Men's Basketball Notes: Truman at Missouri S&T (Jan. 28; 7:30 p.m.)

Truman Men's Basketball Notes (January 28, 2016)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TSUBulldogHoops || #BewareofDog
Printable/Media Game Notes (PDF)

Game #20: Truman (14-5, 6-3 GLVC) at Missouri S&T (8-10, 4-5 GLVC)

When: Thursday, January 28, 2016 || 7:30 p.m. (CST)
Where: Rolla, Mo. || Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building
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, 92-48.
Series Record in Rolla: Truman leads, 30-29.
Series Record Since Truman Joined GLVC: Truman leads, 2-0.

Last Meeting: January 31, 2015 || Truman won, 96-74 (Rolla, Mo.)
Last MST Win vs. TSU: February 25, 2004 || Missouri S&T won, 82-63 (Kirksville, Mo.)
Series Streak: Truman – W5

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - The Truman men's basketball begins what could be a make-or-break road trip on Thursday night, as the Bulldogs kick off a two-week, four-game stretch on the bus by visiting long-time rival Missouri S&T at 7:30 p.m. in Rolla.

The Bulldogs, who hit the midway point of the conference season one game back in the Great Lakes Valley Conference West division standings at 6-3, will have to take their act on the road for four straight, starting with the Miners (8-10, 4-5 GLVC) on Thursday night. Truman, just 2-2 in true road games this season, will double that total of road games played by the time the team returns to the friendly confines of Gen. John J. Pershing Arena on Thursday, Feb. 11. The Bulldogs make a swing through the southern edge of the state this weekend, stopping at Missouri S&T and Drury on Thursday and Saturday, before heading east to the Hoosier State next Thursday and Saturday for stops at Saint Joseph's (Ind.) and Indianapolis.

However, one thing Truman has in its hands entering the trip is momentum, as the Bulldogs picked up a pair of home wins last Thursday and Saturday in Kirksville. The Bulldogs bounced back from a 10-point first-half deficit to down Missouri-St. Louis 67-62 on Thursday (Jan. 21) night before leading nearly the entire way in an 81-67 victory on Saturday (Jan. 23) afternoon against Maryville.

Missouri S&T, meanwhile, started GLVC play red-hot by picking up wins against Maryville, UMSL, and Drury to start 3-0 before hitting a five-game skid in league play to start 2016. The Miners righted the ship for the time being on Saturday (Jan. 23) with a 73-62 road win at Rockhurst in Kansas City. Prior to that game, however, the Miners had given up an average of 93 points per game during the five-game skid.

Thanks to the two teams' long-standing rivalry as members of the MIAA first, then now in the GLVC, Thursday night's contest will mark the 141^st all-time meeting between the schools. The Bulldogs hold a 92-48 edge all-time dating back to the first meeting on Feb. 22, 1923 (a 26-23 Truman win), which includes a 30-29 lead in games played in Rolla. The Bulldogs took the all-time lead in Rolla behind a 96-74 victory last season, wherein Truman hit 22-of-26 second-half field goals to pull away in the final 20 minutes. Four players finished in double-figures for the 'Dogs, with Connor Erickson serving as the top returner with 13 points in 15 minutes. Cole Myers posted a well-balanced 12-point, six-rebound, five-assist, three-steal effort in his 25 minutes off the bench. Thursday night 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 34-15 (.694) 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 shooting 46.9% from the floor, which includes a 35.2% mark from three-point range. Truman is shooting 70.0% from the foul line and has forced 117 more turnovers (319-202) than it has committed.

The Bulldogs remain one of the nation's most balanced squads, as five different players are averaging double-figures offensively. 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 (1231 ppg), rebounding (4.0 per game), steals (37), and minutes per game (30.1).

Two other junior starters – forward Connor Erickson and guard Kyle Kanaskie – check in right behind him at 11.8 and 11.4 ppg respectively, while two seniors – guards Cole Myers and Andrew Vander Zwaag – are averaging 10.6 and 10.5 ppg.

