Quick Notes

• The final month of the regular season begins Wednesday night for Trinity International, when the Trojans hit the road to face the Judson Eagles.
• Streaming video and live stats of Wednesday's game can be found at TIUTrojans.com.
• The Trojans sit one and a half games behind Robert Morris for the top spot of the CCAC standings, as the Eagles remain unbeaten in league play. The best record in the North Division will earn an automatic bid to the NAIA Division II National Championship tournament.
• Trinity are coming off an 81-74 road win over Indiana-South Bend on Saturday, officially clinching a spot in the upcoming CCAC Tournament, which begins on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
• If the Trojans win at Judson on Wednesday night, they will clinch the No. 2 seed in the CCAC Tournament.
• Currently the Trojans are 20-4 overall, for the best overall mark in the league. Trinity has also secured back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in two decades (1995-96, 1996-97).
• TIU moved up three spots in the latest NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll on Jan. 24, earning the No. 17 spot. The Trojans debuted at No. 20 for their first national ranking in nearly two decades in the previous poll on Jan. 10.
• The Trojans have some of the best defensive statistics in the country this season. Trinity leads the NAIA in blocks (128), ranks 3rd in blocks per game (5.3), 10th in turnover margin (+3.8 per game), and 13th in total steals (201).
• 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.
• Senior forward Zach Kirschbaum leads both divisions of NAIA basketball in rebounding, collecting a total of 273 rebounds. The Las Vegas, Nev. native is also 2nd in NAIA Division II in defensive rebounds per game (8.5), and total rebounds per game (11.4), 3rd in blocks (62) and 4th in blocks per game (2.6).
• Kirschbaum has posted 18 double-doubles this season, most in the NAIA, and four more than any other player in the CCAC. He also leads the league in rebounding (11.4 per game) and blocked shots, (2.6 per game).
• With two blocks against St. Xavier on Nov. 16, 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. 5 spot on the list, and now has 108 blocks in his Trojan career.
• Kirschbaum was named the CCAC Player of the Week, as well as the NCCAA National Player of the Week on Jan. 17, after his 32-point performance in the road win over Olivet Nazarene on Jan. 14. Kirschbaum has three CCAC and two NCCAA weekly honors during his career as a Trojan.
• Trinity players earned two CCAC Player of the Week awards during the month of December, in Zach Kirschbaum and Jeremy Carlyle. Kirschbaum was named Player of the Week on Dec. 6, after averaging 20 points and 14.5 rebounds in wins over Roosevelt and Purdue-Northwest. Carlyle was honored after leading the Trojans in scoring during their wins over No. 5 Indiana-East and Calumet St. Joseph.
• Grant Corsi is also scoring double figures season, with 13.8 points per game. In the win over St. Xavier on Jan. 25, Corsi posted 22 points, most in any game this season other than his 30-point performance against SXU on Nov. 16.
• Senior guard Luke Mead leads the Trojan bench with 11.5 points per game, the third-highest average on the team. Mead also ranks 2nd on the team in assists, averaging 2.8 per game. With 22 points on Jan. 21, Mead set a new career high in scoring during the win over St. Francis.
• Sophomore Jeremy Carlyle is averaging 10.8 points per game, after posting 22 points in the win at Olivet Nazarene on Jan. 14. Carlyle is shooting 40.8% from three-point range and leads the team with 35 steals on the season.
• Freshman guard Will Davidson is 2nd in the NAIA with a 6.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. Davidson has 18 assists to just three turnovers, with five assists in his last three games. Davidson has made 19 appearances since he committed his last turnover, back on Nov. 5.
• Senior guard Sean Smith will make his 119th career appearance on Wednesday, and is now 8th on TIU's all-time games played list.
• Senior wing Henry French is averaging 1.4 blocks per game, and is 4th on the CCAC leaderboard. French has 34 total blocks (25th in NAIA), and is averaging 8.5 points per game. Against Robert Morris on Jan. 18, French set a new career high with 10 rebounds.
• On Monday, French was nominated to participate in the Dunk Contest as part of the 2017 NABC-NAIA Shoot & Slam presented by US Bank. The event takes place during the NAIA Division I National Tournament, in Kansas City on Mar. 18.
• Sophomore guard Greg Carlyle is the team leader in three-point shooting, with a .408 percentage. In the month of January, Carlyle shot .417 (10-24) and has hit at least one three in seven of his last eight games.
• Freshman forward T.J. Johnson set a career high with 19 points in the win at Indiana-South Bend on Saturday. Johnson has started all 24 games this season, averaging 4.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in 14.1 minutes per game.
• Freshman center Rick Wright made his Trojan debut on Jan. 3 in the win over St. Ambrose. On Wednesday, Wright set a new season high with four rebounds in the win over SXU.
 

About Judson

• Wednesday marks the 21st meeting between Trinity International and Judson since the 2003-04 season. The Trojans hold the advantage with an 18-12 record over Judson.
• Trinity has won five of the last six matchups, and are 4-1 over the Eagles during the Boomer Roberts era.
• The senior duo of Zach Kirschbaum and Grant Corsi led the way in their last meeting on Nov. 22, each finishing with a double-double as Trinity took a 76-48 home victory over the Eagles inside Van Dixhorn Arena.
• The Eagles are currently 15th in the CCAC standings but are still fighting for one of eight spots in the CCAC Tournament. Judson has lost their last four games, including three in league play.
• Senior forward Illya Galloway ranks 8th in the NAIA and 3rd in the CCAC in rebounding, with 238 total boards this season.
• Senior Justin Allen leads the Eagles with 14.5 points per game.
 

Trojans in the Polls

• Trinity earned the No. 17 spot in the latest NAIA Division II Coaches' Poll, released on Tuesday.
• Trinity International has appeared in the NAIA Division II Coaches Poll 23 times in program history, with this season marking the first national ranking since the 1997-98 campaign.
• Prior to Jan. 10, the Trojans' last NAIA ranking came on Jan. 6, 1998, when the TIU also 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.
• The Trojans sit at No. 5 in the latest NCCAA National Rankings, their highest ranking this season.
• The Trojans were picked 4th in the CCAC preseason ratings, behind St. Francis, Robert Morris, and St. Xavier.
 

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.
• Zach Kirschbaum's 62 total blocks this season ranks him 4th all-time on TIU's single-season blocks list. With three more blocks this season, Kirschbaum will tie Dan Larson (1994-95) for No. 3 on the list.
 

Up Next

• The Trojans return to Van Dixhorn Arena on Saturday, Feb. 4 for the annual Upward Night, where kids and families involved with Upward Basketball enjoy free admission and a chance to meet the team after the game.