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KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—The Truman men's basketball team will open their season a few weeks later than originally anticipated as they head east to take on Lewis in Romeoville, Ill. and then Indianapolis in the Hoosier State's capital.

The Bulldogs have won 20+ games in six of the last seven seasons, and are looking to build upon last year's 23 wins (their most since 1998-99 when they won 26).
The team is led by senior Turner Scott and junior Cade McKnight, a second team all-conference selection a year ago. Scott enters the season with 772 career points, while McKnight enters the year with 730. Both should be able to reach the 1,000 point mark this season. Scott led the team in minutes last year with 1068, 34.5 per game. He shot .415 from the field and was third on the team with 42 three pointers. His 9.8 points per game were fourth on the team. He led the team with 128 assists, which was third in the conference.

McKnight finished 19^th in the GLVC with 14.1 points per game, and led the GLVC in shooting percentage among qualified players at .609. He was also ninth in the conference shooting 81% from the free throw line. In addition to being named second team all-conference he was named to the GLVC All-Tournament team.

Overall, four out of five starters will return as Alex McQuinn and Hunter Strait return as well. McQuinn led the team with 26 blocked shots last season and started 27 of the 29 games he appeared in. His 141 rebounds led all returning players. He set career highs last season in rebounds with 12 against Rockhurst, five against Missouri S&T, steals with three at Rockhurst and blocked shots with five at Drury.

Strait was one of three Bulldogs to appear in all 31 games last season, and was second on the team with 62 makes from downtown. He also led the team in free throw percentage with 84.6% makes (33-39). He set a new career high with five made threes twice last season against Missouri S&T and Illinois Springfield.
 
During the 1979-80 season, their season opener was played on November 30 (a win over Missouri Baptist), this is the latest start to the season since that year.
This season will be a 22 game schedule, with conference only opponents. The conference has been divided up into three divisions—the East, Central and West. Truman is in the central division with division favorite #9 Missouri-St. Louis, Lindenwood, Maryville and Quincy. The Bulldogs got two of 15 first place votes in the preseason poll to win the Central, while UMSL got 12 and Lindenwood got one. The conference tournament will be as it was in years prior with the top eight teams making the tournament; regardless of division. The GLVC points system will rank the top eight teams.
 
Last year vs. Lewis:
The last time the Bulldogs and Flyers met was a resounding victory for Truman. With four players in double figures, Truman won 85-58. McKnight and Brodric Thomas tied for the team lead with 16 points, while Strait had 13 and Scott had ten. Overall the Bulldogs made nearly 65% of their field goals, including a scorching 71.4% (20-28) in the second half as they pulled away for the victory. Artese Stapleton led the way for the Flyers with 12 points and four assists.

Series note:
Lewis leads the overall series 7-4, with Truman taking four of the last six meetings between the two schools.
 
Last year vs. Indianapolis:
The Bulldogs met the Greyhounds twice last season, with UINDY taking the regular season meeting 83-82 and Truman taking the meeting in the GLVC Tournament 88-77. The regular season meeting was a tense affair with the Greyhounds leading most of the way before the Bulldogs made a run in the final minutes. With 3:45 to go Thomas made a triple to give Truman their first lead of the half and over the next few minutes they went back and forth until Jimmy King won it at the buzzer for UINDY.
In the second meeting, Thomas led the way with one of his finest games of the season with 32 points and 14 rebounds as the Bulldogs rolled into the GLVC Championship Game. The first half was tense with nine ties and nine lead changes, but in the second half Truman pulled away for the 11 point win.

Series note:
Indianapolis has taken seven of the nine meetings between the two, with Truman getting their first win in the series in 2018 and then winning last year's GLVC semifinal. Games between these two are usually close, as seven of the nine meetings have been decided by single digits.

Both games will start at the conclusion of the women's games, which will be approximately 3:15 local time.