ROCHESTER, Mich. - IUPUI trailed by as many as 17 midway through the second half before pulling within three in the final minutes, but eventually lost at Oakland 62-57. Senior Angelo Smith continued his strong play of late, finishing with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and seven rebounds.
The loss snapped IUPUI's three-game winning streak against OU.
Oakland (8-8, 1-0 Mid-Con) opened the game with a 10-1 run and led the entire first half, with IUPUI getting no closer than five on an Austin Montgomery line drive trey at the 12:50 mark. After taking a 12-point lead to the locker room at halftime, the OU lead grew to 17 with 13:30 to play after Johnathon Jones and Derick Nelson hit back-to-back threes, making it 49-32.
From there, IUPUI (6-8, 0-1 Mid-Con) went on a 19-6 run as junior George Hill started to take over. Hill fueled the rally with an old fashioned three-point play, then stole a pass near midcourt and raced the other way for a thunderous one-handed jam. Oakland's only three field goals during the run that spanned over 10 minutes were a trio of Shawn Hopes put backs of his teammates misses.
Unfortunately for the Jags, as soon as Hill started to take command offensively, he was called for a tic-tac offensive foul, ending his night. On the next possession, Hopes fouled out when he went over Montgomery's back following a miss.
With their best player on the bench, IUPUI still clawed within three with 1:24 left when Gary Patterson picked Jones' pocket and hit two free throws on an ensuing foul.
Oakland scored the game's final basket with 54 seconds left when Vova Severovas banked in a tough 10-footer in traffic. Barlow missed a three on IUPUI's next possession and was called for a traveling violation after Oakland missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Hill finished with 15 points in 29 minutes, while Barlow added nine points and three assists. Freshman Billy Pettiford, making his second career start, finished with four points, six rebounds and two assists.
"It's really hard to start a basketball game like we did tonight and come all the way back," IUPUI head coach Ron Hunter said. "We used a lot of energy to come back, and then to have George foul out really deflated us.
"But to be honest, we needed to make plays down the stretch. We had our chances and didn't capitalize on our opportunities."
Kangas hit five first half treys, including three in the opening four minutes to stake the Golden Grizzlies to an early 13-3 lead. In all, Kangas finished with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-11 from long range.
"To be honest, we just made some silly mistakes defensively early and (Kangas) got open looks," Hunter said. "You have to give the kid credit, he stepped up and knocked them down."
Severovas picked up the slack later in the half, doing the bulk of his work at the foul line and inside 12 feet. He had 12 first half points, including a pair of free throws with 0.5 seconds left on a questionable foul call. Severovas added 14 points, while Hopes added nine points and nine rebounds.
For the game, Oakland's beefier front line helped the Golden Grizzlies to a 33-28 rebounding advantage and a 21-7 edge in second chance points. IUPUI shot a season-high 48.8 percent from the floor and also hit 11-of-12 (91.7 percent) at the free throw line.
The Jags next game will be at Western Illinois on Thursday, January 11 at Western Hall in Macomb, Ill.. Tip time is slated for 7 p.m. CST as that game can be heard in the Indianapolis-area on 95.9 FM or online via IUPUIJags.com. Pregame coverage with Greg Rakestraw (play-by-play) and Jared Lux (color) begins at 6:30.
