Game Notes I Live Audio I Live Video I Live Stats

BROOKINGS, S.D. - The IUPUI basketball team will head west this week to take on two of The Summit League's three new entrants. Thursday night will be the Jaguars' first-ever trek to South Dakota State, with tip time slated for 8:00 p.m. EST from Frost Arena (6,500). Greg Rakestraw (pbp) will call the action on Freedom 95.9 FM and pregame coverage will begin 30 minutes prior to tip. 

IUPUI (17-5, 9-2 Summit) reeled off four straight wins during a recent home stand, defeating the opposition by an average of 18.3 points per game. Last week, junior guard Gary Patterson took home Summit League Player of the Week honors by canning 16 threes in two gams. The 5-foot-10 Butler-transfer averaged 27.0 points and 4.0 assists in the two wins, while stroking the three at a 61.5 percent clip. Patterson drilled 11 treys in Thursday's resounding 88-66 win over Southern Utah. 

It marked the fourth time this season an IUPUI player has won the league's weekly award.

On Saturday, sophomore Billy Pettiford stole the show with eight points, seven rebounds and a career-high 11 assists. He helped George Hill notch his sixth double-double of the year with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while senior Austin Montgomery scored a season-high 22 in the win. As a team, the Jags handed out a season-high 26 assists in that victory. 

At South Dakota State (7-15, 2-9) on Thursday, the Jags will try to snap a modest two-game road losing skid. IUPUI's last road trip consisted of a thrilling, but dissatisfying, one-point loss at Oral Roberts on Jan. 17. Two nights later the Jags lost focus, and a game at Centenary, 64-58. 

IUPUI knocked off SDSU 72-44 in The Jungle on Jan. 12 as Pettiford led all scorers with 17 points. The 44 points allowed were the fewest by an IUPUI foe since the 1999-00 season. The Jags limited the Jackrabbits to just 34 percent shooting as Anthony Cordova led the way with nine points.