Truman Game Notes (PDF)
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Having already played three tough opponents, the road doesn't get any easier for head coach,
Jeff Horner, and the Truman State University men's basketball team. The loss at No. 5 Northwest Missouri State opened up a four-game road trip with stops at Washburn and Aberdeen, S.D. for two at Northern State's Dacotah Bank Thanksgiving Classic.
When it comes to the next week's opponents, Truman hasn't faced Washburn since the MIAA days, lost its only matchup with Northern State and has never faced Sioux Falls. As for the Ichabods, the Bulldogs haven't fared well in the all-time series as Washburn leads it by 24, 39-15.
Turner Scott scored 10 points at No. 5 Northwest Missouri State and has reached double-figures in three-straight games for the first time in his career. The Clive, Iowa native also turned in six assists, one away from tying his career high which he did twice as a redshirt freshman. Against the Bearcats,
Jacob Socha also scored 10 points after scoring his first nine of the season in game two vs. Cedarville. The 6-3 guard has now scored at least 10 points in a game four times in his career.
Scouting Washburn
Washburn is coming off a second-straight 20-win season in 2017-18 in which it went 22-10 overall and 14-5 within the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA). Those 22 wins for the Ichabods were there most since the 2011-12 campaign when they went 25-8. 2012 also happened to be the last time Washburn had gone to the NCAA Tournament until 2018 when head coach, Brett Ballard, was able to lead the Ichabods there in his first season at the helm. Last season, Washburn finished third overall in the MIAA and made it all the way to the conference tournament championship game.
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Fast forward to year two for Ballard and Washburn has been led by senior guard, Javion Blake and his 22.5 points per game. The 6-3 Kansas native racked up 36 points in the season opener vs. Oklahoma Baptist before 13 at Southern Nazarene and 19 most recently vs. Rockhurst, fellow Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) foe. So far, Blake has been joined in double-figure scoring per game by Tyas Martin (11.7) and David Salach (10.0), both of which are also seniors. In their last game, the Ichabods started those three seniors along with sophomores Tyler Geiman and Will McKee.
Don't Look Ahead
As mentioned above, the road doesn't get any easier for Truman after having faced three tough opponents, two of which were ranked in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) top 25 in No. 23 Findlay and No. 5 Northwest Missouri State. The Bulldogs have three games until the GLVC opener vs. Rockhurst on Nov. 29 and the combined record of those three opponents is currently 8-2.
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Welcome to the Show
Three players made their Truman debut on Friday at Northwest Missouri State including junior guard,
Caleb Socha, brother of Jacob, redshirt-freshman forward,
T.J. Schilling, and redshirt-sophomore forward,
Olawale Odofin. Schilling pulled down a defensive rebound while Odofin scored his first career points on a layup to go with one defensive board.
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Up Next
Truman will compete in Northern State's Dacotah Bank Thanksgiving Classic on Friday and Saturday. The Bulldogs will face the host Wolves on Friday at 7 p.m. before a matchup with Sioux Falls the following saturday beginning at 4 p.m. Truman lost its only matchup with Northern State back on Nov. 23, 2014 at the Wolves' place (76-74 in overtime) and has never faced Sioux Falls.
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