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(AP) -- The Truman men’s basketball team will hit the floor for its second exhibition contest of the 2011-2012 season on Wednesday night when the Bulldogs take on the Missouri Tigers in Columbia at 7:00 pm.

Wednesday’s game marks the second of three exhibitions against Div. I opponents to kick-start the season, as the ’Dogs are coming off a 99-68 defeat at Missouri State last Thursday (Oct. 27).

Under the direction of first-year head coach Matt Woodley, the new-look Bulldogs were led by 16 points in 22 minutes from freshman Seth Jackson, a product of St. Louis’ CBC high school.

Returning junior guard Tom Norton hit four three-pointers en route to 14 points, and returning sophomore guard Isaac Gardner added 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field.

The ’Dogs were put in a big hole by a 24-7 MSU run midway through the first half, leading to a 47-22 advantage at the break for the host Bears.

However, the teams played nearly even in the second half, as Truman shot 54% from the floor and hit eight three-pointers in scoring 46 second half points.

Of the 15 faces on the Truman roster this season, only eight are carry-overs from last season, with center Vesko Filchev playing the role as the team’s lone senior.

Other familiar faces for Bulldog fans are Shelbina, Mo.-native junior Matt Patterson, sophomores Marek Bush, Pat Sodemann and Pat Sodemann, and Mike Carlson, a freshman who redshirted last year.

Two junior college transfers join the lineup this season, as EJ Hicks, a 6-foot-3 guard from Davenport, Iowa, and Nick Stromer, a 6-foot-6 forward from Garner, Iowa, both bring extensive experience from their respective JC’s to the team. In addition to the aforementioned Jackson, fellow CBC-product Dominic Kacich, a 6-foot-3 guard; Andrew Vander Zwaag, a 6-foot-2 guard out of Johnston, Iowa; Tyler Anderson, a 6-foot-5 forward from West Des Moines, Iowa; and Patrick Burmester, a 6-foot-9 center from DeWitt, Iowa, round out the roster as true freshmen.

All 15 players will be led by a new coaching staff, with Woodley taking over after previously gaining Div. I assistant experience at Denver, Middle Tennessee State and Washington State before spending the previous two seasons as the head coach at Waukee (Iowa) High School.

He’ll be joined on the sidelines by Todd Lorensen, who makes the transition to Truman after most recently serving as an assistant coach at Nebraska-Omaha, and Matt Fitzpatrick, who has spent the past six seasons as a high school assistant in the Davenport-Iowa area.

The Bulldogs will have their toughest test of the season on Wednesday night, as the purple and white head to Columbia for the second time in three seasons to take on the Big XII’s Missouri Tigers.

Two seasons ago, the Tigers handed Truman a 96-33 setback in the first exhibition game for both teams. Current squadmembers Vesko Filchev (8 points, 3 rebounds), Matt Patterson (3 points, 3 rebounds) and Tom Norton (5 points, 30 minutes) all saw action in that contest.

The Tigers will also be playing their second exhibition game of the 2011-12 campaign after playing in the One State-One Spirit Classic on Oct. 30 in Joplin against Missouri Southern.

The event, which helped raise more than $100,000 for the Joplin community, saw MU pick up a 114-68 victory over the Lions, who were the MIAA preseason favorite in both the coaches and media polls.

Six players tallied double-figures, led by preseason all-American Marcus Denmon’s 25 and Michael Dixon’s 19. The Tigers shot 57.5% from the floor and hit 13 of 24 three-pointers.

The Tigers are under the direction of first-year coach Frank Haith, who comes to Missouri after a seven-year stint at the University of Miami (Fla.), where he posted a 129-101 record.

The Tigers are coming off a 23-11 season that ended with a 78-63 loss to Cincinnati in the NCAA tournament’s first-round.

The Bulldogs and Tigers have met just twice when it counted, with MU winning 40-20 on Jan. 5, 1927 in a regular season game and again in 1933, 30-24.

Up Next:

The Bulldogs will wrap up the exhibition portion of their 2011-12 schedule with a trip to Indiana State on Saturday (Nov. 5) morning at 11:05 am.

The Sycamores advanced to the NCAA tournament last season, earning the Missouri Valley Conference bid after downing Missouri State in the MVC Championship game.

Courtesy Truman State University

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