KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A timely offense and persistently pesky defense helped IUPUI pull out a 68-62 win at UMKC on Thursday night. The win moved IUPUI's record to 9-6 overall and 4-0 to start Mid-Continent Conference play. The 4-0 mark is IUPUI's best-ever start in the league.
Sophomore George Hill led all scorers with 21 points, including hitting all nine of his free throw attempts.
"This was a huge win for us, to come on the road and knock off a really good UMKC team," IUPUI head coach Ron Hunter said. "We showed a lot of heart tonight and we didn't panic when we got down. That's a sign of a veteran team."
The Jaguars built a 64-57 lead with 3:56 remaining when David Barlow line-drived a three home off a feed from Brandon Cameron. From there, the Jaguars had to cling for dear life as Rich Zvosec's scrappy squad steadily trimmed IUPUI's advantage.
Brent Stephens cut it to 64-60 with 2:33 left when he rattled in a three from the right wing in the closing seconds of the shot clock. IUPUI (9-6, 4-0) opted to run time off the game clock, but Cameron misfired on a three from the left side, giving UMKC (7-8, 4-2) possession.
Junior guard Quinton Day penetrated the IUPUI zone defense and knocked in a short jumper to make it a one-possession game with 1:46 remaining.
Hill missed on the Jags' next possession, but UMKC's Dane Brumagin returned the favor when he was long on a three-point attempt from the right baseline corner. Barlow grabbed the defensive rebound with just over a minute remaining and UMKC allowed the Jags to run clock.
Barlow missed a three from the right side with 32 seconds left, giving UMKC one last chance to score. After a full timeout, UMKC designed a play to get the ball to Day in the baseline corner, but Hill picked off Brumagin's swing pass with 12.2 seconds left and was immediately fouled. The 6-foot-2 Preseason All-Conference pick calmly swished both freebies after the media timeout to ice the game.
As a team, IUPUI was 15-of-17 (88.2 percent) at the free throw line, including 10-of-11 in the second half.
"Coach (Hunter) told me that on nights when my shots aren't falling, I have to do other things even better like play defense, rebound and make my free throws," Hill said. "Out of the huddle, Coach told us to keep an eye on No. 44 (Day), so I just stepped in the passing lane and was able to get the steal."
Hill had two of IUPUI's seven steals as the Jags forced UMKC into 13 turnovers and committed just eight of their own. The Jags outscored UMKC 14-9 off miscues.
"We did a really good job of taking care of the basketball," Hunter said. "I thought Cam was awesome tonight. He did a good job of getting into their zone and causing problems and finding the open man."
Cameron finished with five points, seven assists and two key second half steals.
"I give him all the credit," Hill said of Cameron. "Right now, he's being the catalyst of our team. He's leading us and he's making it hard for all the other guards in this league."
IUPUI surged out to an early 13-6 lead thanks to two early threes from junior Matt Burks, before UMKC quickly righted the ship. The Kangaroos reeled off an 11-0 run with Kalu Guasco scoring six of his eight points in the spurt. After a hand full of lead changes, the 'Roos took a 39-35 lead at halftime thanks to three late triples from Brian Gettinger.
The lead swelled to 48-39 early in the second half when Stephens hammered down a one-handed jam off the baseline, but IUPUI quickly answered. Senior Brandon Cole hit from three-point range on IUPUI's next three possessions, making it 50-48. The Jags would later take the lead for good when Hill completed a traditional three-point play with 8:35 remaining.
Cole and Barlow finished with 14 points each, with each hitting four threes. Burks added eight points, all in the first half.
Day and Stephens had 13 each for UMKC while Brumagin added nine. The 'Roos were without sophomore guard Tim Blackwell, who missed the game with a hip pointer.
For the game, IUPUI hit 11-of-26 (42.3 percent) from three-point range. UMKC hit 47.9 percent from the floor and outrebounded IUPUI 31-23.
The Jags will conclude the two-game conference road trip at Oral Roberts on Saturday night. Game time is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CST (8:05 Indianapolis-time) from the Mabee Center in Tulsa, Okla.
