Truman vs McKendree PDF Notes

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Men's Basketball team will resume their GLVC schedule during the first week of the new year as they will play four games in a week; beginning with Lindenwood on Sunday at 3, then at Quincy on Tuesday night at 7:30, then host Lewis on Thursday at 7:30, and conclude at McKendree at 3 on Saturday.
 
The Bulldogs had a 4-0 December with wins over Missouri-St. Louis and Maryville during the first week of the month and then got wins against Central Christian College of the Bible and then Grand View University. It has been a perfect home start for the Bulldogs, who have not lost a regular season game at Pershing Arena in over two seasons.
 
Truman has now moved to 8-2 on the season, and remain undefeated in GLVC play, along with Lewis and Southwest Baptist. In this week's NABC poll, the Bulldogs moved up one spot to 19^th in the country and remain the only GLVC team in the top 25—though SBU received five votes.
 
The Bulldogs will host Lindenwood to start the week, and are looking to make it 3-0 against the Lions in GLVC play. The Lions have begun the season 5-6, and have lost their last four games, including two losses in the Las Vegas Classic to Western Washington and #4 West Texas A&M, who finished as National Runner Up last season. 
 
On Tuesday the Bulldogs head across the Mississippi to take on the Hawks. Quincy has opened GLVC play 0-2 after falling to Lindenwood and UMSL, but has opened the year 6-5 overall. They fell to Missouri Valley College 84-81 on a buzzer beating three after winning three straight.
 
The team will return home to face Lewis (Ill.) on Thursday. The Flyers have won four straight entering the week after starting the season 0-5, including wins over UIndy and McKendree as well as Ferris State.
 
The last game of the week sees the Bulldogs go on the road to face McKendree, a team they have not seen since January of 2020. The Bearcats enter the week with an overall record of 5-2 in the first year under head coach George Suggs, who took over for Chris Foster this summer. 
 
At the flip of the calendar, the Bulldogs are second in the GLVC in scoring offense at 83.9 points per game, and are also third in turnover margin at +11.2. Truman is also second in shooting percentage from the field at .504, and from downtown at .424. With over 11 made threes per game, the Bulldogs lead the GLVC in treys per game and are also the only team in the GLVC shooting over 80% from the free throw line.  
 
About the Players:
 
The two leading scorers in the GLVC will be featured in the first game as Cade McKnight and Lindenwood's Jacoby Ross will square off. Ross has taken back the lead in scoring average at 20.5 points per game, while McKnight is second at 19.9. The two are also 1-2 in free throw percentage with Ross holding a slight edge at .872 to .849. McKnight leads the GLVC in shooting percentage from the field at .625, 44 points ahead of second place Marty Jackson of UMSL. McKnight is also top ten in the GLVC in minutes per game with 32.2, good for eighth best. McKnight has hit double figures in every game this season, and 14 straight games dating back to last season.

Masen Miller is averaging 3.3 makes from beyond the arc per game, good for third in the GLVC, and is 22^nd in the GLVC in scoring average with 12.8 points per game. His .446 shooting percentage from downtown is second in the GLVC to only Quinn Nelson of SBU. Miller also is sixth in the GLVC in minutes per game with 33.3. In addition to a game winning three pointer against UMSL, he also set new career highs with five rebounds and tied a career high with five assists.

Hunter Strait has taken over as the top distributor this season, and is tops in the GLVC in assists per game with 5.5. He has been going back and forth with Mitch Ganote of SBU for the leading spot in the conference, and presently holds a slight edge to Ganote's 5.4. Strait also ranks 25^th in the conference with 28.9 minutes per game.

Elijah Hazekamp has set a new career high with 23 points this season against Cedarville, and reached the 20 point threshold against Grand View. He scored 16 of the team's 33 points in the first half against the Vikings. With 11.5 points per game, he is one of three Bulldogs averaging double figures. He also ranks 11^th in the GLVC in rebounds with 6.4 per game. He also has set new career highs this season with seven assists against Maryville and two blocked shots against UMSL.

Dylan Peeters ranks 10^th in the GLVC in rebounds per game with 6.7, which leads the Bulldogs. He's recorded double-doubles against Findlay and Central Christian, while also setting new career highs in assists with five at Northwest Missouri State and steals with six against Central Christian. He's averaging 8.5 points per game this season.

Eric Northweather has made his first two career starts this season against Maryville and Central Christian, and has been averaging 12.9 minutes per game in nine appearances this season. He's taken the lead for the Bulldogs with eight blocked shots, which with .9 per game ranks 17^th in the GLVC. He'a also scored in double figures twice (11 at Upper Iowa and a career high 14 vs Grand View) and also set new career highs with six rebounds against Grand View, two assists vs Central Christian, and two blocks and one steal in two different games this season.

