Men's Basketball Notes: Truman at Saint Joseph's (Feb. 4; 7:30 p.m.)

Truman Men's Basketball Notes (February 4, 2016)
Twitter: @TrumanAthletics || @TSUBulldogHoops || #BewareofDog
Printable/Media Game Notes (PDF)

Game #22: Truman (16-5, 8-3 GLVC) at Saint Joseph's (8-12, 4-7 GLVC)

When: Thursday, February 4, 2016 || 7:30 p.m. (CST)
Where: Rensselaer, Ind. || Scharf Fieldhouse
Audio: 104.7 FM KRES (Brad Boyer, Play-by- Play; Hank Janssen, Analyst) || Online Feed
Live Stats || Live Stats (Mobile) || Live Video

Series Record: Truman leads, 2-1
Series Record in Rensselaer: Truman leads, 1-0
Series Record Since Truman Joined GLVC: Truman leads, 2-0

Last Meeting: February 12, 2015 || Truman won, 112-75 (Kirksville, Mo.)
Last SJC Win vs. TSU: December 12, 1994 || Saint Joseph's won, 91-87 (ot) (Rolla, Mo.)
Series Streak: Truman – W2

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - With just seven games remaining in the 2015-16 regular season, the Truman men's basketball team kicks off the final weekend of a four-game road trip in northwest Indiana against Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday night.

The Bulldogs rode the number 82 to a pair of victories last weekend to kick off the four-game stretch, with the purple and white running their record to 16-5 overall (8-3 GLVC) with wins at Missouri S&T (82-69) and Drury (82-72). Truman got career-best efforts in both games, as junior guard Kyle Kanaskie scored 22 on perfect shooting against the Miners before senior guard Cole Myers dropped 23 points – including 20 in the second-half – at Drury on Saturday.

This weekend marks the last inter-divisional road trip of the year, with Truman making a return to Rensselaer for the first time since the 2013-14 season – the Bulldogs' first as members of the GLVC. That year, Truman picked up an 83-74 victory before blasting the Pumas (8-12, 4-7 GLVC) by a 112-75 score in Pershing Arena last February. Last year, the Bulldogs drained 14 three-pointers against Saint Joseph's, with current seniors Andrew Vander Zwaag and Cole Myers combining for eight triples off the bench.

Truman will face the Pumas for the fourth time in program history, with a 1994 neutral-site meeting in Rolla joining the last two seasons' worth of GLVC contests as the only previous matchups between the schools. The Bulldogs hold a 2-1 all-time lead, including a 1-0 mark in games played on the Pumas' home court.

Chris Foster is in his second season as the head coach of the Bulldogs and is in his third season with the program overall. He has a career record of 36-15 (.705) and was a former standout guard at the University of Northern Iowa, where he ranks among the program's top-10 in games played, assists, and three-pointers. Foster was a member of UNI's 2003 and 2004 NCAA Div. I tournament squads. He is assisted by Mike Annese, who returned to the program this season after a one-year stint at Minnesota-Crookston, and graduate assistant Nik Koprivica.

About the Bulldogs:
The Bulldogs come into Thursday night shooting 47.1% from the floor as a team, which includes a 35.7% mark from three-point range. Truman is shooting 71.1% from the foul line and has forced 121 more turnovers (361-240) than it has committed.

The Bulldogs remain one of the nation's most balanced squads, as five different players are averaging double-figures offensively. Kyle Kanaskie holds team lead in scoring average at 12.2 per game. However, he is closely followed by redshirt junior guard Cory Myers, who is averaging 12.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, along with a team-high 78 assists and 39 steals. Redshirt junior Connor Erickson (11.7 ppg/ 4.1 rpg) and senior Cole Myers (11.5 ppg/ 4.4 rpg) come in third and fourth offensively, with sharpshooting senior Andrew Vander Zwaag checking in fifth at 10.0 ppg (46 three-pointers made).