Truman continues to lead the GLVC in turnover margin (+6.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.47-to-1). The Bulldogs also rank second in three-pointers (9.4 per game) and steals (9.5 per game). The Bulldogs' +6.2 turnover margin ranks No. 2 amongst all NCAA Div. II programs, trailing St. Edward's (Texas) who holds the top spot at +7.3.

Scouting the Miners:

Missouri S&T is averaging 82.3 ppg (6^th in GLVC) offensively while giving up 83.2 ppg (15^th in GLVC) on the defensive end. The Miners are last in the league in both field goal offense (42.6%) and field goal defense (50.3%) but crash the offensive glass to a tune of a GLVC-best 14.6 per game.
As good as Truman has been in assist-to-turnover ratio this season, the Miners are solid as well with the basketball, ranking second in the GLVC at +3.4.
The Miners are 6-3 at home this year, including 2-2 in league play.
Three players average double-figures offensively, led by B.J. McLaughlin (#23, Sr., 6-foot-5) at 15.3 ppg – good for 11^th-best in the GLVC. Zach Ellis (#22, Sr., 6-foot-0) is 30^th in the GLVC at 11.7 ppg.
Two other players to watch include Rokas Paulauskas (#15, Jr., 6-foot-8), whose 7.4 rebounds/game ranks seventh in the GLVC, and Juwan Miller (#14, So., 5-foot-11), who ranks in the GLVC's top-10 both in assists (4.5/game) and steals (1.8/game).
Jim Glash is in his seventh season at the helm of the S&T program and has a 57-118 record at the school.

Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):

#80IsGravy: 'Dogs have won all 27 games under HC Foster when scoring at least 80 points (12-0 in 2015-16).
#UniWatch: 'Dogs have three uni combos this season – 12-2 in whites, 2-2 in purples, and 0-1 in anthracite greys.
#NoLeadTooBig: The Bulldogs have come from 10 points down to win twice this season (CU, 11/28; UMSL, 1/21).
#HappyNewYear: Truman is 5-2 this year in January; 12-5 in month under HC Foster.
#ForceTheMistakes: In 19 games this season, Truman has had equal/fewer turnovers than opponents 17 times (14-3 in those games).
#Familiarity: Truman has jogged out the same starting five each of the last six games: 12, 22, 30, 32,45
#MBBHistory: Thursday's game will mark the 2,225^th in program history. TSU has a 1,144-1,080 overall record (.514) in 96^th season.
#DifferentDoubDoubs: Cory Myers has both a points/rebounds double-double along with a points/assist double-double this year.

Hank's History Lesson – January 28:

Truman is 11-16 all-time in games played on January 28.
The Bulldogs last played (and won) on the date in the 2011-12 season, when Truman defeated Emporia (Kan.) State by a 77-70 overtime score in Kirksville. Four players scored in double-figures, including Seth Jackson, Tom Norton, Mike Carlson, and Tyler Anderson.

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 13-0 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 last 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 five times this season, are 9-0 this year and 22-3 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 354 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 to Hit 100:
Senior guard Andrew Vander Zwaag will be playing in his 100^th career game on Thursday night. He'll need to reach 110 games played in order to reach the program's all-time top-10 in that category. Truman has eight more regular season games after Thursday.

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 both in three-pointers made (179) and attempted (459). He needs seven more makes and 17 more attempts to tie Andy Guethle's 7^th-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 10^th 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 287, leaving him next behind Banks Estridge's mark of 319 (2005-09) for 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:
The Bulldogs will head to Springfield on Saturday afternoon to face the Panthers of Drury (11-6, 6-3 GLVC) at 3:15 p.m. DU plays host to Quincy (13-5, 7-2 GLVC) on Thursday night prior to Truman's visit.

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Players Mentioned

#02 Seth Jackson: G; 6' 4"; 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

#02 Seth Jackson
: 6' 4"; 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