floor, which includes a 35.0% mark from three-point range. Truman is shooting 69.9% from the foul line and has forced nearly 100 more turnovers (260-167) than it has committed.
In what may be one of the most balanced squads in the country, Truman has seven players averaging more than 8.5 points per game. Myers (Cory) has been the go-to for the Bulldogs this season, as the Ankeny, Iowa-native leads the team in scoring (12.6 ppg), rebounding (4.6 per game), assists (3.9 per game), steals (35), and minutes per game (29.5). Two other junior starters – forward Connor Erickson and guard Kyle Kanaskie – check in right behind him at 12.1 and 11.6 ppg respectively, while two seniors – guards Cole Myers and Andrew Vander Zwaag – are averaging 10.8 and 9.7 ppg.
Truman also continues to creep up many of the conference's team rankings; however, the Bulldogs continue to lead the GLVC in four categories. Truman's +5.87 turnover margin is nearly two full points better than second-best Missouri S&T (+3.87), while the team's assist-to-turnover ratio (1.49) is .07 better than Missouri-St. Louis' second-place 1.42.
The Bulldogs also now lead the GLVC in three-point field goals (9.4 per game) and steals per game (9.4), while also ranking in the top-25% in scoring offense (83.1 ppg).
Saturday's Three Keys:- Must. Rebound.: The stat's say it all – Truman is 16th (last) in the GLVC in rebounding margin (-3.5); USI is 1st (best) (+9.3).
- Hit From Deep: Truman is the GLVC-leader in three-pointers per game (9.4), while USI is the fifth-best in the conference at defending the long ball (32.8% allowed).
- Flip the Eagles: The Bulldogs' league-best turnover margin (+5.8) could be an asset on Saturday, as USI holds a -0.2 (10th in GLVC) mark in turnover margin.
Scouting the Screaming Eagles:- Southern Indiana checks into Saturday afternoon at 12-3 overall, which includes a 7-2 mark at home this season. The Screaming Eagles had an eight-game winning streak snapped on Thursday night with a 96-92 loss against Quincy.
- The Eagles are a high-paced offense, averaging a GLVC-best 89.3 points per game while allowing 76.3 ppg on the defensive end.
- The squad has four players averaging double-figures on the offensive end, including Jeril Taylor (#1; 6-foot-4 JR; 17.5 ppg/7.8 rpg), Alex Stein (#20; 6-foot-3 FR; 14.5 ppg/41% 3FG), George Edwards (#24; 6-foot-6 SR; 13.7 ppg/6.4 rpg), and Bobo Drummond (#3; 5-foot-10 JR; 12.5 ppg/4.2 apg).
- Of note: every player that is not a freshman on the team transferred into the program from another post-high school program.
- Rodney Watson is in his seventh season at the helm of the USI program and has a 151-41 overall record at Southern Indiana. He has a matching career head coaching record.
Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):- #MBBHistory: Saturday's game will mark the 2,222nd in program history. TSU has 1,142-1,079 overall record (.514) in 96th 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 2-2 in purple's this yr. No gray sighting yet.
- #GottaGetUp: Under HC Foster, Truman is 30-2 when leading at the half. Team just 2-12 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 16:- Truman is 13-7 all-time in games played on January 16.
- The Bulldogs last played on January 16 in the 2013-14 season, defeating Missouri-St. Louis at home by an 83-66 score. The 'Dogs have won two straight on January 16's, which includes…
- …Truman's last win against an NABC Div. II top-10 team. The Bulldogs stormed into Lee Arena on the campus of Washburn University on Jan. 16, 2013, and handed the Ichabods (then 10-2) a 64-56 defeat. Tom Norton led all Bulldogs with 15 points (4-5 3FG, 3-3 FT) off the bench, while Seth Jackson added 13 points and six rebounds. The Bulldogs, who improved to 6-9 on the season with the win, used a blistering second-half in which they shot 67% from the floor and his 6-of-9 three-point tries, to silence the 'Bods in front of 3,000+ fans.
Additional Notes from Last 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 more than 15 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 351 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 8th all-time in three-pointers (171) and 9th all-time in three-point attempts (439). He needs 15 more makes to tie Andy Guethle's 7th-best mark of 186 three-pointers (1996-2000) and another eight attempts to match Boyd Printy's 8th-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 8th-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 just one back of Ethan Freeman's total of 278 (2007-11) with Banks Estridge's mark of 319 (2005-09) sitting in 7th 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:
The Bulldogs return to Pershing Arena for two in-division games next Thursday and Saturday. Truman will tip off against Missouri-St. Louis (6-9, 0-6 GLVC West) at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday (Jan. 21) night before hosting Maryville (7-9, 1-5 GLVC West) at 3 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 23) afternoon.