Truman continues to lead the GLVC in turnover margin (+5.8) and steals per game (9.7). The Bulldogs also remain second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.35-to-1) and three-pointers (9.4 per game), while once again entering the week as the nation's No. 2 team in turnover margin, trailing St. Edward's (Texas) who holds the top spot at +7.2.

GLVC Tournament Outlook:
With this week's worth of play taking us down to a one-hand count of games left on the regular season docket, teams have begun to set their sights on the 2015 GLVC post-season tournament, to be held from February 28 through March 6 on both campus sites and at Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.

The top 12 teams will earn a berth, with the top-4 seeds earning an automatic bye into the quarterfinal round and a direct ticket to St. Charles. Seeds 5-8 will play host to seeds 9-12 on campus sites on Sunday, Feb. 28, with the four first-round winners advancing to the quarterfinals.

Heading into Thursday night, the Bulldogs and Quincy sit atop the GLVC West division at 8-3, one game clear of Drury at 7-4. Both Truman and QU hold a "magic number" of two to clinch a post-season berth; however, based on Thursday's matchups, it will take until at least Saturday before the Bulldogs are guaranteed one postseason game. Truman has a "magic number" of five to clinch – at minimum – a first-round home game. Bellarmine (10-1) is the only team to have punched a post-season berth, while both Indianapolis and UW-Parkside (9-2) can do so on Thursday night with victories.

If the tournament started before Thursday night, the Bulldogs would be the No. 2 seed by way of their divisional record tiebreaker against QU.

Scouting the Pumas:

Saint Joseph's is averaging 81.7 ppg (7^th in GLVC) offensively while giving up 90.1 ppg (16^th in GLVC) on the defensive end. The Pumas are last in the league in scoring margin (-8.4) but rank in the top-5 both in free throw percentage (3^rd; 76.4%) and offensive rebounding (10.9/game).
The Pumas are 5-5 at home this season, including 3-4 in GLVC play. This weekend marks the final home games for SJC, with the Pumas embarking on a season-ending five-game road trip to end the year.
SJC has lost five of its last six games, giving up an average of 105.7 ppg in the last three (vs. UIS; at BU; at USI).
As a result of its high-scoring offense, five players average double-figures offensively. Like Truman, the Pumas are incredibly balanced, with a total of six players averaging between 9.2 and 11.2 points per game. Nathan Tidwell (#24; Sr., 6-foot-6) is averaging 11.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, while Davious Webster (#34; Fr, 6-foot-3) is averaging 10.9 points per game and has a team-high 27 steals on the year.
Tom Church is in his third season at the helm of the SJC program and has posted an 18-58 record at the school.

Pick Your Poison:
As balanced as the Bulldogs have been all season long in scoring with five players in double-figures, a second glance is typically needed when looking at the Truman scoring lineup in conference-only games. Truman has five players in double-figures through 11 league games as well, but it's how tight the numbers are that show the balance of the Bulldog offense.

13.1 / 12.1 / 11.7 / 11.1 / 10.7 // 9.8

That sextet consists of – in scoring order – Cole Myers, Kyle Kanaskie, Cory Myers, Connor Erickson, Andrew Vander Zwaag, and Dwight Sistrunk Jr. As a group, they are shooting 47.2% (team – 45.4%) overall, 37.5% (team-34.9%) from three, and 75.6% (team-70.9%) from the foul line.

Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):

#80IsGravy: 'Dogs have won all 29 games under HC Foster when scoring at least 80 points (14-0 in 2015-16).
#UniWatch: 'Dogs have three uni combos this season – 12-2 in whites, 3-2 in purples, and 1-1 in anthracite greys.
#NoLeadTooBig: The Bulldogs have come from 10 points down to win twice this season (CU, 11/28; UMSL, 1/21).
#HappyNewYear: Truman went 7-2 this year in January; 14-5 in month under HC Foster.
#ForceTheMistakes: In 21 games this season, Truman has had equal/fewer turnovers than opponents 19 times (16-3 in those games).
#Familiarity: Truman has jogged out the same starting five each of the last eight games: 12, 22, 30, 32,45
#MBBHistory: Thursday's game will mark the 2,227^th in program history. TSU has a 1,146-1,080 overall record (.515) in 96^th season.
#DifferentDoubDoubs: Cory Myers has both a points/rebounds double-double along with a points/assist double-double this year.

