INDIANAPOLIS - As temperatures outside were well below freezing, IUPUI's shooting wasn't much better as the Jaguars lost to Oakland, 70-60 on Saturday night. IUPUI hit just 19-of-59 (32.2 percent) from the floor, while Oakland connected on 50 percent from the floor (22-of-44) and three-point range (9-of-18) in the win.
Oakland's Erik Kangas hit 6-of-10 from long range and led all scorers with 23 points. IUPUI sophomore Gary Patterson had a team-high 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting.
IUPUI (10-12, 3-5 Mid-Con) neutralized Oakland's size advantage on the front line, outrebounding the guests 33-30. The Jags also committed just eight turnovers, while forcing OU (14-10, 7-1 Mid-Con) into 12 miscues.
"We just didn't hit shots," IUPUI head coach Ron Hunter said. "That's all I can say. If we hit shots, we win - simple as that."
Oakland never trailed in the contest after surging out to an 11-2 lead in the opening five minutes. The Golden Grizzlies' advantage grew to 30-16 on a Kangas three with 4:02 left in the first half, but IUPUI utilized an 11-2 run to close within five with 12 seconds left in the first stanza.
Freshman Jon Avery had a pair of putbacks during the rally as five different Jags accounted for the scoring run. IUPUI got within six in the second half when Angelo Smith dropped in his lone field goal of the game with 14:43 left, but OU responded with the next five points and led by double-digits virtually the rest of the way.
IUPUI's starting guard trio of Patterson, David Barlow and Austin Montgomery accounted for 42 of the team's 60 points as Barlow and Montgomery had 13 each. Barlow hit all seven of his free throw attempts to go along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Montgomery hit 5-of-10 from the field and 3-of-6 from downtown and Avery chipped in nine points and five rebonds in 12 minutes off the bench.
OU center Shawn Hopes had 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while Johnathon Jones added 10 points, five rebounds and three assists. Oakland hit 12-of-20 (60.0 percent) from the floor in the second half, including 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) from three-point range.
Oakland swept the regular season series with the Jaguars in the win.
IUPUI continues its current four-game homestand on Thursday night when they host Valparaiso in The Jungle. Tip time is set for 7:00 p.m. with pregame coverage on Gold 95.9 FM starting at 6:30. Greg Rakestraw (pbp) and Scott McCauley (color) will call that contest.
