LEBANON, Ill. – The McKendree University men's basketball team will look to put the brakes on a two-game losing skid to open the New Year here Saturday afternoon as the Bearcats host 16th-ranked Truman State University in a 3 p.m. Great Lakes Valley Conference game on Alumni Day at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center on the McKendree campus.
 
Saturday's game will be the third game for the Bearcats in the last six days as they began the three-game stretch with a 68-55 setback at home this past Sunday against Southern Indiana, before suffering a 63-56 loss on Tuesday at the University of Indianapolis.
 
McKendree comes into Saturday's second home game of the 2022 calendar year sporting a 5-4 overall record and a 1-4 mark in the GLVC following its setback on Tuesday at UIndy. Since opening the season with four consecutive wins, the Bearcats have lost four of its last five games with the lone win being an 80-67 victory over then 21st-ranked Union (Tenn.) University in its final non-conference game of the 2021-22 season on Dec. 14.
 
In the loss on Tuesday at UIndy, the Bearcats led 51-44 with a little under eight minutes remaining in the game, before the Greyhounds would close the game on a 19-5 run to post its 63-56 come-from-behind victory. During UIndy's game-ending scoring run, the Bearcats were held scoreless for nearly four-and-a-half minutes until a lay-up and free throw by junior guard Bryson Bultman (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) with 4:19 remaining gave McKendree a 54-50 lead. Bultman's three-point play keyed a 12-0 run by UIndy to retake the lead they wouldn't relinquish.
 
Bultman paced the way offensively against UIndy as he tallied 13 points to extend his double-digit scoring streak to seven consecutive games. In addition to Bultman, redshirt senior guard Brendon Gooch (Belleville, Ill./SIU-Carbondale) added a season-high 11 points for the Bearcats.
 
On the season, McKendree is averaging 64.8 points per game and has scored over 74 points in four of its first nine games but is averaging just 55.8 points per game in GLVC play. Additionally, the Bearcats are outrebounding its foes by 3.0 boards per game and are averaging 35.2 boards per game and is shooting 44 percent from the field, 34 percent from the 3-point line and 70 percent from the free throw line.
 
Defensively, the Bearcats one of the top defensive teams in the GLVC as they lead the league in scoring defense as they are allowing 61.9 points per game and have held all but one opponent under 70 points as Lewis scored 78 points in a 78-62 win over the Bearcats on Dec. 4 and are third in the league in both field goal percentage defense (39.5 percent) and three-point field goal percentage defense (31.3 percent).
 
Through nine games this season, Bultman continues to lead the Bearcats in scoring as he is averaging 17.2 points per game, which is fifth in the league. In addition to averaging 17.2 points per game, Bultman is also averaging 6.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game and is shooting 45 percent from the field, 33 percent from the 3-point line and 67 percent from the free throw line. He has scored in double figures in eight games, including seven straight games of reaching double figures and he has also tallied four games with 20 or more points, including a McKendree season high of 29 points in the season opener against Michigan Tech.
 
Three other Bearcats are averaging between 8.0 and 8.8 points per game on the season as junior guard Aleksandar Davitkov (Belgrade, Serbia/Partizan) is averaging 8.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game and is shooting 38 percent from the field and 37 percent from the 3-point line, while redshirt senior guard Oliver Stephen (Edwardsville, Ill./SWIC) is averaging 8.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game and leads the team in made treys with 19 and is shooting 40 percent from the field and 37 percent from the 3-point line and is 10th in the league in made 3-pointers per game as he is averaging 2.1 per game and sophomore guard Carson Parker (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) is averaging 8.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and is shooting 45 percent from the field and 79 percent from the free throw line.
 
Meanwhile, Truman State, who is ranked 16th in the latest NABC Division II Coaches Poll and 14th in the latest D2SIDA Poll, comes into Saturday's game riding a six-game winning streak that has moved its overall record to 10-2 on the season and the Bulldogs are 4-0 in the league. Truman State is one of two remaining undefeated teams in league play this season. The Bulldogs have opened the New Year with back-to-back wins at home against Lindenwood (74-56) and at Quincy (73-72). Truman's other two wins in league play have come against UMSL (72-71 in overtime) and Maryville (77-68).
 
Truman comes into play this weekend with one of the top offenses in the GLVC as the Bulldogs are second in the league in scoring as they are averaging 82.2 points per game and have scored 80 or more points in five games, including tallying a season high 108 points in a 108-48 win over Central Christian Bible. Along with scoring 82.2 points per game, Truman State is also second in the league in field goal percentage as they are shooting 50.4 percent from the field and leads the league in 3-point shooting at 43.0 percent. The Bulldogs are averaging a GLVC-best 11.3 made treys per game and have made 10 or more treys in a game eight times, including a high of 18 treys against Central Christian Bible. The Bulldogs have made double-digit treys in six consecutive games and is shooting 41.1 percent from long distance in GLVC play.
 
Defensively, Truman State, who posted a 20-3 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight last season, is allowing 71.3 points per game and have allowed 80 or more points in four games but is allowing just 66.8 points per game in league play. The Bulldogs' opponents are shooting 44 percent from the field, 36 percent from the 3-point line and 73 percent from the free throw line and have a +2.9 rebound margin and are averaging a league-best 19.5 assists per game.
 
Three Bulldogs are averaging in double figures on the season with redshirt junior forward Cade McKnight averaging 19.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and is shooting a league-best 62.5 percent from the field, 54 percent from the 3-point line and 85 percent from the free throw line. McKnight has scored in double figures in all nine of the games he's played in, including four games of scoring 20 or more points.

In addition to McKnight, the two other double-digit scorers are freshman guard Masen Miller and redshirt sophomore guard/forward Elijah Hazekamp. Miller is averaging 13.3 points and 3.5 assists per game and is shooting 43 percent from the field, 45 percent from the 3-point line and 91 percent from the free throw line and has scored in double figures in six game, while Hazekamp is averaging 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game and is shooting 54 percent from the field, 47 percent from the 3-point line and 90 percent from the free throw line.
 
Truman State is coached by former Iowa Hawkeye guard Jeff Horner, who has posted a 68-28 record in his fourth season as the Bulldogs head coach. Along with being 68-28 overall, Horner has posted a 45-14 record in GLVC play.
 
Saturday's game will mark the eighth all-time meeting in the series as Truman State holds a 7-0 edge in the series, including posting an 82-65 win in the most recent meeting on Jan. 5, 2020, in Lebanon, Ill. Truman is 4-0 in Lebanon and 3-0 in the series in Kirksville, Mo.  
 
Following Saturday's game, McKendree will remain at home as they host the University of Indianapolis in a 7:30 p.m. GLVC game on Thursday, Jan. 13 at the Statham Sports Center in Lebanon.