Truman Game Notes (PDF)
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - 198 days. That's how long newly minted head coach,
Jeff Horner, has been on the job for the Truman State University men's basketball program. On day 199, he gets to begin his collegiate head coaching career against Findlay, a team that went 28-5 last season with a trip to the Midwest Region Championship game against eventual national champion, Ferris State. The Bulldogs lost their only meeting with the Oilers back in 2003, but have won both meetings with Saturday's opponent, Cedarville. The Purple and White are opening their season at home for the first time in exactly five years.
The Purple and White feature a roster of 16 players that includes five freshmen, five sophomores, three juniors, and three seniors. Those 16 players, Horner and his staff were picked by the league's coaches to finish sixth out of 14 squads in the conference. Gone from a second-straight NCAA Tournament team are three of the top four leading scorers with the exception being
Brodric Thomas.
In 2017-18, Truman averaged 83.8 points per game. That means that the Bulldogs have lost over 38 points per game or over 45 percent of their scoring in form of
Zach Fischer (17.0),
Jake Velky (16.6),
Jack Green (9.7), and
Connor Lusso (2.3). Thomas will be relied upon heavily during his redshirt-junior campaign to not only contribute, but excel.
Scouting #23 Findlay
28-5 and a trip to the Midwest Region Championship game. Findlay was really good last year, we know that. However, the Oilers lost three of their top four scorers just like the Bulldogs with the leading scorer coming back being senior forward, Alex White. White also averaged 6.6 rebounds per game and will be joined by junior, Aaron Overhiser (6.8 PPG), and senior, Trey Smith (5.4 PPG). Findlay is in year No. eight under Charlie Ernst who has an overall record of 159-52 (.754 winning percentage) during that time.
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Scouting Cedarville
Cedarville is entering season No. 11 under Pat Estepp. During that time, Estepp has led the Yellow Jackets to five 20-win seasons and five national tournament appearances. However, Cedarville hasn't reached 20 wins in a season since the 2012-13 campaign and have finished below the .500 mark in each of the seasons since then.
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Best as Can B(T)
Brodric Thomas had quite the first season back in the Purple and White. Thomas was named both First-Team All-GLVC and a member of the All-Defensive Team as he was tied for third in blocks per game, tied for third in steals per game, tied for sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio, seventh in assists per game, 11th in points per game, 14th in field goal percentage, tied for 17th in rebounds per game, and 19th in minutes played per game.
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Messer of Old
For his first season on campus back in 2016-17, Messer put up 11.6 points per game and among GLVC ranks, was second in three-pointers made per game (3.1), sixth in total triples made (77), seventh in three-pointers attempted (187), and seventh in three-point field goal percentage (41.2). His average dropped to 9.6 last season and he'll be expected to play a large role this season.
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Turner the Burner
When
Turner Scott goes, this team's offense goes. As a redshirt freshman, Scott averaged seven points and 2.6 assists per game despite struggling with an injury early in the season. In the first half of the Midwest Region quarterfinal game against Bellarmine, Scott had 13 points, just two turnovers, two rebounds, one assist, and a steal. That may have been when the point guard was at his best and Truman will need all of that this season.
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Taurin the Tarantula
As a redshirt freshman and sophomore, Hughes appeared in a combined 19 games without making a start. Fast forward to his redshirt-junior campaign and Hughes saw time in all 31 of the team's games (one of three Bulldogs to do so) and made the first seven starts of his career. Hughes finished sixth on the team in scoring with 10 games of at least 10 points and one with 20 on Nov. 18 against top-ranked Northwest Missouri State.
#BewareOfDog
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