MBB Notes: Truman vs. UMSL (Feb. 28, 2016; 3 p.m.)

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

Game #29: Truman (20-8, 12-6 GLVC) vs. Missouri-St. Louis (12-15, 6-12 GLVC)

When: Sunday, February 28, 2016 || 3 p.m.
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, 25-14.
Series Record in Kirksville: Missouri-St. Louis leads, 12-10.
Series Record Since Truman Joined GLVC: Missouri-St. Louis leads, 3-2.

Last Meeting: January 21, 2016 || Truman won, 67-62 (Kirksville)
Last UMSL Win vs. Truman: February 21, 2015 || Missouri-St. Louis won, 76-71 (Kirksville)
Series Streak: Truman – W1

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - For the third time in as many seasons as a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the Truman State University men's basketball program will host a first-round game in the league's postseason tournament, as the Bulldogs will welcome the University of Missouri-St. Louis to General John J. Pershing Arena for a 3 p.m. tipoff on Sunday afternoon.

The Bulldogs, who secured just the eighth 20-win season in the program's 96-year history with an 83-82 come-from-behind victory at Quincy on Thursday night, landed the conference's No. 6 seed with a league record of 12-6. Meanwhile, UMSL rebounded from an 0-9 start in league play to win six of its last nine contests and jump all the way up to the No. 11 seed with a 12-15 overall mark and a 6-12 league record.

Both teams ended the regular season with statement victories on Thursday night, as the Tritons hit 9-of-10 three-pointers in the first half to bury Maryville early en route to an 81-66 victory across town against the Saints. Meanwhile, up Route 61 to the north, the Bulldogs were capping their season on an emphatic note by dropping Quincy for the eighth straight time in an 83-82 victory at Pepsi Arena. The Bulldogs trailed by as many as a dozen late in the first half but hung around long enough to eventually overtake the Hawks with a combination of strong three-point shooting and solid defense down the stretch. Redshirt senior Andrew Vander Zwaag hit 7-of-8 three-pointers en route to a team-high 24 points, while junior Billy Daniels' 16 first-half points helped keep the Bulldogs in the hunt, as he finished with 19 points and seven rebounds.

Earlier this season, the Bulldogs caught the Tritons on the tail end of their nine-game GLVC-opening skid, sending UMSL to 0-8 in league play with a 67-62 victory in Kirksville on January 21. The game was a battle throughout, with the Tritons leading for more than 21 minutes of game time, but Truman overcame a three-point halftime deficit to shoot 55% in the second half on the way to a five-point win. Redshirt junior Connor Erickson scored 11 points in 18 minutes to lead Truman, while both senior Cole Myers and junior Kyle Kanaskie added 10 points apiece. The Bulldogs, currently the GLVC's No. 1 three-point shooting team with an average of 9.8 makes per game, hit just six on 23 attempts against the Tritons, including only 1-of-10 during that second half comeback. Hunter Reine led UMSL by coming off the bench to score 16 points and add eight rebounds. The Bulldogs did limit the GLVC's leading three-point shooter, senior Brandon Marquardt, to just 2-of-6 from three-point range on the day.

Sunday will mark the 40^th all-time meeting between the former MIAA-turned-GLVC rivals, with UMSL leading 25-14. The Tritons have won 12 of the 22 games played in Kirksville and had won three straight against the Bulldogs prior to the mid-January victory by Truman this 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 40-18 (.690) 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:
Truman checks into Sunday afternoon looking for its 10^th home win of the season, as the Bulldogs are 9-3 inside Pershing Arena this year. The Bulldogs are shooting nearly two percent better overall from both the floor and from three-point range at home this year and have forced opponents into nearly 17 turnovers a game on the two-toned Pershing hardwood.

Overall, the Bulldogs are shooting 48% from the field and 38% from three-point range, with the league's No. 5 scoring offense (82.9 ppg) and No. 6 scoring defense (75.9 ppg). Truman leads the GLVC in two categories – three-pointers per game (9.8 made) and turnover margin (+5.1), with the Bulldogs also ranking the conference's top-3 in both steals per game (8.9/2^nd) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.42/2^nd).

Individually, the Bulldogs have five players averaging double-figures offensively, led by senior guard Cole Myers' 12.7 ppg. He also tops the squad at 4.7 rebounds per game while having active hands with 37 steals.

Checking in right behind him is junior guard Kyle Kanaskie, who is shooting 41% from three-point range en route to a 12.2 ppg average. Connor Erickson (11.8 ppg), Cory Myers (11.6 ppg), and Andrew Vander Zwaag (11.4 ppg) also check in with double-figures.

The Bulldogs have pitched a predominantly eight-man rotation through the past five games, with redshirt junior Dwight Sistrunk, Jr., (8.8 ppg/4.1 apg), junior Billy Daniel (7.6 ppg/4.4 rpg), freshman Jake Velky (7.6 ppg/39% 3FG), and redshirt freshman Nikola Pesic (3.6 ppg/2.2 rpg) seeing extended minutes for the purple and white down the stretch.

Opponent Breakdown- UMSL:

UMSL enters Sunday afternoon with a 12-15 overall record, including just a 2-9 mark in true road games this season. The Tritons are 2-7 in league play away from home but have won six of their last nine overall entering the tournament.
The Tritons have the league's No. 15 scoring offense (75.0 ppg) but feature two scorers in double-figures. Brandon Marquardt (14.6 ppg; 86 3-ptrs) and Joshua Webster (10.6 ppg) lead UMSL offensively.
UMSL is the league's 4^th-best defensive unit, allowing teams to score just 73.5 ppg and shoot less than 45% from the field.
Neither team is hoping the game comes down to the foul line, as Truman ranks 14^th in the GLVC at 70.9% and UMSL 16^th (last) at 69.0%.
Bob Sundvold is in his third season at the UMSL helm and has a 46-38 record as the program's head coach. He is in his 11^th season overall at the collegiate level and has a career mark of 171-146.

