Men's Basketball Notes: Truman at Drury (Jan. 30; 3:15 p.m.)

Truman Men's Basketball Notes (January 30, 2016)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TSUBulldogHoops || #BewareofDog
Printable/Media Game Notes (PDF)

Game #21: Truman (15-5, 7-3 GLVC) at Drury (12-6, 7-3 GLVC)

When: Saturday, January 30, 2016 || 3:15 p.m. (CST)
Where: Springfield, Mo. || O'Reilly Family Events 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: Drury leads, 8-5
Series Record in Springfield: Drury leads, 4-3
Series Record Since Truman Joined GLVC: Series tied, 1-1.

Last Meeting: January 29, 2015 || Truman won, 85-81 (Springfield, Mo.)
Last DU Win vs. TSU: February 2, 2014 || Drury won, 88-78 (Kirksville, Mo.)
Series Streak: Truman – W1

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - First place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference West division is on the line this Saturday afternoon, as the Truman men's basketball team carries a three-game winning streak to Springfield for a 3:15 p.m. tipoff against Drury University.

Both the Bulldogs, who picked up an 82-69 win at Missouri S&T on Thursday night, and Panthers check into Saturday afternoon's bout at 7-3 in GLVC play, with both teams sitting as part of a three-way tie atop the West with Quincy, whom Drury dispatched by a 79-76 score at home on Thursday night. The trio sits two games clear of fourth-place Rockhurst at 5-5 and three games ahead of fifth-place Missouri S&T at 4-6. As it stands, Truman currently holds the tiebreak between the three-team cluster, as the Bulldogs lead all GLVC West division programs with a 5-1 divisional record, while both DU and QU sit at 4-2.

Truman got 22 points from junior guard Kyle Kanaskie – on perfect shooting from both the field and the foul line – and 18 points from redshirt junior guard Dwight Sistrunk, Jr., to get past S&T by 13 points on Thursday. The Bulldogs trailed 65-64 with just more than seven minutes to play but closed the game on an 18-4 run to earn win No. 15 on the season. Junior forward Billy Daniel recorded five blocks, and senior guard Cole Myers totaled four of Truman's season-high 14 steals to help force the Miners into 24 turnovers on the night.

This will be the second straight season that the Bulldogs have made the trip to Springfield for a conference game against Drury, with Truman picking up an 85-81 victory last season during the last weekend of January as well. The story of that night was then-senior guard Seth Jackson, who scored 42 points – including 25 from the foul line – to lead the Bulldogs to the road win. Current redshirt junior guard Cory Myers scored 12 points, while both senior Andrew Vander Zwaag and redshirt junior Connor Erickson scored six points apiece off the bench. Then-junior Kameron Bundy scored 17 points for Drury, while then-senior Cameron Adams led the Panthers with 21 points.

Truman will be matching up with Drury for the 14^th time in program history, with the host Panthers holding an 8-5 lead in the all-time series. DU leads the all-time series in Springfield, 4-3, but the teams have split their two meetings since the Bulldogs joined the GLVC in 2013, with Drury winning by an 88-78 score in Kirksville in February 2014 before Truman's win in Springfield last 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 35-15 (.700) 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 47.2% from the floor, which includes a 35.4% mark from three-point range. Truman is shooting 70.6% from the foul line and has forced 119 more turnovers (343-224) than it has committed.

The Bulldogs remain one of the nation's most balanced squads, as five different players are averaging double-figures offensively. Kyle Kanaskie – backed by his career-high-tying 22 points against the Miners on Thursday night – took over the team lead in scoring average at 12.0 per game. However, he is closely followed by redshirt junior guard Cory Myers and Connor Erickson, who both are averaging 11.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Cole Myers and Andrew Vander Zwaag rank fourth and fifth – both besting the 10-point mark as well.

Truman continues to lead the GLVC in turnover margin (+6.0) and jumped back into the top spot in steals per game at 9.8. The Bulldogs are second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.38-to-1) and three-pointers (9.3 per game). The Bulldogs also entered the week as the nation's No. 2 team in turnover margin, trailing St. Edward's (Texas) who holds the top spot at +7.3.