Trey Shearer is averaging 14.9 minutes per game in his freshman season, playing in all ten games. He is shooting .344 from the field and .353 from three point range. He reached double figures at Missouri Southern, hitting two threes and all six foul shots. He's also reached three assists twice and got two steals against Grand View.

Keaton Mitchell has set new career highs this season with 11 points against Central Christian, as well as ten rebounds in the same game or his first double-double. He's reached double figures in four games this season and also gotten multiple steals against Missouri Southern and multiple blocks against Upper Iowa. He's averaging 12 minutes per game.

Sam Nissen is averaging 3.2 points per game off the bench this season; including a career high 11 against Findlay—hitting three of three triples. With 12.8 minutes per game, he is averaging the most of his career so far. He also has nine assists and three steals.

Sam Lock has played in eight games this season, averaging 9.5 minutes per game. He played a career high 22 minutes against Upper Iowa, in which he set career highs with 14 points, six rebounds and two steals. He later set a new career high with three assists against Maryville.

Josh Ollendieck has appeared in five games this season, averaging seven minutes per game. He scored a career high five points against Central Christian. Devin Fields has gotten double digit minutes in the last two games scored nine total points with three made three pointers.
 

Series History w/Lindenwood: The two teams have met eight times before, with Truman taking five of those meetings (including an early meeting forfeited by LWU). Truman won in St. Charles 76-63 last season in the only meeting between the two teams. Peeters had a double-double in the game with 21 points and 11 rebounds, the strong performance propelled him to his first GLVC Player of the week award. After two meetings in the 1980's (including the one forfeited), the two teams did not meet again until 2013, and met four times in the 2010's with LWU taking three meetings. But Truman has taken the last three, and first two with both teams in the GLVC.
 
About the Lions: Lindenwood is led by Ross and Romelo Burrell, who are averaging 20.5 and 16.8 points per game, respectively. Burrell also leads the team with 7.5 rebounds per game, sixth in the GLVC—as well as 35.8 minutes per game; tops in the GLVC. Brandon Suggs has blocked 16 shots. Kevin Caldwell leads the team with 34 assists, and also averages in double figures with 13.6 points per game and averages 4.3 rebounds per game.
 
Series History w/Quincy: Truman has won seven straight against their longtime rivals, and with this streak has taken the head to head lead in the series 66-61. Since the 2012-13 season, the Bulldogs have taken 15 of 17 meetings. A win in this meeting would match the longest winning streak for the Bulldogs in the series at eight wins. Last season both meetings between the two came down to the wire as Truman won 96-91 in overtime in Kirksville and then 74-68 in Quincy. Overall, home teams have a large edge in the series at 80-46.
 
About the Hawks: Malik Hardmon is fourth in the GLVC with 17.8 points per game, which trails Ross, McKnight and Julien Smith of Missouri S&T. Hardmon also leads the Hawks in rebounds per game with 6.2, which is good for 16^th in the GLVC. Joining him in double figures are Jalen Stamps at 11.4 points per game and Nate Shockey at 11.3. Jamaurie Coakley leads the team with 51 assists, at 4.3 per game he is fourth in the GLVC.
 
Series History w/Lewis: Truman has won the last three in the series, but trails the overall series 7-6. Last season Truman won by 21 in Romeoville and defending their home court with a seven point victory. Cade McKnight led the Bulldogs with 18 points in both games. After Truman joined the GLVC, Lewis won the first five, Truman the next three and Lewis two more and then Truman the last three.
 
About the Flyers: Connor Niego has been named GLVC Player of the Week twice so far this season, and he leads the Flyers with 16.0 points per game 8.4 rebounds per game. He's playing 31.9 minutes per game which is ninth in the GLVC and is third in the conference in rebounds and also eighth in points. Joining him in double figures is Bruno Williams at 12.3 per game. Dre Bell lead the team with four blocks and 22 assists. Niego and Williams lead the team with 13 steals each.
 
Series History w/McKendree: Last year's game was unable to be played, and the Bulldogs have taken all seven meetings against the Bearcats. The first meeting came in 2014, a 31 point win in Kirksville, and the most recent meeting was a 17 point win in Lebanon.
 
About the Bearcats: McKendree rebounded with a 13 point over nationally ranked Union (Tenn.) after dropping two to Maryville and Lewis. Bryson Bultman leads the team with 17.1 points per game, which ranks fifth in the GLVC—he's also third in the conference in assists with 4.3 per game and second with 35 minutes a game. Carson Parker is fourth in the league in rebounding with 7.7 per game.

Up Next: After this four-game week, Truman will get a few days off before playing five games over a 10-day span. The Bulldogs will be at Missouri S&T on January 13, rematch at Maryville on January 15. Return home for a Monday conference game against Drury on January 17 then go back out on the road for rematches with Missouri-St. Louis on January 20 and Lindenwood on January 22.