Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS - Despite a sluggish start, George Hill turned in 33 points and the IUPUI offense shot 56 percent from the floor on its way to a 77-59 Summit League win over IPFW in front of a full house on Saturday night. The Jaguars got an all around efficient offensive night as Austin Montgomery scored 15 on 7-of-9 shooting and Jon Avery contributed 11 off the bench. 

Hill closed the night with 1,348 career points, surpassing Brandon Cole for the program's scoring record at the NCAA Division I level. Hill hit 11-of-17 from the floor and handed out five assists as the Jags ran their home winning streak to 11 games.

"We're a much better team when George plays aggressive," IUPUI head coach Ron Hunter said. "He doesn't miss that many shots to begin with, so we want him to play aggressive. 

"When he plays like he did tonight, he makes me a much better coach," a smiling Hunter added.

IUPUI (15-5, 7-2 Summit) scored the game's first five points, but saw the Mastodons (7-13, 4-5) close within 9-8 on a Jaraun Burrows layup. The Jags stretched their lead out from there, going on a mini 12-4 run as five different IUPUI players contributed to the scoring burst. 

The 'Dons got no closer than six the rest the night and never cut IUPUI's lead to single digits in the second half. IUPUI hit 15-of-25 (60.0 percent) from the floor in the first half to take a 39-28 lead to the break. 

IUPUI opened the second half with a 10-0 run, beginning with Hill's ally-oop flush off a pass from 6-foot-7 forward Billy Pettiford. Pettiford dropped in a layup on IUPUI's next possession and Hill capped the run with back-to-back threes from the top of the key, forcing IPFW's Dane Fife to call timeout. 

The lead swelled to 22 on two different occasions, including with 9:24 remaining when freshman John Ashworth swished a three from the left wing.

For the game, IUPUI hit 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) from long range, while holding IPFW to just 5-of-16 (31.3 percent). Hill matched his career-high with four triples and Gary Patterson drilled two on seven attempts.

IUPUI hit 28-of-50 from the floor and held the 'Dons to just 46.8 percent shooting. The Jags also turned the ball over just 10 times and forced 17 miscues. Seven of IPFW's turnovers came from Jaguar steals.

Burrows led IPFW with 19 points and seven rebounds. 

The win was IUPUI's fifth straight over IPFW and the Jags improved to 6-1 against the Mastodons at the Division I level. It was also the 400th game of Hunter's head coaching career at IUPUI.

IUPUI's four-game home stand continues next Thursday night when they play host to Southern Utah in The Jungle. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m.. Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on Freedom 95.9 FM.