Hank's History Lesson – February 4:

Truman is 15-15 all-time in games played on February 4.
The Bulldogs last won on the date in the 2005-06 season, when Andy Calmes tipped in a missed Banks Estridge lay-up at the buzzer to lead the Bulldogs to a 68-67 win against Emporia State in Kirksville. The win improved the Bulldogs to 18-4, with the purple and white ranked No. 22 in the nation at the time of the game.

I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends:
Truman has been incredibly generous with the rock this season, averaging more than 15 assists per game overall. The Bulldogs, who have topped the 20-assist mark in a game five times this season, are 10-0 this year and 23-3 during the past two seasons when they dish out at least 15 assists in a game.

"Three"sy-Peesy:
Truman has seen sustained success from distance throughout program history, with the Bulldogs having made at least one three-pointer in every game since Feb. 12, 2003 – a stretch of 356 consecutive games.

In addition, the No. 13 has been the Bulldogs' lucky/unlucky number this season, as Truman has knocked down 13 triples in a game five times this year. In order to make the program's all-time single-game team top-10, a current eight-way tie for eighth-most is currently held by the No. 14.

Vander Zwaag Reaches 100; Myers Eyes It:
Senior guard Andrew Vander Zwaag played in his 100^th game as a Bulldog last Thursday night, while fellow senior backcourt mate Cole Myers is just three away at 97. To crack the top-10 at Truman, the magic number 110, with the Bulldogs having six more regular season games after Saturday.

Checking the Career Charts:
Four Bulldog regulars are creeping up on a handful of career individual charts, as senior Andrew Vander Zwaag, senior Cole Myers, junior Cory Myers, and junior Kyle Kanaskie have each seen their all-time numbers climb in recent outings.

Vander Zwaag now ranks 8^th all-time both in three-pointers made (181) and attempted (472). He needs five more makes and four more attempts to tie Andy Guethle's 7^th-best marks of 186 and 476, respectively (1996-2000).

Meanwhile, the Myers twins continue to race each other up the career steals chart, as Cole now has a five steal lead on Cory at 127-122. The elder (by athletic year) is now eighth all-time, having passed Gary Bussard's four-year total of 126 (1980-83) last Saturday, with the younger (again, by athletic year) in 10^th all-time. Jason Reinberg (1996-2000) is 7^th on the all-time list with 136.

Cory (a redshirt junior) has also moved past Ethan Freeman into eighth all-time on the career assist chart with 292, leaving him next behind Banks Estridge's mark of 319 (2005-09) for 7^th place.

Kanaskie isn't quite eligible for the program's all-time free throw percentage list at this point, as he needs 11 more makes to reach 100 made for his career (the minimum standard). However, his current clip of 89.0% (89-for-100) would be first place overall, as Tom Norton (2009-13) has the current top spot at 85.8% (211-for-246).

Up Next:
The Bulldogs head south down I-65 and into the Eastern time zone for a Saturday afternoon showdown against the University of Indianapolis (15-4, 9-2 GLVC). The Greyhounds – who received votes in last week's NABC top-25 coaches' poll – play host to Quincy on Thursday night prior to the 2:15 p.m. (CT) tip-off on Saturday against the Bulldogs.

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Players Mentioned

#32 Connor Erickson: F; 6' 8"; Redshirt Junior

#22 Kyle Kanaskie: G; 5' 11"; Junior

#11 Cole Myers: G; 6' 3"; Senior

#12 Cory Myers: G; 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior

#30 Andrew Vander Zwaag: G; 6' 3"; Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

#32 Connor Erickson
: 6' 8"; Redshirt Junior
: F

#22 Kyle Kanaskie
: 5' 11"; Junior
: G

#11 Cole Myers
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

#12 Cory Myers
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Junior
: G

#30 Andrew Vander Zwaag
: 6' 3"; Redshirt Senior
: G