Box Score

CHICAGO - After a rocky first half, the IUPUI basketball team played inspired second half basketball en route to an 89-75 win over Chicago State inside the Jones Convocation Center on Wednesday night. The Jaguars outscored the Cougars 55-34 in the second half after trailing by seven at the break. IUPUI shot a blistering 69 percent from the field in the second half.

Junior Gary Patterson, originally from nearby East Chicago, finished with 27 points and senior Austin Montgomery scored a season-high 25 in the win. Summit League Preseason Player of the Year George Hill added 19 points and five assists as IUPUI's preseason all-conference trio accounted for 71 of the team's 89 points. 

"I think (Montgomery and Patterson) are starting to see that they're going to carry us right now," IUPUI head coach Ron Hunter said. "Other teams are starting to run at George and those two are really stepping up."

CSU (11-17) pushed its lead to 45-38 with 18:31 left when John Cantrell stroked a 14-foot jumper, but IUPUI (23-6) immediately came to life at both ends of the floor. The Jaguars erupted with a 20-4 run to take a 58-49 lead with 12:27 to play. Sophomore Billy Pettiford got the burst going with back-to-back steals, each leading to baskets. Montgomery then dropped in consecutive jumpers including a fallaway three to tie the game at 47. 

Patterson scored on IUPUI's next two possessions, making it 51-47 before Tawrence Walton cut the lead back to two on an uncontested layup. From there, IUPUI scored 10 of the game's next 12 points, capped by Montgomery's three with just under 12 minutes left. 

Chicago State crawled within four until a late 11-0 run put the game away.

Pint-sized point guard David Holston led CSU with 27 points and Cantrell finished with 23, including hitting 8-of-8 from the foul line. IUPUI improved to 13-12 all-time against it's former league foe.

IUPUI collected its 23rd win of the season, sitting just one shy of matching the program's all-time record of 24 wins set in 1987-88. 

Offensively, the Jaguars received some offensive punch and key minutes from some unexpected sources. Freshman John Ashworth turned in nine points off the bench and junior Brandon Ray, forced into action due to injuries and foul problems, had two points in 11 minutes. All nine Jaguars that saw action cracked the scoring column and senior Drew Conner grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

"We won this game because of Brandon Ray and John Ashworth," Hunter said. "I thought they really gave us the energy we needed off the bench."

As a team, IUPUI shot 55.9 percent from the floor hit 15-of-19 (78.9 percent) at the foul line. More importantly, the Jags committed just three second half turnovers. On the flip side, CSU shot just 44.6 percent and turned the ball over 16 times. 

IUPUI opened the game by jumping out to an early 8-2 lead, thanks to threes from Patterson and Montgomery. Chicago State countered with a 10-0 run to make it 17-10. The Jags got back within 26-23 on a Patterson short jumper before CSU came up with a five point possession. 

Holston was fouled on a three-point attempt, prompting Hunter to be whistled for his first technical foul of the season. Holston hit all five ensuing free throws, making it 31-23. The Cougars had a 41-34 halftime lead. 

The Jaguars will conclude the regular season on Saturday night when they play host to Western Illinois on Senior Night. The senior trio of Conner, Montgomery and Bill Van Senus will be honored approximately 10 minutes prior to the 7:00 p.m. tipoff. Saturday will also be Pacers College Night in The Jungle. 

Students can pick up their FREE tickets on Thursday at the Indiana Members Credit Union location on the second floor of the new campus center between 11:00 and 1:00 p.m.. In addition, 150 free tickets will be distributed by the IUPUI Athletics Department as part of Campus Appreciation Day. IUPUI faculty/staff members can pickup tickets from 11-1 on Thursday, limit two per person.