Quick Notes

• Trinity International goes for their third win in a row this weekend, when they travel to face the Purdue-Northwest Pride. Tipoff from Hammond, Ind. is set for 3:00 p.m.
• Streaming video and live stats of Saturday's matchup can be found at TIUTrojans.com.
• The Trojans began the heart of the conference season Wednesday night, earning an 80-79 road victory over Roosevelt.
• Trinity's 8-3 overall record is the best start through eleven games of a season for the program since the 1995-96 season. That season, the Trojans did not take their third loss until Jan. 31 en route to a 25-6 overall record and NAIA Tournament appearance.
• Trinity boasts the second-highest scoring offense in the CCAC in the early season, averaging 89.9 points per game. Through two games in league play, TIU has averaged 78.0 points per game, good for 4th in the CCAC.
• Defensively, the Trojans allow 77.6 points per game (7th in CCAC), while Purdue-Northwest boasts the 8th-best average, allowing 77.9 points per game.
• The Pride are 3-5 on the year, and 2-2 in the CCAC, having also won two in a row. Purdue-Northwest will play ten of their first 11 games of the season at home, split between their two home arenas in Hammond and Westville, Ind.
• Senior forward Zach Kirschbaum is the team's leading scorer and rebounder, with 18.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game.
• Kirschbaum has posted nine double-doubles over the first 11 games of the season, most in the NAIA, and four more than any other player in the CCAC. He also leads the league in rebounding and blocked shots, with 2.6 per game.
• Grant Corsi is also posting double figures to start the season, with 14.9 points per game. In the Trojans' win over Judson on Nov. 22, Corsi recorded his first career double-double, collecting 19 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
• Six players in all are scoring more than eight points per game for the Trojans.
• Through ten games, senior guard Luke Mead leads the Trojan bench with 9.3 points per game, the fourth-highest average on the team. Mead also ranks 2nd on the team in assists, averaging 2.4 per game despite just 16 minutes on the floor per game.
• The Trojans have some of the best defensive statistics in the country one month into the season. Trinity leads the NAIA in blocks (63), and rank 2nd in blocks per game (5.7), 3rd in turnover margin (+6.7 per game), 3rd in total steals (114), and 6th in steals per game (10.4).
• Trinity is coming off of their first 20-win season in 17 years, and return four of five starters from a year ago.
• Last season, the Trojans reached the NCCAA National Semifinal, in their first NCCAA Tournament appearance since 1999. TIU finished 4th overall in the eight-team tournament after coming in as the No. 6 seed.

Series History
• Saturday's game will be the first ever matchup between Trinity and Purdue-Northwest.
• The former Purdue-Calumet and Purdue-North Central programs merged in 2016-17 to form Purdue-Northwest.
• The Trojans held a 28-14 record over the two programs, dating back to the 2003-04 season.
• Purdue-Calumet and Purdue-North Central each defeated Trinity in their final meetings, in December 2015.

Scouting the Opponents
• The Pride have recovered from a five-game losing streak last month, to win their last two contests, over Olivet Nazarene and Indiana-South Bend.
• Torrance Johnson leads the team, averaging 13.9 points per game, while ranking 7th in the NAIA with 3.8 offensive rebounds per game.
• Johnson also ranks 26th in the NAIA with a .612 shooting percentage on the season.

National Rankings
• Senior forward Zach Kirschbaum ranks among the top four players in the NAIA-II, in five different categories.
• Kirschbaum is 2nd nationally in blocks per game (2.6), defensive rebounds per game (8.4), and total rebounds (131). He ranks 3rd in the NAIA total blocks (29), and 4th in total rebounds per game (11.9).
• Three Trojans rank among the NAIA's top 50 in steals, led by Jeremy Carlyle (20 steals, 14th), Greg Carlyle (19, 20th), and Henry French (16, 42nd).

Trojans in the Polls
• The Trojans debuted at No. 8 in the NCCAA Top 10 Rankings, but fell out of the poll before returning at No. 10 in the latest rankings on Nov. 29.
• Trinity International has appeared in the NAIA Division II Coaches Poll 21 times in program history, but not since the 1997-98 campaign.
• The Trojans' last NAIA ranking came on Jan. 6, 1998, when the TIU came in at No. 20.
• The highest ranking in program history was during the 1995-96 season, when Trinity was at No. 3 in the Jan. 22, 1996 poll.
• This season, the Trojans placed 4th in the CCAC preseason ratings, with all three programs rated above Trinity earning spots in the NAIA Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Trinity ranks 3rd in the latest conference ratings, released on Tuesday, behind No. 5 St. Francis and Cardinal Stritch.

Record Books
• On Nov. 11, Trinity posted 126 points in their Trojan Classic victory over Silver Lake (Wisc.). The performance was one point shy of the all-time program record of 127 points scored in a single game. (Feb. 14, 1996 at Rockford [Ill.])
• As a team the Trojans combined for 25 made three-pointers against the Lakers, setting a new CCAC single-game record.
• The 25 threes also goes down as the second-highest number of three-point field goals in a single game in NAIA history.
• With two blocks against St. Xavier on Nov. 16, Zach Kirschbaum moved into fourth place on Trinity International's all-time blocked shots list. Kirschbaum surpassed Cameron Burkett's (2003-05) 62 blocks for the No. 4 spot on the list.
• Senior Sean Smith celebrated his 100th game as a Trojan in the win over Waldorf (Iowa) on Nov. 12. The LaGrange, Ill. native played in 34 games as a junior last year, tying the single-season record for total appearances in TIU history. Smith is now five games away from ninth place on the all-time games played list.

Up Next
• Trinity returns to Van Dixhorn Arena on Tuesday, December 6, for a non-conference matchup against 5th-ranked Indiana-East, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
• The Trojans then play host the Calumet St. Joseph Crimson Wave on Saturday, December 10, beginning at 3:00 p.m.