LIBERTY, Mo. - Offensive explosion. That's the best way to describe what happened for the Truman State University men's basketball team on Thursday night at William Jewell. Ninety-eight points, 60 percent from the field (41-of-68), 50 percent (15-for-30) from behind the arc, and 26 assists. The Bulldogs scored nearly 27 points more than their previous season average and got just enough defense to pick up their fifth win away from Pershing Arena.

Truman (13-11, 8-6 GLVC) improved to 16-3 in the all-time series with William Jewell (10-straight wins) and 10-0 vs. the 40th-year Hall of Fame head coach, Larry Holley, who'll be retiring once the season is over. On the other side, the Cardinals dropped to 10-16 overall and 4-10 in GLVC play. Of the current league teams, Truman is joined by Bellarmine and Indianapolis as the ones that Holley never beat.

Those 98 points represent Truman's best offensive output of the season against a team not named Central Christian, a game in which the Bulldogs shot 60.3 percent (47-of-78) from the floor just like Thursday in Liberty. The 50 percent clip from deep is the Purple and White's second-best mark this season, but best with more than 11 makes, and the 26 dimes are outdone by just the 28 in that Central Christian victory.

Truman did all of that with just one made free throw (1-for-2). The last time the Bulldogs converted just one free throw in a game came 12 years ago to the day against Missouri Western on Feb. 14, 2007, a 68-64 loss inside Pershing Arena.

Individually, nine different Bulldogs scored and five of those nine racked up at least 10 points including Brodric Thomas (24), Nathan Messer (15), Mark Rogers (pictured/14), Taurin Hughes (13), and Cade McKnight (10). Thomas also led Truman in rebounds with eight while Hunter Strait and Turner Scott combined for 13 of the Purple and White's 26 assists with seven and six, respectively. Thomas tallied both of the Bulldog blocks and was one of four players with two steals along with Scott, McKnight and Messer.

Thomas has now scored at least 20 points in 16 of his 44 games for Truman, or more than a third of them. For Messer, his career high of 28 points came in his eighth game as a Bulldog back on Dec. 3, 2016, also against William Jewell. In his three games against the Cardinals since that one, the Navy transfer had been held to a combined 18 points before a resurgent 15 on Thursday thanks to five triples. Rogers reached double-figures for the second time in his career (personal-best 16 vs. Central Christian) with that GLVC high of 14.

In the beginning, all three of the game's ties and its five lead changes happened in the first seven minutes and change. With 12:33 to play in the first half, the score was deadlocked, 14-14, before Truman scored nine of the next 11 points to go up by seven, 23-16, at the 8:01 mark. After that, the closest Jewell could get was three, 33-30, with just over three and a half minutes to play until the break. However, the Bulldogs ended the frame with a 14-5 run that put them up 12, 47-35, heading into the locker room. Those 47 points are the most by Truman for a first half on the road this season.

Out of the break, the Cardinals were never closer than 10 (47-37 and 49-39) and the Bulldogs led by as many as 26 (88-62) with just under six minutes left.

Next up, Truman will be at Rockhurst on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip. As of Thursday night, the Bulldogs and Hawks are ranked seventh and eighth, respectively, in the GLVC Point Rating System.

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