INDIANAPOLIS - IUPUI's senior trio went out in style on Saturday night as the Jaguars coasted past Centenary College, 87-62 in both teams' regular season finale. Senior Angelo Smith posted his fourth career double-double with a career-high 20 points and 11 rebounds.
IUPUI (14-14, 7-7 Mid-Con) scored a season-high 87 points in the win and clinched the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Mid-Continent Conference Tournament. The Jags hit seven of their nine threes in the first half, including a 4-of-4 effort from sophomore Gary Patterson. The second half saw the hosts outscore Centenary (10-20, 3-11 Mid-Con) 21-5 at the free throw line as IUPUI was in the double bonus before the second media timeout.
IUPUI led 17-15 with 9:42 to play in the first half, but reeled off a 15-0 run over the next 3:17 to take control of the contest. The Jags hit three threes during the run, which was capped by a Matt Burks steal and uncontested layup.
The Jags pushed the lead to 46-22 by halftime.
Centenary used the three-point line to close within 14 with 12:02 to play, but Smith and Co. repeatedly answered in the paint. Smith hit 7-of-8 free throw attempts in the second half, while IUPUI hit 26-of-34 (76.5%) as a team for the game.
Centenary hit just 6-of-9 (66.7%) from the charity stripe.
Patterson finished with 19 points and finished at 6-of-11 from the floor. Junior Austin Montgomery contributed 17 points and seven rebounds in his first career game off the bench.
Senior David Barlow grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds to accompany seven points and a team-high five assists. Junior Drew Conner had nine points and five rebounds in his first start of the season as the Jags outrebounded CC 50-38.
Alexander Starr led Centenary with 22 points and six rebounds, while Nick Stallings had 17 points on 6-of-21 shooting.
IUPUI's defense was impressive, limiting Centenary to just 34.8 percent shooting while blocking a season-high nine shots. The Jags also collected 11 steals. All nine players that played, scored, and eight of the nine collected steals.
The Jags honored Barlow, Burks and Smith before the game, while Smith was awarded the Mel Garland Basketball Award.
"It's been a blast," Barlow said following the game. "I never thought I would achieve as much as I did. I've had a lot of great teammates and we've accomplished a lot."
His senior teammates did more looking ahead than reflecting.
"We think we can play with anyone in the league," Burks said. "We're not ready to be done. We're playing some of our best basketball just in time for the (Mid-Con) tournament."
IUPUI will face No. 5 seed Southern Utah in the opening round of next weekend's Mid-Con Tourney. Tip time is slated for 8:30 p.m. CT from John Q. Hammons Arena at the UMAC in Tulsa, Okla. next Sunday, Mar. 4. IUPUI and Southern Utah split the regular season series with each team winning on the road.
