Men's Basketball | 1/19/2016 10:45:00 AM
Game #18: Truman (12-5, 4-3 GLVC) vs. Missouri-St. Louis (6-10, 0-7 GLVC)
When: Thursday, January 21, 2016 || 7:30 p.m. (CST)
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || General John J. Pershing Arena
Audio: 104.7 FM KRES (Brad Boyer, Play-by- Play; Hank Janssen, Analyst) || Online Feed
Live Stats || Live Stats (Mobile) || Live Video
Series Record: Missouri-St. Louis leads, 25-13
Series Record in Kirksville: Missouri-St. Louis leads, 12-9
Series Record Since Truman Joined GLVC: Missouri-St. Louis leads, 3-1
Last Meeting: February 21, 2015 || UMSL won, 76-71 (Kirksville, Mo.)
Last TSU Win vs. UMSL: January 16, 2014 || Truman won, 83-66 (Kirksville, Mo.)
Series Streak: Missouri-St. Louis – W3
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - The Truman men's basketball team returns to divisional play on Thursday night, as the Bulldogs renew an old rivalry with the University of Missouri-St. Louis at 7:30 p.m. in General John J. Pershing Arena in Kirksville.
The Bulldogs are coming off an 0-2 weekend road trip through the eastern-most Great Lakes Valley Conference programs that dropped the team's overall record to 12-5 and conference record to 4-3. Truman lost back-to-back games at 9th-ranked Bellarmine and Southern Indiana to have an eight-game winning streak snapped; however, the Bulldogs return home on Thursday to Pershing Arena, where the team has won five straight dating back to an early-December loss to Rockhurst.
On the flip side, UMSL (6-10, 0-7 GLVC) is still in search of its first GLVC victory, having its most recent effort ripped away in heartbreaking fashion last Saturday. The Tritons had the ball in the offensive end with 2.2 seconds on the clock, but a turnover on the in-bounds allowed Lewis University's Max Strus to hit a three-quarter court bank shot as time expired to allow the Flyers a 72-69 win against the Tritons. UMSL opened the weekend with a 70-66 loss against Wisconsin-Parkside, who is 6-1 in league play.
Thursday night's contest will be the 39th all-time between the two programs, who shared residency in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) from 1980-1996. This will be the fifth meeting between the schools since Truman joined the GLVC in 2013, with the Tritons having won three of the first four meetings – including both last season. UMSL picked up an 85-77 win in St. Louis on Jan. 15, 2015, before dealing the 'Dogs a 76-71 setback on Feb. 21, 2015, in Kirksville. One name that the Bulldogs will be happy to not see is Aareon Smith, as last year's UMSL senior averaged 30.5 points and 10.5 rebounds during the two meetings.
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 32-15 (.681) 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 come into Thursday night looking for win No. 13 on the season but are currently tied for third in the GLVC West divisional standings with Rockhurst at 4-3 in league play. Both the Bulldogs and Hawks trail division-leading Quincy and Drury, who each are at 5-2 entering the week's action.
Overall on the season, the Bulldogs are shooting 47.0% from the floor, which includes a 35.2% mark from three-point range. Truman is shooting 70.1% from the foul line and has forced nearly 100 more turnovers (280-182) than it has committed.
The Bulldogs remain one of the nation's most balanced squads, as six different players are averaging between 9.4 and 12.3 points per game. Leading the way is redshirt junior guard Cory Myers, who has been the go-to on both ends of the court this season. He leads the team in scoring (12.3 ppg), rebounding (4.4 per game), assists (3.8 per game), steals (36), and minutes per game (29.6).
Two other junior starters – guard Kyle Kanaskie and forward Connor Erickson – check in right behind him at 11.7 and 11.5 ppg respectively, while two seniors – guards Cole Myers and Andrew Vander Zwaag – are averaging 10.8 and 10.1 ppg.
Truman continues to lead the GLVC in turnover margin (+5.8), while both the Bulldogs and Tritons hold a share of the league lead in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.43-to-1. The Bulldogs rank second in the league in three-pointers per game (9.5) and steals per game (9.3).
