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ATHLETICISM PREVAILS AS JAGUARS RACE PAST COLORADO STATE, 77-67

Brandon Cole notches second career double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds

11/27/2004 9:16:17 PM

By: Ed Holdaway, IUPUI Sports Information
Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS - Despite being vastly undersized up front against a much taller Colorado State team, IUPUI's scrappy defense and strong guard play propelled them to a 77-67 win. Junior Brandon Cole posted his second career double-double with a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds. He added a career-high seven steals as the Jaguars had 14 thefts, leading to 17 CSU turnovers.

The Jaguars turned the 17 turnovers into 30 points, while only committing seven turnovers as a team. Colorado State scored just three points off IUPUI turnovers. 

"We knew we had to use our speed, quickness and athleticism, because that's the advantage we had," Cole said. "We knew we had to front their post players and help from the weakside."

IUPUI's defense, fueled by four early Cole steals, helped the Jags take an early 14-4 lead. Cole capped the early run with a one-handed putback of a Johnny Miller miss with 13:06 to play in the first half. 

The Jaguars were able to push the lead up to 16 with 8:55 remaining in the first half when junior Blair Crawford drilled a three from the left side. 

CSU's big men helped them cut the lead back to eight in the first half, but a late 5-0 run capped by Cole's three with 14 seconds left gave IUPUI a 40-27 halftime lead. 

Early in the second half, the Jaguars' three-point shooting helped stretch the lead to 20 at the 13:06 mark. Senior Akeem Clark repeatedly got loose in the corners for open threes while freshman George Hill also capitalized on a wide open attempt from the right wing. 

Trailing by 21, the Rams made a concerted effort to go inside to their trio of 7-footers, and pieced together a modest 6-0 run on a Stephen Verwers dunk and back-to-back Jason Smith baskets. CSU made it a 58-43 game with 10:05 left, but Michal Vavrek stopped the spurt with his lone field goal of the game. 

After another 6-0 run cut the lead to 13, Crawford put the nail in the coffin by tossing in a driving layup and capping the old fashioned three-point play with 2:12 left. IUPUI hit enough free throws down the stretch to hang on for the win and knock Colorado State (3-1) from the ranks of the undefeated.

"We're not going to see many teams as big as they are up front," IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter said. "We didn't back down from them at all, and we were kind of looking forward to the challenge.

"We knew that they wouldn't want to come out on the floor and guard us, and that's why Brandon (Cole) had such a big night. You're not going to find a 7-footer that can guard him."

Clark hit 4-of-6 three-pointers en route to 21 points. Miller added nine points, seven assists and six rebounds despite hitting just 4-of-13 shots. 

Matt Nelson led CSU with 11 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench. Stuart Creason, Michael Morris and Jon Rakiecki all had 10 points for the Rams. 

For the game, IUPUI hit nearly 42 percent from the floor and 43 percent from three-point range. CSU hit 40 percent from the field and 32 percent from long range. 

Both teams struggled at the foul line as CSU hit 17-of-29 (.586) and IUPUI connected on 14-of-24 (.583) tries. 

Colorado State, thanks to their tall frontline, outrebounded IUPUI 46-37. On the flip side, IUPUI's guard play was the story of the game as the starting backcourt of Clark, Hill and Miller combined on 12 assists and turned it over just once. 

With the win, the Jaguars improved to 2-1 overall. The win was IUPUI's first-ever over a Mountain West Conference foe.

"We've got a lot of confidence right now," Cole said. "Hopefully we can carry that with us on the road."

The Jaguars return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Samford for the first of two meetings with the Bulldogs this season. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 in Birmingham, Alabama.
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