Men's Basketball | 1/22/2016 9:50:00 AM
Game #19: Truman (13-5, 5-3 GLVC) vs. Maryville (7-11, 1-7 GLVC)
When: Saturday, January 23, 2016 || 3:00 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: Truman leads, 5-2.
Series Record in Kirksville: Truman leads, 3-1.
Series Record Since Truman Joined GLVC: Truman leads, 4-0.
Last Meeting: February 19, 2015 || Truman won, 86-80 (St. Louis, Mo.)
Last MU Win vs. TSU: December 30, 2012 || Maryville won, 70-57 (Kirksville, Mo.)
Series Streak: Truman – W4
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - The Truman men's basketball team will play its final home game for nearly three full weeks on Saturday afternoon when the Bulldogs – fresh off a 67-62 win against Missouri-St. Louis on Thursday night – will play host to Maryville University at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon in General John J. Pershing Arena.
The Bulldogs, who came back from being down 10 points in the first half on Thursday night to defeat UMSL by five, enter Saturday's contest at 13-5 overall and all alone in third place in the GLVC West division at 5-3 in league play. Truman trails division leaders Quincy and Drury – both at 6-2 – and is one game clear of Rockhurst with Saturday marking the mid-way point of the conference slate. Truman will also try to hang one more win on the ledger within the friendly confines of Pershing Arena, as the 'Dogs will kick off a four-game, two-weekend road trip that begins next Thursday night at Missouri S&T in Rolla.
Redshirt junior forward Connor Erickson provided the spark Truman needed in the second half on Thursday night, as he scored all 11 of his points in the final 20 minutes after spending most of the first half in foul trouble. Also meeting him in double-figures was junior guard Kyle Kanaskie with 10 points and senior guard Cole Myers, who also poured in 10 points during his first action since December 20 due to injury. The Bulldogs shot 55% in the second half and out-scored the Tritons 42-28 in the paint to send UMSL to 0-8 in league play.
Maryville, meanwhile, comes into Saturday afternoon off a 98-79 loss at Quincy on Thursday night, marking the fifth straight defeat for the now 7-11 Saints. MU is 1-7 in league play and is just 1-5 in games away from Moloney Arena in St. Louis.
Saturday afternoon marks the eighth all-time meeting between the programs, with Truman holding a 5-2 edge. The Bulldogs have won four straight against the Saints, all coming in the past two seasons since Truman joined the GLVC. Last year, Truman downed Maryville 74-53 in Kirksville on January 17 before knocking off the Saints by an 86-80 score in St. Louis on February 19. Saturday will be the only scheduled meeting between the programs in the 2015-16 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 33-15 (.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 Saturday afternoon shooting 46.9% from the floor, which includes a 34.8% mark from three-point range. Truman is shooting 69.5% from the foul line and has now forced more than 100 more turnovers (299-191) than it has committed.
The Bulldogs remain one of the nation's most balanced squads, as six different players are averaging between 9.1 and 12.1 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 (12.1 ppg), rebounding (4.3 per game), steals (37), and minutes per game (29.9).
Two other junior starters – guard Kyle Kanaskie and forward Connor Erickson – check in right behind him at 11.6 and 11.4 ppg respectively, while two seniors – guards Cole Myers and Andrew Vander Zwaag – are averaging 10.7 and 9.9 ppg.
Truman continues to lead the GLVC in turnover margin (+6.0), while Thursday night's defensive output (62 points allowed) moved the 'Dogs back into first place in the league in steals (9.4/game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.43-to-1)
Scouting the Saints:- Maryville is averaging 78.2 ppg (10th in GLVC) offensively while giving up 78.1 ppg (13th in GLVC) on the defensive end. The Saints are No. 2 in the GLVC in field goal percentage (49.9%) but give up a league-worst 40.2% from three-point range.
- MU has lost five of its six games in 2016, including road defeats at Indianapolis, Saint Joseph's, and Quincy, along with home losses last weekend to Lewis and UW-Parkside.
- Three players average double-figures offensively, led by Marvin Grant-Clark (#20, R-So., 6-foot-3) at 16.0 ppg. He, along with Forrester Sims (#0, R-So., 6-foot-3) have made more than 30 three-pointers on the season at 33 and 30, respectively.
- Sims is second on the team at 14.6 ppg, while Max Mischkulnig (#35, Jr., 6-foot-9) is averaging 10.9 ppg, 5.3 rebounds/game, and has a team-high 23 blocks.
- Kevin Carroll is in his fourth season at the helm of the MU program and has a 49-53 record at the school. He is in his sixth career season as a collegiate head coach and has an overall coaching record of 74-84.
Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):- #MBBHistory: Saturday's game will mark the 2,224th in program history. TSU has a 1,143-1,080 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 – 11-2 in whites, 2-2 in purples, and 0-1 in anthracite greys.
- #BenchBuckets: The Bulldogs have out-scored opposing benches by nearly four ppg this season (25.6-21.9).
- #DifferentDoubDoubs: Cory Myers has both a points/rebounds double-double along with a points/assist double-double this year.
Hank's History Lesson – January 23:- Truman is 8-11 all-time in games played on January 23.
- The Bulldogs last won on January 23 in the 2013-14 season (current streak: W1), when Truman defeated Rockhurst by an 88-71 score in Kansas City. Truman led by just three at the half but hit 20-of-29 (69%) from the floor in the second half. Five players scored in double-figures, led by an 18-point, eight-assist, seven-rebound game from Reed Mells.
- Truman's first game in program history came on January 23, 1920, with the 'Dogs defeating Culver-Stockton, 41-21.
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 1-5 when they trail at the break. The first win when down at the half came Thursday night against UMSL.
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 353 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.
Vander Zwaag Nearing 100:
Senior guard Andrew Vander Zwaag will be playing in his 99th career game on Saturday afternoon. He'll need to reach 110 games played in order to reach the program's all-time top-10 in that category. Truman has nine more regular season games after Saturday.
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 both in three-pointers made (174) and attempted (452). He needs 12 more makes and 24 more attempts to tie Andy Guethle's 7th-best marks of 186 and 476, respectively (1996-2000).
Meanwhile, the Myers twins continue to race each other up the career steals chart, as Cole now has a one steal lead on Cory at 121-120. The elder (by athletic year) is ninth all-time, with the younger (again, by athletic year) is 10th all-time, with both chasing Gary Bussard's eighth-best total of 126 (1980-83).
Cory (a redshirt junior) also moved past Ethan Freeman into eighth all-time on the career assist chart with 282, leaving him next behind Banks Estridge's mark of 319 (2005-09) for 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 hit the road for a trip through southern Missouri next Thursday and Saturday, beginning with a stop in Rolla on Thursday, Jan. 28 to battle the Miners (7-10, 3-5 GLVC) at 7:30 p.m.
