GAMES 18 & 19: TRUMAN AT MARYVILLE | TRUMAN AT MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS
	Truman Bulldogs 2016-17 Record: 13-4, 5-2 GLVC Coach: Chris Foster, Third season Roster | Schedule | Statistics
	Maryville Saints 2016-17 Record: 7-12, 1-6 GLVC Coach: Kevin Carroll, Seventh season Roster | Schedule | Statistics
	Missouri-St. Louis Tritons 2016-17 Record: 8-9, 2-5 GLVC Coach: Bob Sundvold, Fourth season Roster | Schedule | Statistics
	Game Information When? January 19, 2017 | 7:30 p.m. January 21, 2017 | 3:00 p.m. Where? St. Louis, Mo. | Moloney Arena St. Louis, Mo. | Mark Twain Building Follow Along Live Stats: Maryville | UMSL Live Video: Maryville | UMSL Radio: KRES 104.7 Twitter Truman Athletics | #BewareOfDog Truman Men's Basketball

Truman Game Notes (.PDF)
Maryville Game Notes
Missouri-St. Louis Game Notes

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Exhale... The Truman men's basketball team just got done playing three games in a span of 41 hours against three ranked teams on Thursday through Saturday. The Bulldogs hosted No. 10 Southern Indiana on Thursday (89-111), No. 9 Bellarmine on Friday (77-72) and traveled to No. 8 Creighton on Saturday (69-101). Now, the Purple and White will play 11-straight GLVC games, seven of which will take place inside the friendly confines.

Taking it back to the victory over Bellarmine in Pershing Arena, it was the Bulldogs' first win over a ranked opponent since Feb. 6, 2014 (No. 15 Southern Indiana), first against the Knights in the Chris Foster era (0-2 prior) and first over a top-10 team since Jan. 16, 2013 (No. 10 Washburn). Dwight Sistrunk Jr. was the headline with a team-high 18 points, 16 of which came in the second half, on 9-of-12 shooting with three rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes of action.

Now here comes Maryville and Missouri-St. Louis, whom Truman has won a combined seven in a row against and have the two worst scoring offenses in the conference. The Saints have dropped three in a row while the Tritons have been on the short end in five straight. Even though the Bulldogs' winning streak is at just one, that one win is one of the biggest in school history. Truman's offense, which has held steady as the third-best in the league with 87.5 points per game, will look to lead the Bulldogs to wins No. two and three in a row.

Scouting the Saints
In year No. seven under head coach, Kevin Carroll (85-103 career record), Maryville boasts a trio of scorers averaging at least 10 points per game including Grant Sims  (14.3), Forrester Sims (12.5) and Anthony Johnson (10.5). Those three are three of the five that have played in all 19 of the team's games while Grant and Forrester are the only ones on the squad to have started 18 of the 19 contests. Evan Booker is fourth on the Saints in scoring with 8.1 points per game, but his 5.3 rebounds per contest are more than anyone else's. Johnson is shooting over 54 percent (73-of-135) from the floor and over 48 percent (17-for-35) from behind the arc. The Maryville offense is putting up just 72.3 points per game, which is second-to-last in the GLVC better than only Missouri-St. Louis' 68.9 points per contest. On the defensive end, the Saints are in the middle of the pack as they surrender 73.9 points per contest, which is good for eighth in the league. In their 12 losses, they are getting beat by an average of over 11 points a night, but five of those 12 have come by seven points or less.

Scouting the Tritons
The 2016-17 season equals year No. four for Missouri-St. Louis under the leadership of head coach, Bob Sundvold, who is 55-48 at UMSL and 180-156 in 10+ years as a collegiate head coach. This season, Sundvold has turned to a pair of scorers putting up at least 10 points per game in Hunter Reine (11.1) and Steven Davis (10.8). D.J. White and Elijah Watson are right on the cusp of that club with averages of 9.2 and 8.1, respectively. Reine, a big man for the Tritons, has scored at least 15 points five times and has been on a tear as of late. In his last eight contests, the center is averaging 13.9 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. As mentioned above in the Maryville section, the Tritons are scoring the fewest points per game in the entire GLVC at 68.9 per night. With that being said, Missouri-St. Louis is getting things done on the defensive end as it allows just 70.6 points per contest, which is good for third in the league rankings, so it will be a good test for Truman on Saturday. The Bulldogs have topped the 80-point mark in all but five games this season.

Chomping at the Bit
The Truman offense is among the GLVC's best in multiple categories including three-point field goal percentage (first), three-point field goals made per game (first), total three-point field goals made (first), free throw percentage (third), scoring offense (third), scoring margin (third), and field goal percentage (sixth). On the other side, Maryville and Missouri-St. Louis have the two worst scoring offenses in the league with 72.3 and 68.9 points per game, respectively. The Bulldogs like to score and they do so in bunches, so if Thursday and Saturday are good nights for their offense, it may not be so good for the Saints and Tritons.

History in the Making
Cory Myers is just 18 points away from becoming the 28th member of Truman men's basketball's 1,000-point club. The last two Bulldogs to join that elusive group were Seth Jackson on Feb. 22, 2014 against Missouri-St. Louis with 20 points and Mike Carlson on Jan. 11, 2014 against McKendree with 11 points. In the record books for career scoring, Jackson finished in third with 1,655 points while Carlson was six spots behind him in ninth with 1,326. When Myers does accomplish the rare feat, he will be the first to do so with Chris Foster as the head coach. This season, the Ankeny, Iowa native has already scored or surpassed the 18-point mark six times, most recently against Southern Indiana last Thursday with 22.

Make It Rain
Among the best that the country has to offer, Truman is third in three-point field goal percentage (44.3 percent), seventh in total three-pointers made (190) and 10th in three-point field goals made per game (11.2). Currently, nine of the 13 Bulldogs that suit up night in and night out are shooting at least 40 percent from behind the arc and 11 of those 13 are making at least 30 percent of their attempts from distance. Specifically, Jake Velky has turned into one of the most potent long-range assassins in all of Division II. Among the nation's top shooters, the 6-1 guard is 13th in three-point field goal percentage (49.5 percent), 31st in three-pointers made per game (3.3) and 42nd in total three-pointers made (50).

Around the GLVC
There are still three GLVC teams ranked in the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll, but this time, none of them come from the West Division. In the East, those three squads in the top 25 are Southern Indiana at No. 9, Bellarmine at No. 15 and Wisconsin-Parkside at No. 22. Other Truman opponents featured in this week's edition are Kentucky Wesleyan at No. 23 and Quincy with eight votes received. The league's entire schedule for this week's action can be found in the game notes by clicking the link at the top of the story.

Up Next
Truman will host four-straight games inside the friendly confines of Pershing Arena against the likes of Drury (Jan. 26 - 7:30 p.m.), Missouri S&T (Jan. 28 - 3 p.m.), Indianapolis (Feb. 2 - 7:30 p.m.), and Saint Joseph's (Feb. 4 - 3 p.m.).

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