CEDAR CITY, Utah - Needing a win to clinch an outright Mid-Continent Conference title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament, the IUPUI basketball team ran into a buzzsaw, losing at Southern Utah 83-62. Sophomore guard George Hill (Indianapolis, Ind./Broad Ripple) was the lone IUPUI player in double-digits with 21 points.

Southern Utah (10-19, 8-8 Mid-Con) used a 17-0 run early in the second half to take control of the game and send IUPUI (18-9, 13-3 Mid-Con) to its second straight loss.

"It's hard to explain," IUPUI head coach Ron Hunter said. "Now we need to shift our focus to the (Mid-Con) tournament. That's all that matters now - it's win or go home."

Despite being outshot by Southern Utah 54 percent to 37.9 percent in the first half, IUPUI was able to hang close, trailing 38-33 at the break. Unfortunately, Southern Utah was only warming up and the Jaguars would come out even more frigid from the floor in the second half.

Hill cut the SUU lead to 40-37 with 19:23 left before the Thunderbirds held IUPUI scoreless over the game's next 6:14. Rand Janes hit three threes during the run as the T-Birds scored on seven out of 10 possessions and saw IUPUI miss six shots and turn the ball over three times. The Jags would get no closer than 17 the rest of the way.

For the game, IUPUI hit just 35.6 percent from the floor and 6-of-26 (23.1 percent) from three-point range against SUU's patented zone defense. At the other end, Southern hit nearly 57 percent from the field and 9-of-17 (52.9 percent) from beyond the arc. For good measure, the T-Birds also hit 16-of-17 (94.1 percent) at the foul line.

Senior Nate Janes led the way with 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the floor.

The first half featured nine lead changes and six ties before Henry Uhegwu propelled the hosts to a five-point halftime lead. Uhegwu scored SUU's final eight points of the half, including a hotly contested three on the final possession before halftime.

Uhegwu went 9-of-10 at the foul line and finished with 17 points while Rand Janes added 14.

IUPUI senior Brandon Cole (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) had nine points, but missed all seven of his three-point attempts. It was the first time in 37 games that Cole was held without a triple. Juniors Angelo Smith (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) and Brandon Cameron (Gary, Ind./West Side) added eight points each.

Given the loss, IUPUI will now own the No. 2 seed and face Oakland (11-17, 6-10 Mid-Con) in the opening round of the Mid-Con Tournament next Saturday night. Game time is scheduled for 8:30 pm CST (9:30 pm Indianapolis-time). IUPUI swept the season series with Oakland, including a 15-point win in Indianapolis.

"We'll be ready," Hunter said. "We'll get back to Indianapolis, get back to work and have ourselves prepared for the postseason."