INDIANAPOLIS - IUPUI overcame an eight-point second half deficit to knock off a hot shooting Chicago State squad on Saturday night in The Jungle, 78-70. Junior guard George Hill had a season-high 29 points and 10 rebounds, notching his eighth career double-double.

Hill hit 9-of-15 from the floor and 11-of-14 at the foul line to accompany his four assists and three steals.

Sophomore Jon Avery chipped in 21 points, five boards and six steals as a reserve as IUPUI outscored the Cougars 33-6 off the bench.

"(Hill) absolutely saved us tonight," IUPUI head coach Ron Hunter said. "Anytime we needed someone to make a play, he came up with it tonight. He single-handedly took over for stretches tonight.

"And Jon's an absolute monster right now. He's scoring, rebounding and defending for us. When we can bring him off the bench, it gives us a huge lift and huge advantage."

IUPUI (4-2) saw its two-point halftime lead grow to five with 18:45 left when Gary Patterson hit his first trey of the night, but the guests made it disappear almost as quickly.

Chicago State (2-4) used a full court trapping defense to force turnovers and get out in transition, fueling a 16-3 run over the game's next five minutes. CSU's 5-foot-8 David Holston capped the run with his sixth three of the game to make the score 51-43 with 13:51 left.

Hunter's squad stuck to its gameplan, continuing to penetrate and get to the foul line in the second half. The Jaguars essentially won the game at the foul line, outscoring the Cougars 28-4 at the charity stripe. Holston momentarily stopped the bleeding with a layup with 10:48 left to push CSU's lead back to 54-49, but the Jaguars responded with a decisive 16-2 run to put the game away.

Hill and Avery combined to score 10 points during the burst, while Austin Montgomery added five of his 10.

"Their athleticism gave us some problems, but I think we wore them down," Hunter said. "We just kept kind of pounding on them and going at them, and that just shows you what kind of team we can be.

"We didn't play near our best tonight, but we were still able to win the game."

IUPUI hit 48 percent from the floor, but just 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) from three-point range. On the flip side, CSU hit 47.5 percent from the field and 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) from three.

Holston hit 7-of-12 from three to lead CSU with 29 points while John Cantrell added 23. The IUPUI defense harassed Holston into nine turnovers as CSU committed 24 as a team. Sixteen of CSU's 24 turnovers came via steals as Avery and senior Drew Conner combined to post 10 thefts.

"We got in the passing lanes and came up with loose balls and deflections," Hunter said. "We work on it in practice and it worked out for us tonight.

"There's still a lot of work to do, but we'll enjoy this one and come back to work and start preparing for UMass."

IUPUI's homestand will continue as the Jags host the Minutemen next Saturday night in The Jungle. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. while student ticket pick-up will be on Wednesday, Nov. 28 in the UC Lobby from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.. Otherwise, tickets are available for $10 each by contacting the IUPUI Athletics Office at 317-274-5453.