Box Score

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The IUPUI basketball team built a 19-point second half lead and withstood a furious late rally at Western Michigan on Saturday on its way to a 76-68 victory. Senior Gary Patterson scored a game-high 16 points and handed out eight assists in his first game back from injury and sophomore Leroy Nobles added 15 points and hit a career-high four treys. 

The Jaguars offense hit nearly 73 percent from the floor in the second half, including 6-of-6 from three, and just under 55 percent for the game. 

"Gary Patterson makes this whole basketball team better," IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter said. "For him to go out and get 16 points and eight assists with just two days of practice is phenomenal. He's a special talent. 

"He was looking at me, asking to come out of the game and I just ignored him," Hunter quipped. "He makes Jon Avery better. He makes Leroy Nobles better. He's a fifth-year senior and just brings that calming influence to this basketball team."

The preseason All-Summit League selection hit 6-of-11 shots and turned the ball over just three times in 38 minutes. Thirteen of his 16 points came in the second half.

A layup by WMU's Shawntes Gary on the opening possession of the second stanza made it 28-26, but IUPUI answered with seven straight points on back-to-back Robert Glenn buckets and a Nobles' three. 

Later, back-to-back threes by Nobles and Patterson made it 45-32 with 14:28 left and IUPUI held a double-digit lead for the next 12-plus minutes. However, Western Michigan (2-5) refused to go away and the Jaguars' youth and inexperience helped the Broncos mount a comeback.

A 14-0 WMU run whittled IUPUI's 66-47 lead back to 66-61 with 1:12 to play. The Jaguars didn't even attempt a shot during Western's run as they committed three turnovers and missed three front ends of one-and-one opportunities. Freshman Alex Young temporarily stopped the bleeding with a pair of free throws but his turnover in front of the WMU bench allowed Martelle McLemore to cut the lead to four two possessions later. 

Patterson made a free throw with 34 seconds left to make it 70-65 and the defense came up with a crucial stop when sophomore John Ashworth rebounded a Michael Redell miss with 21.1 to play. IUPUI sank its final six foul shots of the game to escape with its first-ever road win over a Mid-American Conference foe. It was only Western's 11th home loss in the past five years and extended the Jaguars' current winning streak to three games. 

"This is a good win for my basketball team," Hunter said. "I thought our offense played better and we did a really good job on them defensively. I had timeouts, but I really wanted my guys to play through this. That's the best way to learn and I think they'll learn from this.

"We obviously need to be better at putting teams away and that'll come as we get more experience."

For the game, WMU shot just 40.7 percent from the field and 7-of-27 (25.9 percent) from beyond the arc. Gary, Kool and McLemore led WMU with 15 points each and McLemore grabbed a team-high six rebounds. 

Avery pulled down nine rebounds and scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting off the bench. Young also finished in double-figures with 11 points in 24 minutes.   

Young started hot as IUPUI hit its first three field goal attempts of the game to jump out to a 6-2 lead, but WMU got a layup from Donald Lawson and three straight three-point possessions to make it 13-6 at the under-16 media timeout. The Jags ratcheted up the defensive intensity, keeping Western from scoring for over eight straight minutes.

Meanwhile, the offense reeled off a 11-0 run which included a putback and a dunk from Jon Avery to help build a four-point lead. The Jags pushed the advantage to eight on a Gary Patterson triple from the top of the key, but McLemore hit two late threes to make it 28-24 at the break.

IUPUI returns home on Tuesday, Dec. 2 when it hosts IU South Bend inside The Jungle for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff. The Jaguars have an 18-game home winning streak intact entering Tuesday night's contest.