Truman Game Notes (.PDF)
Midwest Regional Central
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The Truman State University men's basketball program has entered uncharted territory. For the first time in 60 years of NCAA membership, the Bulldogs are making back-to-back appearances in the national tournament. For the Purple and White, this appearance marks their eighth as a member of the NCAA and sixth since joining the ranks of Division II.
What isn't uncharted territory for Truman is its opponent. The Bulldogs will be facing Bellarmine for the third time in three weeks having lost to them in Kirksville on Feb. 17 (82-70) and in the finals of the GLVC Tournament this past Sunday (75-61). Nearly half of the two teams' all-time meetings have come in 2017-18.
Truman is the seven seed, Bellarmine is the two seed and their quarterfinal matchup will be the second of the day in Ferris State's Jim Wink Arena. The Bulldogs were the seven seed in 2017 as well when they lost to second-seeded Ferris State, 86-78, on the campus of Bellarmine in Louisville, Ky.
Ball Security
One thing that both Truman and Bellarmine do well is take care of the ball and share it. Within the GLVC rankings, the Bulldogs are first (2.77) and the Knights are second (2.67) in turnover margin. When it comes to assist-to-turnover ratio, Bellarmine is on top (1.56) and Truman is right behind it (1.52). In fact, the league's top three teams in assist-to-turnover ratio (Drury included) are still playing. That shows you how important it is to take care of the rock and spread the wealth.
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Going Dancing
As mentioned above, Truman is making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance and sixth as a member of Division II. In those two circumstances, the Bulldogs have records of 8-8 and 5-6, respectively. The Purple and White will be looking to snap a three-game skid in the NCAA Division II Tournament that dates back to the 1998-99 team's loss to Metro State in the Final Four.
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Mr. Double-Double
As of right now,
Zach Fischer is 0.3 rebounds shy of averaging a double-double as he leads the team in points per game with 17.3. If Fischer can average a double-double, he'd be the first Bulldog to do it since David Winslow did so in 1980-81 with 16.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. That same season, Winslow racked up 17 double-doubles, which is just as many as Fischer has had so far this year.
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Young Guns
Truman boasts a pretty young roster while Bellarmine has quite a bit of youth in its own right. The Bulldogs have just two seniors, one of which is an everyday starter in Fischer, while the Knights' roster contains four seniors. Bellarmine will lose Jarek Coles and leading scorer, Brent Bach, but returns just about everyone else including Adam Eberhard.
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Both Ends of the Court
Truman boasts the league's second-best scoring offense at 84.4 points per game and Bellarmine's scoring defense of 61.5 points per contest is first in the GLVC. The first two times these two teams met, the Knights held the Bulldogs to 70 points and 61 points. Those two point totals for the Purple and White are two of their four worst this season, so they'll be looking to get it going offensively against one of the nation's best.
#BewareOfDog
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