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KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The IUPUI basketball team committed a season-high 23 turnovers shot just 33 percent in the second half in a 70-57 loss to Kansas State in front of 7,053 fans at the Sprint Center on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Alex Young had 19 points to pace three Jags in double-digits and junior John Ashworth matched his season-high with 14 points.

Junior Leroy Nobles tacked on 13 points and Kansas State (5-1) junior guard Jacob Pullen led all players with 25 points and seven assists.

The game was IUPUI's first-ever meeting with an opponent from the Big 12 Conference.

IUPUI (5-2) was rocky from the opening tip, allowing the hosts to jump out to a 9-0 lead, forcing Head Coach Ron Hunter to call a timeout just 2:03 into the game. An 11-2 IUPUI run, fueled partly by back-to-back Young steals in the backcourt, pulled the Jaguars even with 15:30 left. Nobles and Young combined to score nine points during the run capped by the latter's backdoor layup from the left side off an assist from Ashworth.

However, the Wildcats responded with an 11-0 run of its own, forcing four IUPUI turnovers along the way.

"We didn't take care of the basketball and make free throws and those are two things that you have to do," Hunter said. "We wanted to come in here and let K-State know that they should respect our program and I thought we did that and played hard. They're a good team and they forced us into turnovers that hurt us throughout the game.

"I liked the pace of the game."

IUPUI clawed back within five on threes from Nobles and Young, but K-State stretched the lead out to 40-29 by halftime. The Wildcats forced 15 first half turnovers and cashed them in for 18 points, but IUPUI drilled six of its first seven three-point attempts to stay close.

The Jags opened the second half with consecutive baskets from Billy Pettiford and Young to make it 40-33 with 19:23 left, but K-State ramped up the defensive intensity and reeled off a 14-1 burst to put the game away. Pullen scored the first five points during the run and Curtis Kelly added an emphatic one-handed dunk to send the purple clad faithful into a frenzy.

By the time Ashworth broke the run with a three at the 11:55 mark, K-State had the outcome well in hand.

"Their defense put a lot of pressure on us and they just forced a lot of turnovers," Ashworth said. "We didn't do a good job of taking care of the ball and we know that's partially because of us, but a lot of it was because of how hard they played on defense."

IUPUI finished the game shooting just 38 percent overall, despite hitting 9-of-18 from three. The Jags also struggled at the charity stripe, hitting 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) tries. K-State shot 42 percent from the floor but just 5-of-16 (31.3 percent) from three.

Ashworth made a career-high four treys and handed out four assists. IUPUI's top scorer, senior Robert Glenn, was held to a season-low three points on an 0-of-9 shooting performance. Glenn came in averaging 18 points and shooting 67 percent for the season, but was harassed by the Wildcats' taller front line, despite grabbing nine boards.

Dominique Sutton had 14 points and six boards while Kelly added 11 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.

IUPUI will now head home to open Summit League play, beginning with South Dakota State on Thursday, Dec. 3 inside The Jungle. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and that contest can be seen and heard via IUPUIJags.com. Scott McCauley (play-by-play) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Jared Lux (analyst) will call the action, beginning at approximately 6:45 p.m..

"We're looking forward to going home," Hunter said. "We've played seven games and only of those was at home. If you would have told me that at the beginning of the year we would be 5-2, I would've said no way. I am proud of our kids - now we need to go home and take care of business."