KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Truman State Men's basketball takes flight to Las Vegas and they will play games against MIAA opponents Pittsburg State and Central Missouri.

The Bulldogs are coming off a tough loss against Upper Iowa, where Truman fell 105-79 in Fayette, Iowa.

The first 10 minutes of the first-half was extremely close, with Truman down 25-24. 

Upper Iowa scored 13-straight points after leading Truman by one, and the lead only got bigger as the game went on. The Peacocks ended up winning by 26.

Four Bulldogs scored double-digit points, with Xavier Hall leading with 14. Hall had six assists and went 7-12 shooting.

Trey Shearer was right behind Hall with 12 points on 5-9 shooting, and Blaise Porter and CE Talton both had 10.

As a team, Truman shot 30-65 (46.2%) from the field and 5-20 (25%) from three.

Truman now sits at 3-5 and are 1-1 in conference play before playing the Gorillas and Mules.

Trey Shearer, Kobi Williams, and Xavier Hall are all averaging double-digits scoring, with Shearer leading the way with 12.4. Shearer is playing 30.8 minutes per game and is shooting .532 from the field and .538 from three. The junior from Montezuma, Iowa is also averaging 3.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists. and 1.0 steals per game.

Kobi Williams is right behind Shearer in scoring at 12.0. The freshman has a .403 field goal percentage and is better from three at .414 from behind the arc. He is one of Truman's most complete players, grabbing 3.9 boards, 1.6 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.4 blocks a game.

Xavier Hall is not having a sophomore slump, dropping 10.6 points per game along with a team-high 5.3 assists. Hall plays an average of 29.5 minutes and has a shooting percentage of .434 from the field and .333 from three.

Landon Eiland is the team leader in rebounds 4.5, and Casen Lawrence leads the Bulldogs in steals with 1.1.

Pittsburg State's Max Alexander has been great so far, averaging 22.1 points per game. Alexander is shooting .450 from the field and .333 from three. The 5-11 sophomore guard from Buhler, Kansas has six games of 20+, and scored a season-high 31 against Missouri Western on 11/30.

Jordan Frison is second in scoring for the Gorillas, averaging 15.0 a game on .500 shooting from the field. Frison is also second in rebounding, averaging 5.1 per game.

Deshaun English II is their third double-digit scorer at 11.8 points per game. 6-6 English leads their team in rebounding, grabbing 8.6 boards a game.

Pittsburg State is 4-4, but the Gorillas did upset then No. 3 Central Oklahoma 75-66 on 12/9.

Central Missouri is a well-balanced squad scoring, with four Mules scoring 10+ points per game. Caleb Nero, Tim Jordan Jr., Keith Kiner III, and Jalen Knott are all averaging double-digit points.

Nero is scoring 12.5 per game, and has an even 100 points so far. Nero, a 6-1 redshirt senior is shooting .375 from the field and .321 from three. His season-high was 22 points against Park (Mo.) on 11/25 where he shot 8-17.

Tim Jordan Jr. has been efficient this season, shooting .531 on 64 attempts. Jordan Jr. is scoring 11.5 points per game.

Keith Kiner III leads the team in rebounding, averaging 5.1 per game. Kiner also leads in blocks with 1.4.

Jalen Knott is scoring 10.8 points per game and also leads in assists with 1.8.

Like Pittsburg State, the Mules are 4-4 overall and fell to common opponent Central Oklahoma 75-62 on the road.

Truman State head coach Jeff Horner is one win away from passing Don Faurot in all-time wins, needing one to reach 93 career wins.