INDIANAPOLIS – The IUPUI basketball team will open Summit League play against Centenary College (0-7, 0-0 Summit) on Thursday night with a 7:00 p.m. tipoff inside The Jungle. Pregame coverage with Scott McCauley (play-by-play) and Angelo Smith (analyst) will begin on 88.3 FM at approximately 6:50 p.m.. In addition, the game will be available via the IUPUI LIVE! subscription service on IUPUIJags.com, via the link above.
IUPUI (3-4, 0-0 Summit) is coming off a 103-80 win over IU-East on Monday night as four different Jaguars recorded new career-highs in the scoring column. Senior
Leroy Nobles netted a career-best 31 points in the win, hitting 10-of-15 field goal attempts. In addition, big men
Christian Siakam (14 points) and
Donovan Gibbs (12 points) also recorded new career-highs, as did senior guard
Nick DeSchepper (4 points). DeSchepper also handed out three assists in extended minutes off the bench.
Leading just 22-21 midway through the first half, Nobles erupted for a personal 11-0 run on three triples and a transition layup to push the lead to double-digits for the rest of the night. Nobles hit 4-of-7 from three and the Jaguars shot a season-best 68.5 percent from the floor.
Thursday's game will mark the last time Centenary visits The Jungle as a member of The Summit League. The Gents will be moving to the NCAA Division III level, beginning next season. Centenary is led by junior Maxx Nakwaasah, who comes in netting 10.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Nakwaasah scored the game-winner with a tip-in in IUPUI's home loss to Centenary two years ago.
IUPUI leads the all-time series between the two schools, 8-3. The Jagaurs swept the home-and-home series last season, including an 88-77 win over the Gents on Feb. 11 in Shreveport. Junior
Alex Young led IUPUI with a career-high 30 points that night.
IUPUI fans are reminded that the Jaguars will be collecting non-perishable goods benefiting the Ronald McDonald House on Saturday night against Oral Roberts as part of The Summit League Food Fight. Additional information will be distributed to fans attending Thursday's game.