Tourney Time:
The Bulldogs enter the GLVC tournament as the No. 6 seed, a year after landing the No. 7 seed and two years after picking up the No. 5 seed during the team's first year as league members. All three seasons, the Bulldogs have had to host a first-round game in Pershing Arena with mixed results, having lost to Illinois Springfield 78-72 in 2014 before defeating Quincy by an 84-64 score last year.

The 12-team GLVC tournament kicks off this Sunday with four games, as No. 5 Lewis welcomes No. 12 Illinois Springfield in a direct repeat of last year's first round. No. 7 Quincy welcomes No. 10 McKendree, and No. 8 Southern Indiana hosts No. 9 Rockhurst in the two other first-round games.

The four winners from Sunday will be re-seeded and advance to the quarterfinals on Friday, March 4, at St. Charles, Mo.'s Family Arena, where No. 1 seed Bellarmine, No. 2 seed Drury, No. 3 seed UW-Parkside, and No. 4 seed Indianapolis – all four replicas from 2015 – await. Should the higher seeds all win, a rematch against UW-Parkside would be in the works for the 'Dogs again this season.

Tickets for the 2016 Men's & Women's GLVC Basketball Championship Tournament are now on sale at www.glvcsports.com.

Hand Outs:
A pair of Truman junior guards find themselves amongst the NCAA's elite, as Dwight Sistrunk, Jr. and Cory Myers are just two of 52 active Div. II players to have dished out more than 300 career assists. Of the 52, only 13 are sophomores or juniors.

Sistrunk Jr., who has handed out 78 helpers this season to go along with the 282 accumulated during his first two seasons of collegiate ball at William Jewell for a 356 total, and Myers, who has 323 overall during his 89 games as a Bulldog, rank 34^th and 37^th, respectively on the active assist chart.

Truman is one of just five NCAA Div. II programs to feature two active players with more than 300 career assists, joining Merrimack, Wheeling Jesuit, Delta State, and Western Oregon in that club.

Foster Passes His Predecessor:
With his 40^th victory as the Bulldogs' head coach last Saturday, Chris Foster moved past the program's last coach, Matt Woodley, despite coaching 25 fewer games. Foster, now 40-18 along the Truman sideline, became the seventh-winningest coach in program history, and is next in pursuit of the program's first head coach – H.L. McWilliams, who won 44 games in six seasons from 1919-1925.

His .690 winning percentage also gives him the current top line amongst all previous Truman coaches.

Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):

#MBBHistory: Sunday's game will mark the 2,234^th in program history. TSU has a 1,150-1,083 overall record (.515) in 96^th season.
#NoLeadTooBig: The Bulldogs have come from 10 points down to win three times this season, including a season-high 12 on Thursday night against Quincy.
#UniWatch: 'Dogs have three uni combos this season – 13-4 in whites, 5-3 in purples, and 2-1 in anthracite greys.
#ForceTheMistakes: In 28 games this season, Truman has had equal/fewer turnovers than opponents 24 times (19-5 in those games).

"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 363 consecutive games.

Checking the Career Charts:
Four Bulldog regulars are creeping up on a handful of career individual charts, as senior Andrew Vander Zwaag, senior Cole Myers, junior Cory Myers, and junior Kyle Kanaskie have each seen their all-time numbers climb in recent outings.

Vander Zwaag's recent hot streak from beyond the three-point line has shot him up to 208 for his career, putting him fifth all-time on the career chart. In order to catch recent-graduate Isaac Gardner's fourth-place total of 237, the Bulldogs would need a sustained postseason run (which, would likely need to be fueled by a handful of AVZ 3's).

Meanwhile, the Myers twins continue to race each other up the career steals chart, as Cole holds a one-steal lead on Cory at 133-132. The elder (by athletic year) is now eighth all-time, with the younger (again, by athletic year) in ninth all-time. Jason Reinberg (1996-2000) is seventh on the all-time list with 136.

Cory (a redshirt junior) has also moved past Chip Sodemann's four-year total of 322 assists (2002-2006) into fifth-place all-time, with Jimmy Gooden's fourth-place mark of 356 (1984-86) next in line.

Kanaskie, meanwhile, has penciled his name onto the program's all-time free throw percentage list, as he is now 109-for-124 in his career at the stripe (87.9%). He is currently first overall, leading Tom Norton (2009-13) – the current leader – at 85.8% (211-for-246).

Up Next:
Should the Bulldogs advance out of the GLVC tournament's first-round on Sunday, the opponent and game time won't be known until after the conclusion on Sunday's action around the league. Truman would play next on Friday, March 4, in St. Charles, Mo., in the quarterfinals; however, fans will need to stay tuned to TrumanBulldogs.com for updates on time and opponent.

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Players Mentioned

#03 Isaac Gardner: G; 6' 4"; Redshirt 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

#01 Nikola Pesic: G/F; 6' 5"; Redshirt Freshman

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

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

#24 Jake Velky: G; 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#03 Isaac Gardner
: 6' 4"; Redshirt 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

#01 Nikola Pesic
: 6' 5"; Redshirt Freshman
: G/F

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

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

#24 Jake Velky
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: G