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INDIANAPOLIS - IUPUI used its superior length and athleticism to fly past South Dakota State in both schools' Summit League opener on Thursday night, 79-57 inside The Jungle. Senior Robert Glenn led IUPUI with 21 points and seven rebounds and junior Leroy Nobles added 16 points and six boards.

The hosts shot an impressive 55.4 percent from the floor and outscored SDSU 44-26 inside the paint in the victory.

"We really wanted to make sure we took care of the basketball and focused on taking a good shot and not necessarily a quick shot," IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter said. "We knew we would have chances to get out in transition because of our press, but to win this game, we had to convert our chances when we had them."

The Jaguars also had a 10-0 advantage on fast break points in the win.

IUPUI (6-2, 1-0 Summit) led from wire-to-wire, scoring the game's first seven points on an Alex Young three and back-to-back buckets inside from Glenn. Nearly eight minutes ticked off the clock before the game's first deadball and the Jaguars had already built a 19-12 lead at that juncture. After SDSU (2-5, 0-1 Summit) got within five at 24-19 on a tough Anthony Cordova turnaround jumper, IUPUI rattled off the next nine points beginning with a Christian Siakam three-point play and ending with a John Ashworth trey from the left side of the key.

Ashworth's second first half three made it 43-28 with 1:32 left, marking the Jags' largest first half lead. That score held going into the break. Sensing the kill, IUPUI pushed the lead out to 20 early in the second half and never let the Jackrabbits get any closer than 16 the remainder of the night.

SDSU's Kai Williams opened the second half with a two-handed dunk off a backdoor cut, but IUPUI responded with seven straight points on a Young three and layups from Glenn and Ashworth.

Defensively, IUPUI pestered the Jackrabbits into a 39 percent shooting performance including hitting just 5-of-20 from beyond the arc. SDSU's Garrett Callahan, who was a preseason First Team All-Summit League pick, hit just 1-of-7 from three and finished with three points. Cordova led the Jackrabbits with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting and Clint Sargent added 10 on 3-of-5 shooting, but played just 24 minutes due to foul trouble.

The Jackrabbits came in shooting nearly 43 percent this season from three-point range and averaging eight treys per game.

"We did a good job of making them shoot contested jumpers, and that was our goal defensively," Hunter said. "They had some open looks, but for the most part, we bothered them on the perimeter and never really let them get comfortable. We identified their shooters and did a good job of closing out on them. When we guard people like that, we're tough to beat, especially at home."

At the other end, Young scored 13 for the Jags in 23 foul plagued minutes and Ashworth finished with 10 points, eight assists and four rebounds. His eight assists matched his career-high.

"Ashworth is playing like an All-League point guard right now," Hunter said. "He's hitting his shots and just doing a good job of making the easy play."

The duo of Siakam and Jon Avery combined for 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench as IUPUI outrebounded the guests 37-31 overall.

The win pushed IUPUI's lead to 4-1 in the all-time series between the two schools. The Jaguars will cap the two-game Summit League home stand with North Dakota State on Saturday evening. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. following the women's game, slated for 4:30 p.m.. Live audio and video will be available via the web as Scott McCauley (play-by-play) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Jared Lux (analyst) call the action. Pregame coverage will begin at approximately 6:50 p.m..