FT. MYERS, Fla. – Junior
Alex Young scored 23 points, one shy of his season-high, and led four Jaguars in double-digits as IUPUI rolled past Florida Gulf Coast inside Alico Arena on Monday night, 76-63. The hot shooting Jags hit 54 percent overall and 43 percent from beyond the arc in the win.
IUPUI (7-8) built an early 10-2 lead and never trailed in the contest. The Jaguars’ first half advantage grew to 30-20 at the 4:27 mark when Nobles swished a three off a Thomas feed, however the hosts clawed within 36-31 by halftime. Both teams traded baskets in the early going of the second half until Head Coach
Ron Hunter’s team a brief 10-2 run to make it 54-43 with 13:37 left. Young began the run with a steal that he would then convert into a three-point play in transition before the media timeout.
After FGCU’s Anthony Banks connected for a bucket, Young followed with a tough 17-foot pull-up jumper on the Jags’ next trip. After forcing a turnover, Ashworth stroked a wing three and Young capped the run with a steal that led to two made free throws.
Ashworth continued his hot shooting, hitting 5-of-7 overall and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. In the past two games combined, the Indianapolis-native has hit 9-of-15 from three-point range.
Defensively, Young finished with five steals and four blocked shots, tying or setting new career-highs in both categories. The 6-foot-6 lefty hit 9-of-13 overall and also handed out three assists on Monday night.
“We’ve told Alex that he can take over games in more ways than just the scoring column,” Hunter said. “That’s what he did tonight. Even though he had 23 points, he made things happen in other ways by getting deflections and playing passing lanes and creating shots for his teammates. This was really one of his best performances of the year though, no question.”
Even after FGCU (3-8) got back within six on a Marlon Rivera drive and Reed Baker three, IUPUI countered with yet another 10-2 run to essentially end any doubt. Junior
Christian Siakam scored four points during the rally and Nobles capped it with a corner three with 9:49 to play.
“Offensively, I think we’re getting better,” Hunter said. “When you hit shots, it’s easy to say that, but I think we’re doing a better job of getting everyone involved and getting easier shots for everyone. We finally look like we have some flow to our game, and that’s something we couldn’t say this time last month.”
Banks led Florida Gulf Coast with 16 points and Baker added 14, but hit just 6-of-16 attempts from the floor. FGCU shot just 41 percent overall and 24 percent from three in defeat. Both teams turned the ball over 14 times with the Jaguars matching their season-high of 10 steals.
“Defensively, we gave a solid, solid effort, right from the opening tip. I think they missed their first nine or 10 shots of the game and that really helped us set the tone,” Hunter said. “We got a little sloppy down the stretch, but all in all, this is a really good win. They don’t lose a whole lot of home games, so this was big for us to come down here and get this win.
“Now, we’re just excited to get home and sleep in our own beds for more than a night and get back to work.”
Siakam finished with six points and a team-high 11 boards and Florida-native
Anthony Williams gave nine productive minutes off the bench, finishing with four points, two rebounds and a blocked shot. IUPUI improved to 2-0 all-time against FGCU with the win and 5-0 this season when scoring at least 69 points.
The Jaguars will now return to Summit League play for the rest of the way, beginning by hosting Western Illinois in The Jungle on Thursday, Dec. 30 at 7:00 p.m.. Pregame coverage with Scott McCauley (play-by-play) will begin on 88.3 FM / The Walk, at approximately 6:55. Both teams come in with an early 1-1 record in The Summit to start the year.
