Truman Game Notes (.PDF)
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - As the calendar has flipped to January, 2017 is behind the Truman State University men's basketball team and so is non-conference play for the regular season. The Bulldogs are getting geared back up for Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) action and it resumes with Missouri S&T on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Lewis on Saturday at 3 p.m., both inside Pershing Arena.
In that final non-conference affair for the Purple and White, Truman pummeled Iowa Wesleyan to the tune of 107-52 inside the friendly confines. The Bulldogs shot a red-hot 56.9 percent (41-of-72) from the field and five scorers reached double-figures including
Zach Fischer (23),
Turner Scott (18),
Jack Green (14),
Nathan Messer (13), and
Jake Velky (11). In the process, Messer secured his first career double-double with 10 rebounds to go with those 13 points.
Overall, Fischer continues to lead the way while averaging a double-double at 18.6 points and 10.5 boards per contest. Those two numbers rank fifth and second in the GLVC, respectively. The fifth-year senior is also first in the league and seventh in the country in field goal percentage (69.8 percent). If the season ended right now, that number would be the best mark in program history by over seven percent.
Scouting Missouri S&T
Missouri S&T is off to a bit of a rough start for the 2017-18 season as it has a record of 2-8 overall, 0-2 in the GLVC and has lost two games in a row. The Miners are in year nine under head coach, Jim Glash. During his nine-plus seasons, Glash has accumulated an overall record of 71-149 (.323 winning percentage). Glash and company are looking to get Missouri S&T into the GLVC Tournament for the second consecutive season after 2016-17's appearance for the Miners was their first in three seasons.
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Scouting Lewis
Lewis is the only school in all of the GLVC that can say it has advanced to the GLVC Tournament quarterfinals in each of the past 11 years. During that time, the Flyers have been led by 12th-year head coach, Scott Trost. Trost has paced Lewis to four 20+ win seasons, four NCAA Tournament berths, an average of nearly 19 wins per year, two consecutive appearances in the GLVC Tournament finals, and the tourney title in 2016. Right now, the Flyers are 6-7 overall, 1-2 in the GLVC and have faced quite the schedule including four Division I exhibitions, Southern Indiana, Bellarmine, and Ferris State.
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Spread the Wealth
Missouri S&T has six, count 'em, six scorers averaging at least 10 points per game. Those six players, from the top, are Chris Harris (15.8), Dulan Scott (12.4), Romain Louiserre (11.9), Allante Pickens (11.6), Sebastian Ferenc (11.3), and Ervin Sarajlic (11.1). In the rebounding department, Ferenc leads the way with 8.7 per game while the assist category is paced by Pickens' 3.4 per contest.
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Something's Gotta Give
Expect a high-scoring affair on Thursday as Missouri S&T and Truman have the second-to-worst and worst scoring defenses in the GLVC, respectively. The Miners are currently giving up 78.3 points per game while the Bulldogs are surrendering a league-worst 79 points per outing. On the other side of the ball, the Purple and White have been able to counter that somewhat with the fifth-ranked scoring offense in the GLVC, but Missouri S&T is second-to-last in that category as well.
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Lewis' Upperclassmen
Lewis has been led by a pair of upperclassmen in junior guard/forward, Delaney Blaylock, and senior forward, Cristen Wilson. Blaylock is putting up 15.8 points per game and Wilson is right on his heels in that category with 15.5 per contest. Last year, when Truman faced Lewis in the regular season, Blaylock was one rebound from a double-double (23 points, nine boards) while Wilson did secure the double-double (17 points, 12 rebounds). The second time around, those two were contained much more and combined for 21 points and 10 boards.
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Unsolved Mysteries
Lewis (0-5) and Indianapolis (0-4) are the only GLVC teams that Truman has never gotten in the win column against. The Bulldogs get a shot at the Flyers this weekend, but the showdown with the Greyhounds must wait until Thursday, Jan. 18 in Indiana.
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Up Next
After these two games inside Pershing, Truman will play six of its next seven games on the road. The Bulldogs will face Missouri S&T this Thursday and turn around and play them next Thursday at their place.
#BewareOfDog
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