Box Score
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - IUPUI built a 24-point halftime lead and cruised in the second half on its way to an 84-57 win over IPFW at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center on Saturday evening. The Jaguars shot 59.6 percent from the floor, hit a season-high 10 threes and got 20 points apiece from Gary Patterson and Robert Glenn in the win. Glenn added 10 rebounds to record his third double-double of the season.
The victory snapped IUPUI's five-game losing skid and extended the Jaguars winning streak to seven straight against IPFW. The Jags needed just 20 three-point attempts, connecting on a season-high 50 percent.
"We needed that," IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter said. "When we shoot the basketball from the outside and get the right people good looks, we can be really good. We took good shots tonight, and made them.
"Gary got everyone going by hitting those shots early. He really opened up the floor for everyone else and you saw the end result."
After coming up empty on the opening possession of the game, the IUPUI offense proceeded to score on seven straight trips on its way to building an 18-3 lead before the first media timeout. Patterson made three threes during the run and Nobles capped it with one of his own at the 15:47 mark.
IPFW closed within 12 on multiple occasions but IUPUI's perimeter attack and Glenn and Avery's interior presence answered repeatedly. IPFW's Deilvez Yearby cut the lead back to 25-13 with 9:28 with a thunderous dunk through traffic but the Jaguars quickly responded with triples on three consecutive possessions.
Patterson sank the first two with the second coming after he juked a defender and inched behind the line from the left wing. Nobles then hit off a Patterson assist with 7:15 left before the break.
The lead ballooned to 25 before the Jaguars took a 49-25 point edge to halftime.
IUPUI (10-10, 3-6 Summit) shot better than 62 percent in the opening half, including 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) from downtown. Sophomore Leroy Nobles made 5-of-7 first half attempts, including a layup at the final horn, to score 12 of his 17 before intermission.
Patterson drilled a season-high 6-of-10 from three and finished with five assists and a career-high five steals. His 20 points also established a season-high. Glenn made 6-of-8 from the floor and 8-of-9 at the charity stripe and handed out a season-high three assists.
On Saturday, Hunter shuffled his starting lineup, starting Glenn and Jon Avery side-by-side in the middle while bringing Billy Pettiford off the bench for the first time in 52 games.
"(Avery & Glenn) were monsters on the inside tonight," Hunter said. "They really played off of each other well. With those two out on the floor together, you have to guard us. I think they can be a really good combination together."
Largely due to the strong shooting, IUPUI handed out 20 assists led by sophomore Adrian Moss's career-high six helpers. Nobles finished the game hitting 6-of-8 shots and matched his season-high with four assists. Avery added 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting to accompany his five rebounds and three steals in 28 minutes.
Sophomore Ben Botts led IPFW with 16 points and Nick Daniels and Zach Plackemeier added 10 each. IPFW's top scorer, David Carson, hit just 1-of-11 from the floor and was held to five points and four rebounds in 27 foul plagued minutes.
IPFW (8-12, 3-6 Summit) was unable to get any closer than 22 at any point of the second half as the IUPUI offense continued to pick apart a myriad of defensive looks.
IUPUI's four-game stretch away from home continues on Thursday when the Jaguars travel to Cedar City, Utah to take on Southern Utah. Tipoff is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. EST with XL 950's pregame coverage beginning at 8:30. That contest can also be seen as part of the IUPUI LIVE! package.
