VALPARAISO, Ind. - IUPUI had more second half turnovers (8) than field goals (7) and saw a four-point halftime lead quickly evaporate in a 69-55 loss at Valparaiso on Saturday night. Sophomore guard Gary Patterson posted his second straight career-high scoring night, finishing with 17.
Valpo (7-10, 2-2 Mid-Con), which trailed 32-28 at halftime, opened the second stanza with seven straight points, including a pair of Shawn Huff driving layups in traffic. The Jaguars (7-9, 1-2 Mid-Con) retied the game on back-to-back possessions, the second time coming on a baby hook from Bill Van Senus, before VU reeled off an 11-2 burst.
Jarryd Loyd provided back-to-back treys to cap the spurt, giving the host Crusaders the lead for good. IUPUI got within four on a pair of Craig Swoope free throws with 7:01 to play, but a late 14-1 surge put the game away.
As poorly as IUPUI played in the second half - Valparaiso was equally as good. The Crusaders hit 16-of-24 (.667) second half field goal tries, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. Meanwhile, the Jags shot at a pedestrian 33.3 percent clip in the second half, including hitting just 2-of-10 from downtown.
Senior David Barlow was the lone other IUPUI player in double figures with 13 points. Samuel Haanpaa led three Crusaders in double digits with 19 points and seven rebounds. He canned 5-of-7 from three-point range, while Brandon McPherson added 13 points and 3-of-4 from deep.
While IUPUI was severely short-handed entering play on Saturday, head coach Ron Hunter refused to use that as a crutch. Junior George Hill, senior Matt Burks and junior Drew Conner all missed the game to injuries. Hill was a game time decision, but Hunter opted to keep him on the bench, most likely for this season.
"I take total responsibility for the loss tonight," Hunter said. "I apologized to my team in the locker room in there and should have never put us in this situation. We were not mentally ready to play tonight, because we didn't make a decision on whether or not to play George.
"We're going to redshirt him, that's the end of story.
"But George not playing was not the reason we lost, (Valpo) flat beat us. They were the better team tonight."
The Crusaders were the better team at the outset also, opening the game with a 14-5 rally fueled by three threes. IUPUI answered quickly with its own 12-3 run, thanks to five points from Patterson.
After the game was tied at 19-19 midway through the first half on a Jon Avery, IUPUI held on to the lead the rest of the half. The Jags' lead grew to 26-20 with 5:13 in the half on an Austin Montgomery jumper. Montgomery finished the night with just five points and six rebounds, while hitting just 2-of-8 from the floor.
Valpo outrebounded the Jags 30-28 overall and turned nine offensive rebounds into 15 second chance points.
The Jags return home on Thursday, January 18 to host UMKC at 7:00 p.m.. It marks IUPUI's first home game since the Dec. 16 win over IPFW.
"The good news is, now we get to go home," Hunter said. "We're the only Mid-Con team that hasn't had a home game yet. We've had to go through a lot of adversity, but it will be nice to finally get home."
Gold 95.9's pregame coverage with Greg Rakestraw (play-by-play) and Scott McCauley (color) begins at 6:30.
