KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—The Truman Men's Basketball team has won five games in a row and put their winning streak on the line this week as they head to Bellarmine and Indianapolis in two crucial GLVC games. First stop is at Bellarmine Thursday with a 7 PM CT tip followed by a Saturday afternoon tilt with Indianapolis at 2 PM CT.

The Bulldogs sit atop the GLVC at 12-2, and in conference games have the top scoring defense in the GLVC at 63.1 points and are third in points scored at 76.4. This gives them the number one margin in the conference at +13.3. The Bulldogs are tops in conference game field goal percentage at .514 and in field goal defense at .408; as well as rebound margin at +7.6.

Brodric Thomas led the team with 27 points in each of the two games last week against Lindenwood and Missouri-St. Louis, earning him GLVC player of the week honors. His scoring average improved to 21.4 points overall, second in the conference and 20.3 in conference games—also the second best mark. With 7.6 rebounds per game in GLVC games, he is tied for second in the conference. Thomas has crossed the 20 point threshold in three straight games and in six of the last seven. Thomas is also third in steals with 1.93 per game in the GLVC.

Three Bulldogs joined Thomas in double figures in the win over UMSL—Alex McQuinn and Turner Scott each scored 12 points while Hunter Strait added 11. McQuinn leads the GLVC in field goal percentage in conference games at 68.4% and Cade McKnight is second at 65.2%. Scott is one of three players averaging over four assists in GLVC contests at 4.1, third in the conference, and Thomas is fourth at 3.8.   

The Opponents:

The Bellarmine Knights were picked to win the conference at the start of the season, earning ten of 14 first place votes. They entered the season 4^th in the NABC poll, and advanced to number one in December. The Knights won their first 14 games of the season, but fell to Indianapolis on January 20^th and including that game have lost five of their last seven—though none by more than five points. The Greyhounds beat them 81-76, Southwest Baptist beat BU 79-74, Illinois Springfield downed them 77-75 and this past week William Jewell beat them 70-69 in OT and Rockhurst beat them 76-72. The Knights dropped out of the NABC poll for the first time this season this past week. Senior Alex Cook leads the team, averaging 16.9 points in conference games and 16.6 points in all games.  

Bellarmine leads the all-time series between the two teams 6-3. Truman took the first meeting in 1966 75-67 in Kirksville, but the two did not meet again until the 2013-14 season; which was another win for Truman. Bellarmine took the next two before the Bulldogs won in 2016-17, but since then Bellarmine has won four straight in the series.

Indianapolis entered the season third in the GLVC poll with 191 points after a 19-10 2018-19 campaign. They enter the weekend 17-5, with a 9-5 record in the GLVC. They started the season 7-0 before falling to Bellarmine. They come in winners of six of their last seven games—a stretch that started with a victory over #1 Bellarmine on January 20^th. Jimmy King leads the conference in assists in GLVC games with 5.6 per game, while Trevor Lakes leads with 15.3 points per game and Jacob Polakovich leads them with 6.3 rebounds per game.

The Bulldogs are 1-6 against the Greyhounds, with their first meeting coming after TSU joined the GLVC. The Greyhounds won 75-73 in Indianapolis, and won the first four matchups between the two teams. Truman got their first win in the 2017-18 season at Indy as they won 86-80. Indy won the last two meetings.

Up Next:

The Bulldogs will head to Drury next Thursday for a showdown with the Panthers on the 20^th. The final home game of the season comes on the 22^nd as the Bulldogs take on Southwest Baptist at Pershing Arena.