Scouting the Panthers:

Drury is averaging 74.1 ppg (15^th in GLVC) offensively while giving up 72.1 ppg (3^rd in GLVC) on the defensive end. The Panthers are of the top teams in the league in both three-point shooting (41.2%) and free throw shooting (76.9%), but hold one of the league's worst assist-to-turnover ratios at 0.87 (15^th).
The Panthers are 6-2 at home this season, including 3-0 in GLVC play. The only two losses came during the team's Thanksgiving Classic – which Truman participated in.
If there's ever a day of the week to try and topple the Panthers, it seems to be on Saturdays this year, as DU holds a 5-0 record in GLVC play and a +9.2 scoring margin on Thursday nights but are just 2-2 with a -1.8 scoring margin on Saturday afternoons.
Three players are averaging double-figures offensively for DU, led by all-GLVC guard Kameron Bundy (#3, Sr., 6-foot-2) at 18.8 ppg. He is averaging 35.8 minutes/game and is shooting 43% from three-point range.
Tevin Foster (#10, So., 6-foot-0) and Joshua Palmer (#31, Jr., 6-foot-7) are also in double-figures, averaging 13.9 and 11.1 points per game, respectively.
Steve Hesser is in his 12^th season at the helm of the DU program and has posted a 256-94 record at the school.

Pick Your Poison:
As balanced as the Bulldogs have been all season long in scoring with five players in double-figures, a second glance is typically needed when looking at the Truman scoring lineup in conference-only games. Truman has six players in double-figures through 10 league games, but it's how tight the numbers are that show the balance of the Bulldog offense.

11.5 / 11.5 / 11.4 / 11.3 / 11.3 / 10.3

That sextet consists of – in scoring order – Cole Myers, Kanaskie, Cory Myers, Vander Zwaag, Erickson, and Sistrunk Jr. As a group, they are shooting 47.2% (team – 45.4%) overall, 37.0% (team-34.3%) from three, and 75.3% (team-70.0%) from the foul line.

Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):

#80IsGravy: 'Dogs have won all 28 games under HC Foster when scoring at least 80 points (13-0 in 2015-16).
#UniWatch: 'Dogs have three uni combos this season – 12-2 in whites, 2-2 in purples, and 1-1 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 6-2 this year in January; 13-5 in month under HC Foster.
#ForceTheMistakes: In 20 games this season, Truman has had equal/fewer turnovers than opponents 18 times (15-3 in those games).
#Familiarity: Truman has jogged out the same starting five each of the last seven games: 12, 22, 30, 32,45
#MBBHistory: Saturday's game will mark the 2,226^th in program history. TSU has a 1,145-1,080 overall record (.515) 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 30:

Truman is 15-11 all-time in games played on January 30.
The Bulldogs last played (and won) on the date in the 2013-14 season, as Truman defeated Missouri S&T at home by a 109-105 score in overtime. Mike Carlson scored 48 points – the most in a single-game – as the Bulldogs improved to 15-3 with the win.

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 355 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 Reaches 100; Myers Eyes It:
Senior guard Andrew Vander Zwaag played in his 100^th game as a Bulldog on Thursday night, while fellow senior backcourt mate Cole Myers is just four away at 96. To crack the top-10 at Truman, the magic number 110, with the Bulldogs having seven 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 8^th all-time both in three-pointers made (180) and attempted (464). He needs six more makes and 12 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 four steal lead on Cory at 125-121. 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 289, 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 make a brief stop back at home, before departing again on Wednesday to visit the Hoosier State for a pair of games next weekend. Truman will kick off the second-leg of the two-weekend road trip at 7:30 p.m. (CT) on Thursday (Feb. 4) night when the purple and white take on Saint Joseph's (Ind.).

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

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

#40 Billy Daniel: F; 6' 6"; Junior

#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

#45 Dwight Sistrunk, Jr.: G; 5' 11"; Redshirt Junior

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

Players Mentioned

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

#40 Billy Daniel
: 6' 6"; Junior
: F

#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

#45 Dwight Sistrunk, Jr.
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Junior
: G

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