INDIANAPOLIS - Marred in a season-long shooting slump, the Jaguars busted out in a major way on Friday night as they shot a season-best 52.5 percent and dropped Chicago State, 87-64. Sophomore George Hill had a big night, finishing with 28 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals. 

IUPUI hit 55 percent from beyond the arc, including 7-of-13 in the opening half. After missing seven of their first eight shots to start the game, the Jags reeled off a 10-0 run sparked by back-to-back steals by David Barlow and Brandon Cameron to take an early 14-5 lead. 

Chicago State got back within six at 19-13 when Royce Parran rainbowed in a 24-footer, but junior Matt Burks responded with his own long ball. 

IUPUI used a 16-0 run to extend the lead out to 43-17 with 1:44 remaining in the half before taking a 47-20 lead to the break. 

"That first half was really good for us," IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter said. "We executed our game plan and finally hit some shots. 

"I've been saying all year long that the shots would eventually fall. George Hill was a man among boys tonight. When he decides he wants to take over, he's as dangerous as anybody."

The Jags opened the second half with an 11-4 run capped by Brandon Cole's from the corner and coasted from there. The advantage got out as high as 38 points with 12:01 to play before the Cougars trimmed the final margin to 24. 

Cole finished with 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range and added seven rebounds. Burks chipped in 13 points in 20 minutes while Barlow had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists. 

Parran led Chicago State with 18 points and seven assists while Michael Henderson added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.

The win pulled IUPUI back to .500 at 6-6 on the season and opened Mid-Continent Conference play at 1-0. Chicago State dropped to 1-10 overall and 0-1 in the league. The Cougars have yet to play a home game yet this season.

IUPUI forced 17 turnovers in the win, 11 of which came off steals. The Jags converted the 17 turnovers into 30 points, outscoring CSU 30-13 in that category. Despite missing 6-foot-9 forward Angelo Smith, IUPUI outscored Chicago State 34-24 in the paint.

"I thought our bigs gave us some solid minutes - some really good minutes," Hunter said. "Bill (Van Senus) came in and clogged up the middle and I thought Drew (Conner) did some good things at the offensive end.

"Plus, we did a good job of working inside out and getting a lot of open looks off penetration."

IUPUI, which ranked atop the Mid-Con leaders in scoring defense entering the contest, limited Chicago State to just 40.4 percent from the floor and 31.3 percent from three-point range. Chicago State hit just 8-of-26 (30.8 percent) from the floor in the first half. 

The Jags return to action on Wednesday night when they hit the road to take on Oakland University in a Mid-Con tilt. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m. and will be broadcast in the Indianapolis-area on Fox Sports Midwest. FSN is channel 44 on Comcast and channel 47 on Bright House networks.