Thursday's Three Keys:- Possess the Rock: As mentioned above, both the Bulldogs and Tritons have been the best in the league this season in assist-to-turnover ratio. The difference between the squads is in steals per game, where Truman ranks second (9.3) while UMSL is 15th (4.8).
- Long Range Attack: UMSL is second in the GLVC in three-point percentage and fourth in three-pointers per game, while Truman is second in makes but 12th in percentage. However, the Bulldogs have raised that number since mid-December, when redshirt junior guard Dwight Sistrunk Jr.'s nearly four assists per game became eligible.
- Home vs. Road: Truman has been good at home this season (6-1), while UMSL is 0-4 in true road games.
Scouting the Tritons:- Missouri-St. Louis comes into Thursday night at 6-10 overall (0-7 GLVC), with the Tritons currently mired in a five-game losing streak dating back to a Dec. 20, 2015 non-conference win against Saint Leo (Fla.).
- UMSL is averaging 73.8 ppg (15th in GLVC), allowing 72.6 ppg (5th in GLVC), and is shooting 46.5% from the floor (10th in GLVC).
- The Tritons have arguably one of the league's best sharpshooters in senior guard Brandon Marquardt (6-foot-2, #10). He is the team's leading scorer at 15.5 ppg and is shooting better than 50% (3rd in GLVC) from three-point range with an average of 3.56 made (1st in GLVC) per game.
- Joshua Webster (6-foot-4, FR, G, #11) and Joseph English (5-foot-11, JR, G, #5) are averaging 9.9 and 9.8 ppg, respectively.
- Bob Sundvold is in his third season at the helm of the UMSL program and has a 40-33 record at the school. He is in his 11th career season as a collegiate head coach and has a record of 165-141.
Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):- #MBBHistory: Thursday's game will mark the 2,223rd in program history. TSU has 1,142-1,080 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: 'Dogs have three uni combos this season – 10-2 in whites, 2-2 in purples, and 0-1 in anthracite greys.
- #BenchBuckets: The Bulldogs have out-scored opposing benches by more than four ppg this season (25.8-21.7).
- #DifferentDoubDoubs: Cory Myers has both a points/rebounds double-double along with a points/assist double-double this year.
Hank's History Lesson – January 21:- Truman is 14-12 all-time in games played on January 21.
- The Bulldogs last won on January 21 in the 2005-06 season (current streak: L2), when the Bulldogs won by a 61-58 score in historic White Auditorium against Emporia State. As part of an NCAA tournament season, the Bulldogs got 21 points from Grant Agbo and a 9-point, 15-rebound, 5-assist game from Andy Calmes.
Let's All Go Home:
While a regulation college basketball game is a 40-minute affair, recent trends have shown that the halftime score could be a good precursor for how the game's final result will turn out for the men's basketball program. This season, the Bulldogs are 12-0 when they carry a lead into the intermission and are 0-5 when they trail at the break.
However, fans would be wise to hang around regardless of the score, as the Bulldogs have won twice (in 15 games) under head coach Foster when trailing at half.
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 352 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 (174) and 9th all-time in three-point attempts (446). He needs 12 more makes to tie Andy Guethle's 7th-best mark of 186 three-pointers (1996-2000) and just one more attempt to match Boyd Printy's 8th-best total of 447 three-point tries (1989-92). After Printy is Guethle's 7th-best spot of 476.
Cory Myers moved past twin brother Cole into ninth all-time in career steals (119 vs. 118), with each trailing Gary Bussard's 8th-place total of 126 (1980-23) as next in line.
Cory (a redshirt junior) also moved into a tie with Ethan Freeman's career total of 278 (2007-11) for eighth all-time on career assists 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 will finish the home weekend against the GLVC's St. Louis-based schools when they host Maryville on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Kirksville. The Saints (7-10, 1-6 GLVC West) visit Quincy on Thursday night prior to trekking west to Pershing Arena for Saturday afternoon's tilt.
