Feb.17, 2009 – The men’s basketball team returns to action on Wednesday night as they head to Maryville and Northwest Missouri State University. The Bulldogs are coming off an 83-72 loss against Nebraska-Omaha while the Bearcats have won two straight and are pushing for an MIAA tournament berth.
Ethan Freeman and Alex Henderson were a combined 14 out of 17 from the field in Saturday’s game against Nebraska-Omaha and Truman shot 51% from the field for the game but the Mavericks shot 55% from the field and made 10 three-pointers to pull away from the ‘Dogs.
Freeman made his first eight field goal attempts and scored 19 points as Truman cut a 13-point halftime deficit down to just two points with as late as 8:04 to play. Mitch Albers scored seven of the next nine UNO points to push the lead back to 10 and the Mavericks were able to defeat the Bulldogs 83-72.
The Bearcats have won their last two games and are just a ½ game out of the final MIAA tournament berth. Northwest trails Missouri Southern by a game in the standings but defeated the Lions 72-70 in Maryville back on Jan. 21st and will play the Lions again in the final regular season contest in Joplin.
Hunter Henry was 10-of-12 from the field and scored 25 points in the dismantling of rival Missouri Western on Saturday night in St. Joseph. Henry added 13 rebounds as the Bearcats led all but the first three minutes of the game.
Henry had 22 points and 13 rebounds in the first meeting with Truman back on Jan. 10th in Kirksville. The Bearcats broke a 32-all tie by outscoring Truman 40-31 in the second half and the 72-63 victory.
Elijah Allen of Northwest led all scorers with 24 points, while Truman’s Banks Estridge had 21 points with four three-pointers.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?:
The Bulldogs are looking for their first road victory of the season (0-11) and first in nine MIAA games played.
The Bulldogs have been mathematically eliminated from a postseason tournament berth.
After winning the conference postseason tournament last year, the Bearcats are currently on the outside looking in. Northwest is ½ game back of Missouri Southern for the eighth seed but have won two straight and currently hold the tie break over the Lions if needed.
The Bearcats have their next two games against the conference leaders in Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist before a showdown with the Lions in Joplin on Feb. 28th.
BULLDOGS BITES:
- Sophomore Ethan Freeman and senior Banks Estridge are tied for the Bulldog scoring average lead at 10.1 ppg. Freeman has a one-point advantage after his 19 points against Nebraska-Omaha (243-242).
- Estridge is also the leader with 73 assists and 39 steals. He has scored 931 for his career. He is eighth in the conference in steals (1.62) and also is the team leader in free throw percentage at 77%.
- Freeman is not only tied in scoring average but tied with senior Patrick Fandja for the rebounding lead at 5.5 boards per game. Freeman has 133 rebounds (93 def, 40 off) is second with 50 assists and shoots 50.6% from the field.
- The Bulldogs have had 14 different starting lineups this season through 24 games. Only one combination (Fandja, Freeman, Estridge, Gabe Landau, Alex Henderson) has started four games together. Estridge is the only Bulldog to start all 24 games this year, while Freeman is second with 19 starts.
- In road conference games, the Bulldogs shoot 42% from the floor, 31% from three-point and 63% from the foul line. Truman averages 58.1 points per game and are a -3.6 turnover margin. Opponents are shooting 47% overall, 43% from beyond the arc and 72% from the line. Home conference teams are averaging 74.6 points per game against Truman.
- Estridge leads the team in scoring in road conference games at 10.4 points per game. Freeman is second at 10.1 and Vesko Filchev is third at 8.5. Filchev shoots 58% from the field and pulls down a team-high 5.6 rebounds per road league game.
- The Bulldogs are 5-0 when leading at the half and 6-5 with scoring over 60 points per game.
- Truman is averaging 61.9 points per game and has a season-high 97 against Central Christian College. The Bulldogs are fourth in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 68.9 points per game.
- Three Bulldogs have topped 20 points in a game this season. Patrick Fandja holds the season-high with 23 points against Missouri Western last time out. Fandja also had 22 against Washburn. Banks Estridge’s 21 against UNO and Northwest is third. Ethan Freeman scored 20 against William Woods.
- Fandja and Brandon Griffin have recorded the only double-doubles this season. Fandja had 23 and 11 against Missouri Western and 22 and 11 against Washburn on Dec. 13th while Griffin scored 19 and had 12 rebounds against Central Christian College on Nov. 20th.
SCOUTING NORTHWEST MISSOURI:
Northwest dropped their first six conference games but has since gone 6-4 over their last 10 games to climb into position for a MIAA tournament berth.
The Bearcats have the third best scoring defense in the league (67.6) and the third best free throw percentage (70.9%). Northwest is also third in steals per game (8.91) and turnover margin (+4.09).
Northwest is 7-4 overall in Bearcat Arena and 4-4 in league games at home.
Hunter Henry leads the Bearcats by scoring 17.3 points per game and is fourth in the conference scoring race. Henry is also the conference leader in rebounds per game, pulling down 8.7 per contest and second in field goal percentage at 55.3%.
Elijah Allen is second in scoring at 12.6 per game and Mike Larsen leads the team in both assists (4.0/g) and steals (2.0).
COACHES:
Jack Schrader is in his 14th season as head coach of the Bulldogs. He has an overall record of 153-229. Schrader has guided two Bulldog team to the NCAA Division II tournament. The 1998-99 team finished their season at the NCAA Final Four, while the 2005-06 team was a participant in the NCAA South Central regional.
Truman has only had three men’s basketball coaches since 1946, Boyd King (1946-1971), Willard Sims (1971-1995) and Schrader (1996-present). Schrader has twice been named the MIAA and NABC South Central region Coach of the Year.
Coach Schrader picked up his 150th victory of his career as Bulldog head coach in a 97-71 win over Central Christian on Nov. 20th. He is currently third all-time among Truman coaches trailing Boyd King (379 wins) and Williard Sims (310 wins).
Steve Tappmeyer is in his 21st season at Northwest Missouri and has a 407-205 record during that span. Tappmeyer is a 1979 graduate of Southeast Missouri State.
SERIES:
This is the 187th meeting between Truman and Northwest Missouri, it is the longest series in terms of games played between the Bulldogs and a single opponent. They are two of the three (Central Missouri) originals members of the MIAA remaining in the conference.
The Bearcats hold a 97-89 advantage over Truman and a 49-29 mark in games played in Maryville.
The Bulldogs last win at Northwest and last win in the series was a 76-71 triumph on Feb. 1st, 2006.
UP NEXT:
The Bulldogs final road contest of the season will be on Saturday night as they will travel to St. Joseph and Missouri Western State University.
Truman defeated the Griffons on a Patrick Fandja buzzer-beater in Pershing Arena back on Jan. 14th 69-67.
The Griffons have their second conference bye on Wednesday night and will have a week off to prepare for the visiting Bulldogs. Missouri Western was last defeated by Northwest Missouri 79-66 on Feb. 14th
Tip off in St. Joseph from the Missouri Western Fieldhouse is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.