KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Truman State Men's basketball takes the trip to Rolla, Mo. to play 11-6 Missouri S&T.
Against Missouri S&T:
Missouri S&T goes into the matchup against Truman State with an 11-6 record. The Miners are 5-4 in GLVC play, coming off an 87-62 loss at Illinois Springfield on January 16th. S&T is 7-0 at home, 2-4 away, and 2-2 in neutral site games this season. Their conference wins have come against Drury (82-79), Illinois Springfield (97-93), Maryville (87-83), McKendree (94-77), and Lewis (87-75). Their four conference losses have been to SBU (78-75), UMSL (76-67), UINDY (86-67), and Illinois Springfield (87-62).
The Miners put up an average of 84.1 points per game, and give up 75.8. They have scored a total of 1429 total points and have allowed 1288 this season. Their 84.1 PPG leads the GLVC, and the next closest team is UINDY who averages 79.2. Their 75.8 points per game allowed are the most in the league. S&T's +8.3 scoring margin is fifth in the GLVC, and have the second-best field goal percentage at .498.
Truman has dominated the series, winning 102 games against the Miners and losing 49. Truman had a 26-game win streak from 1953-1965. The Bulldogs have a 57-18 home record against the Miners, and are 39-30 when playing in Rolla. Truman is 9-1 in the last 10 matchups, and are on an eight-game win streak currently.
Sophomore Julien Smith leads S&T in scoring with 17.2 points per game, good for second in the conference. Smith grabs 2.1 boards, dishes out 1.2 assists, and has 1.6 takeaways a game.
Lovell Williams, Ikenna Okeke, and Kaden Froebe are the Miners' next best scorers. Williams averages 15.2/3.6/3.6, Okeke with 14.9/5.9/2.1, and Froebe with 12.2/5.8/2.2.
Smith averages 17.9 points in conference games, and Williams is right behind with 17.6.
Bulldog Tidbits:
Truman won their second conference game against SBU at home on January 16th 81-71. The game featured 12 lead changes and seven ties with SBU taking their largest lead at 64-57 with 6:19 to play. The Bulldogs fought back behind a pair of dunks from Dylan Peeters and a three-pointer by Hazekamp to cut it down to 67-66 at the final media timeout. Nduka Ogwu tracked down a rebound and they got a feed from Xavier Hall to put Truman on top 68-67. Ogwu finished with 12 points. Truman State would lead 70-69 before Hazekamp dialed again from distance with a minute to play and then the Bulldog free throw shooting prowess would take over. Truman would convert on all 10 free throw attempts in the final 50 seconds while taking advantage of some late turnovers by the Bearcats to pull away for the victory. The Bulldogs went 18-of-20 at the line for the game and 12-of-12 in the second half to overcome a 33-19 rebounding discrepancy and being outscored in second chance points 18-2. Trey Shearer added 13 points and Hunter Strait a dozen while Hall had eight assists.
Elijah Hazekamp is 11th in scoring in the GLVC with 14.6 points per contest. He is fourth in rebounds, averaging 7.2.
Hunter Strait is second in scoring for the Bulldogs, putting up 10.8 a game. He averages 2.8 rebounds and 2.6 points per game.
Truman State goes to Springfield, Mo. following Missouri S&T to play Drury on Saturday, January 21st, at 3 p.m.
