Truman Game Notes (.PDF)
Lindenwood Game Notes (.PDF)
Upper Iowa Game Notes (.PDF)
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The Truman men's basketball team enters week two of the 2016-17 regular season and spirits are high after a couple of wins against G-MAC opponents in Cedarville (82-70) and Trevecca Nazarene (92-55). The Bulldogs will now make a quick turnaround and turn their attention to Lindenwood on Wednesday (7 p.m.) and Upper Iowa in the home opener on Saturday (3 p.m.) inside Pershing Arena.
Scouting the Lions
Just like Truman, Lindenwood has secured a 2-0 start, its second in as many seasons. For the Lions, those two victories came against the likes of Bemidji State on Nov. 11 (62-44) and Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 12 (78-72). When looking at the numbers, much like Truman, Lindenwood has been able to spread the wealth as four scorers are averaging double-figures including Brenon Larson-Gulsvig (14.5), Dominique Dobbs (13.5), LJ McIntosh (11.5), and Chandler Diekvoss (11). Wednesday's meeting between the two teams will be the home opener for the Lions and the first ever meeting between
Chris Foster and Lance Randall. 2016-17 represents Randall's second season as the Lindenwood coach and his ninth as a collegiate head coach. His overall record is 139-93 (.599), including 18-14 (.563) during his time in St. Charles, Mo. The last time these two teams met was on Feb. 21, 2013 in the same location with the Lions defeating the Bulldogs, 96-82. In that contest, four players had at least 10 points for Truman including Seth Jackson (20), Mike Carlson (17),
Cory Myers (14), and Tom Norton (13).
Scouting the Peacocks
Saturday's showdown between Truman and Upper Iowa in Pershing Arena will be round two between a couple of Northern Iowa grads in
Chris Foster and Brooks McKowen. Foster and company took care of business in round one in November of last year by a score of 84-80 in Fayette, Iowa. This matchup will represent a couple of similar offensive styles going at it for the second time ever. Both teams love to shoot it, especially from distance. The Bulldogs have attempted more three-pointers than any other team in the GLVC and the Peacocks have no reservations for shooting a shot when they're open. Upper Iowa has a game to play before Saturday's contest in Kirksville and that will be on Tuesday against Quincy in Fayette with tip set for 7 p.m. from the Peacocks' Dorman Gymnasium.
Lafayette's Finest
Lafayette High School product and Navy transfer,
Nathan Messer, has made Division II his own in Truman's first two games of the season. Through the Bulldogs' 2-0 start, the St. Louis native has scored 37 points (18 and 19) while shooting a red-hot 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from the floor and 47.4 percent (9-of-19) from behind the arc. For the first game in which he scored 18 points, Messer did all that damage in just 21 minutes of action before seeing 26 minutes on the floor in game two. If not for Southern Indiana's Alex Stein (27.5 points per game), Messer may have been Truman's first Player of the Week for the 2016-17 season.
Spreading the Wealth
In 2014-15, head coach
Chris Foster's first season, six players finished with at least 200 total points. Last season, seven Bulldogs reached that mark and five of them averaged at least 10 points per game. 2016-17 is no different as far as Truman being able to share the ball and get scoring production from multiple sources. Yes, there have only been two games, but so far, four players are averaging double-figures and six have at least 10 points next to their name. As mentioned above, Messer didn't get GLVC Player of the Week honors after the first two games, and it will be tough for a Bulldog to do so because the team's scoring is spread so evenly.
Panther Pride
Head coach
Chris Foster graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 2005 and Upper Iowa's head coach, Brooks McKowen, wasn't far behind as he walked across the stage two years later in 2007. Because of that, the two were on a couple of Panther teams together including 2003-04 and 2004-05. Those two years, UNI was a combined 44-21 (.677 winning percentage) overall and 23-13 (.639) in the Missouri Valley Conference with an MVC Tournament title, an NCAA Tournament appearance and an NIT appearance.
Home Cookin'
Truman will open its 2016-17 home slate on Saturday at 3 p.m. against Upper Iowa. The Bulldogs are no stranger to success in such situations. In fact, Truman has won its last three home openers and seven of its last eight. During that span, the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents by a margin of 267 points, 736-469, which is an average score of 92-59. As nice as it would be to win against the Peacocks that badly, look for this game to be an up-and-down, high-scoring affair.
