Truman Game Notes (PDF)
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Riding a four-game winning streak, the Truman State University men's basketball team was silenced on the road Tuesday at Missouri Southern State. The Bulldogs trailed by just five, 48-43, at halftime before being outscored by 24, 58-34, in the second half en route to the 106-77 defeat. That decision gave the Lions seven wins in a row and 13 straight in the all-time series with the Purple and White that they lead by 13, 30-17.
Two bright spots in that game were the play of redshirt freshman,
Cade McKnight, and redshirt junior,
Brodric Thomas. McKnight racked up a personal-best 24 points for the second time in three games and has reached double-figures in his last four games after doing so just once in his first four. Thomas looks to be returning to his First-Team All-GLVC form from a year ago as he poured in 21 points for his first 20-point game of the season.
Truman now comes back home to host Central Christian College of the Bible of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) before traveling to Division I Indiana State for an exhibition on Saturday.
Scouting Central Christian
Central Christian College of the Bible competes in the Midwest Christian College Conference (MCCC) and has a record of 4-5 in year eight under head coach, Jack Defreitas. It's been an up-and-down season so far for the Saints as they started 2-1 before two-straight losses (2-3) followed by back-to-back wins (4-3) and now a two-game losing streak (4-5). CCCB boasts four different players averaging double-figures in the scoring department including Trey Black (16.0), Caleif Gregg (15.8), Kedron Rollings (12.9), and Emanuel Harris (10.3). Just below those four at 9.6 points per game is the team's leading rebounder, Ian Denton, with 7.3 per contest. Josh Crawford is also close to 10 points per game with 9.2 per contest.
Scouting Indiana State
For the second time in three seasons, Truman will travel to a Division I arena for a mid-season exhibition, this time it's the Sycamores of Indiana State University out of the Missouri Valley Conference. In year No. 9 under head coach, Greg Lansing, the Sycamores are off to a 5-2 start, but just had their five-game winning streak snapped. Indiana State has found most of its scoring from two players including Jordan Barnes at 21.8 points per game and Tyreke Key with 18.9 per contest. After those two, the next-closest player in the scoring department is Clayton Hughes (7.7) followed by Devin Thomas (7.4). Key is also the team's leading rebounder with 5.1 per game.
(Mc)Knight in Shining Armor
As mentioned above, redshirt-freshman big man,
Cade McKnight, is starting to come into his own. Through the first four games of his collegiate career this season, McKnight averaged 8.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. In his four games since that stretch, the forward is putting up 17.5 points and 4.3 boards per contest. In two of his last four games, McKnight has gone off for 24 points and combined to shoot 19-of-27 (70 percent) in those efforts.
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Familiar Sight
Brodric Thomas, despite foul trouble, was able to score 21 points in 24 minutes on Tuesday at Missouri Southern State. Not only that, but Thomas was efficient (7-of-11) to go with seven makes in seven attempts at the free throw line, four rebounds, one assist, and no turnovers. That effort marked Thomas' first 20-point game of the season after he missed the first six games of the season with a foot injury.
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'Tis the Season
It's that time of the year where Truman is finishing up its non-conference schedule for the regular season and Christmas is right around the corner. So far, in its out-of-GLVC slate, the Bulldogs have gone 2-5 with three games remaining including Central Christian on Friday, Grand Valley State on Dec. 18 and Graceland on Dec. 29.
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Up Next
Truman will play two more games for the year 2018, both of which will come inside Pershing Arena. The Bulldogs will host No. 24 Grand Valley State on Tuesday, Dec. 18 (3 p.m.) and the defending NAIA National Champions, Graceland, on Saturday, Dec. 29 (3 p.m.).
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