Truman Game Notes (PDF)
Northwest Preview + Game Notes (PDF)
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The
Jeff Horner era hasn't quite gotten off to the start that he, his staff and team had envisioned. The Bulldogs dropped both games of their play in the GLVC/G-MAC Challenge including 81-57 to No. 23 Findlay on Friday and 91-84 to Cedarville on Saturday. With that being said, the Purple and White have no time to mope about the 0-2 start as No. 5 Northwest Missouri State comes knocking for the first road game of the season.
So far, early on in the season, the biggest bright spot for Truman might be the play of redshirt-senior guard,
Taurin Hughes. Hughes poured in 16 points in the opener against the Oilers before racking up a career-high 26 the following day vs. the Yellow Jackets. The Lee's Summit, Mo. native is shooting an unheard of 61.1 percent from behind the arc so far with 11 makes in his 18 attempts with eight of those buckets coming on 12 attempts against Cedarville.
Next up in the scoring department has been redshirt-sophomore guard,
Turner Scott. Scott has has point totals of 18 and 13 while shooting an even 50 percent from the floor (11-of-22). The third and final Bulldog averaging double-figures in the scoring category is
Cade McKnight at 10 per game after totals of 12 and 8.
Scouting Northwest Missouri State
Northwest Missouri State is off to another hot start under 10th-year head coach, Ben McCollum. The Bearcats were ranked No. 5 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) preseason poll and have already racked up a 4-0 record to begin the season. In those four games, Northwest has outscored its opponents by an average of 14.5 points per game. Friday's meeting with Truman is the 197th between the two teams and is the Bearcats' 2018-19 home opener.
Northwest features a trio of scorers averaging at least 10 points per game at at the top of that trio is redshirt-freshman guard, Trevor Hudgins, with 23.5 per contest. Hudgins' point totals in the first four games have gone 25, 26, 18, and 25. Also averaging 10 points per outing are sophomore guard, Ryan Hawkins, at 16.8 and senior guard, Joey Witthus, at 16.3. Hawkins is nearly averaging a double-double with a team-leading 9.3 rebounds per game.
Best of the Best
Under the leadership of head coach, Ben McCollum, Northwest Missouri State has turned into one of the finest programs in all of Division II. In the 10 seasons with him at the helm, the Bearcats are 207-75 overall and 126-52 in the MIAA. They've won five consecutive MIAA regular season titles, three straight MIAA Tournament titles and took the whole thing in 2017. In total, McCollum, the 2017 NABC and DII Bulletin Coach of the Year, has six MIAA regular season titles, those three MIAA Tourney titles and he is a four-time MIAA Coach of the Year.
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Silver Lining
Despite the 0-2 start to the 2018-19 campaign, the Truman State University men's basketball team has been the best in the GLVC at two things, three-point shooting and free throws. The Bulldogs are first in the league in three-point field goal percentage (46.0), first in three-pointers made per game (11.5) and first in free throw percentage (82.4).
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Plenty of History
As mentioned on page one, Truman and Northwest Missouri State have plenty of history having gone head-to-head so many times as members of the MIAA. Friday's meeting between the two schools will be the 197th in the all-time series, of which the Bearcats lead 102-94. The last 10 showdowns have been nearly neck and neck with Northwest holding a slight advantage, 6-4.
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Up Next
Up next, Truman will travel to Washburn on Tuesday (7 p.m.) followed by two games in Northern State's Dacotah Bank Thanksgiving Classic against the Wolves (7 p.m.) and Sioux Falls (4 p.m.) on Nov. 23-24.
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