KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Men's Basketball team will be back on the floor Thursday night as they travel to Rolla to take on Missouri S&T and then come home for a showdown with Drury Monday afternoon; welcoming back former coach Chris Foster, who now leads the Panthers. The Bulldogs were scheduled to play at Maryville Saturday, but that game has been canceled due to covid issues within the Maryville program.
The Bulldogs had won six straight before falling at McKendree Saturday in a nail biter. In December the Bulldogs went 4-0 against UMSL, Maryville, Central Christian and Grand View and then downed Lindenwood and Quincy in the first week of January before falling to the Bearcats.
Truman is now 10-3 on the season, and 4-1 in GLVC play. The Bulldogs remain the only team ranked in the NABC top 25 at number 21, with UMSL and Southwest Baptist also receiving votes this week.
Thursday's trip to Rolla will be the 151st meeting between the two programs, and Truman owns slightly better than a 2-1 edge at 101-49 all time. The Miners enter the game at 6-7 overall, and have exceeded their win total from a season ago. In GLVC play the Miners have begun 2-4, with wins over Drury and Rockhurst.
Coming home on Monday night the Bulldogs will take on Drury, who enters the week with a 4-7 overall record and 1-2 in GLVC play. Drury has taken 12 of the 21 meetings so far between these two teams. The Panthers last win coming into this week came on December 10th against Uni. of Health Sciences and Pharmacy-St. Louis.
The Bulldogs remain second in the GLVC in scoring offense at 81.5 points per game, and are also third in scoring margin at +10. Truman is also second in shooting percentage from the field at .499, and from downtown at .421. With 10.9 made threes per game, the Bulldogs lead the GLVC in treys per game and lead the GLVC in shooting percentage from the free throw line at 79.9%.
About the Players:
The second and third leading scorers in the GLVC will be featured in Thursday's game as Cade McKnight and S&T's Julien Smith will square off. McKnight remains second in ppg with 19.9 and Smith is averaging 19.3. McKnight leads the GLVC in shooting percentage from the field at .625, 32 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 3.5 makes from beyond the arc per game, now the top mark in the GLVC, and is 18th in the GLVC in scoring average with 13.5 points per game. His .450 shooting percentage from downtown has surpassed Quinn Nelson of SBU for best in the conference. Miller also is sixth in the GLVC in minutes per game with 34.2.
Hunter Strait has taken over as the top distributor for the Bulldogs this season, and is tops in the GLVC in assists per game with 5.7. He has been going back and forth with Mitch Ganote of SBU for the leading spot in the conference, and is widening his edge on Ganote's 5.1. Strait also ranks 24th in the conference with 28.9 minutes per game.
Elijah Hazekamp has reached double figures in four straight games, and with 21 against Grand View and 18 against Lindenwood he was named GLVC Player of the Week for the first time two weeks ago. With 12.2 points per game, he is one of three Bulldogs averaging double figures. He has also moved into the top ten in the GLVC in rebounds per game with 6.6. He also has set new career highs this season with seven assists against Maryville and two blocked shots against UMSL.
Dylan Peeters is averaging 6.8 rebounds per game, which leads the Bulldogs and places him 8th in the GLVC. He's recorded four double-doubles this season, including two last week against Quincy (12 points, ten rebounds) and McKendree (13 points, 11 boards).
Eric Northweather has made four starts this season, and against Lindenwood he set a new career high with 18 points. He's blocked 14 shots this season which leads the Bulldogs and at 1.2 blocks per game is tied for 8th in the conference. He's reached double figures three times this season.
Trey Shearer is averaging 15.1 minutes per game, and reached double figures for the second time this season with 11 at McKendree. He set a new career high against the Bearcats with five field goals made. He also tied a career high with three assists at McKendree.
Keaton Mitchell has reached double figures in six games this season, setting a new career high with 15 points against Lindenwood last week. He set a new career high with ten rebounds against Central Christian, which got him his first double-double with 11 points as well. He's averaging 7.7 points per game this season.
Sam Nissen is averaging 2.4 points per game off the bench this season; including a career high 11 against Findlay—hitting three of three triples in the game. He's hit seven times from downtown this year. He made his first start of his career against Quincy last week, and for the year is averaging an assist per game; highest of his career so far.
Sam Lock has played in 11 games this season, averaging 9.1 minutes per game. He's 14-27 from the field, shooting 51.9% and made nine three pointers. He made two threes against Quincy in 17 minutes played. For the year he's averaging 4.1 points and 1.5 rebounds per game.
Josh Ollendieck has appeared in seven games this season, averaging 4.3 minutes per game. He scored a career high five points against Central Christian. Devin Fields has been in four games this year and made three shots from downtown.
Series History w/Missouri S&T: The two teams have a long history with each other, dating back to 1923. The first meeting between the two was a 26-23 win for the Bulldogs in Kirksville. They met again six days later, but then would not play again until 1935. Since then they have met almost every year, with a few exceptions (in the early 40's the two did not play for a few years due to World War Two). Truman has a seven game winning streak in the series, and has won 13 of the last 14 meetings. Overall Truman has won 101 of 150 meetings, and in Rolla has won 38 of 68 meetings.
About the Miners: In their third year under coach Bill Walker, the Miners have shown improvement with six wins, matching the highest season total of his tenure only halfway through this season. Julien Smith is averaging 19.3 points per game and 3.1 rebounds per game, while shooting .426 from the field. Kaden Froebe leads the team with 36 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game. He's second on the team with 11.1 points per game, one of three miners averaging in double figures. Alex Strating is averaging 10.1 points per game, and shooting .622 from the field. Mahamadou Kaba-Camera leads the team with 18 blocks, tied for third most in the GLVC.
Series History w/Drury: The first time the two teams met was in 1923, which was a 15-14 win for the Bulldogs in Springfield. After a meeting in 1938 the two would not see each other again until 1992. Overall, Drury has a 12-9 edge in the series, but the Bulldogs took the most recent meeting—a 74-53 win in Springfield last season. It will be the first trip to Kirksville for the Panthers since 2018, which Drury won in overtime 98-96.
About the Panthers: Malek Davis leads the Panthers with 15.2 points per game, which is 10th in the GLVC. Clay Gayman and Victor Nwagbarachoa are also averaging double figures 12.2 and 11.4 points, respectively. Quenton Shelton is the fourth Panther averaging double figures with 10.3 points per game, while Obi Okafor leads the team with six rebounds per game. Davis leads the Panthers with 37 assists, Gayman leads with 17 blocks and Shelton with 15 steals.
Up Next: After these two games, the Bulldogs will return to the St. Louis area for two more games—against UMSL and Lindenwood on the 20th and 22nd. The Bulldogs are looking to sweep the season series from both.
