Box Score I Box Score (.pdf)

BROOKINGS, S.D. – Sophomore Alex Young turned in a game-high 28 points and 10 rebounds to lead five Jaguars in double-figures as IUPUI held on late to spoil South Dakota State’s senior night, 86-76. Young fouled out with 3:30 to play, but his teammates were worthy of the task, making enough plays to help hold off the hard charging Jackrabbits.

“We hadn’t had a whole lot of success in this state. We lost in the first round of the conference tournament last year and (SDSU) absolutely blitzed us last year up here,” IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter said. “I was really proud of my guys tonight to come in here and get a win in a pretty hostile environment. We didn’t have a whole lot to play for in terms of seeding or that sort of thing, but my guys knew once there was 20 up on the clock, they wanted to win the basketball game.”

IUPUI (22-9, 15-3 Summit), which led 35-31 at halftime, pushed its advantage out to 53-39 with 13:44 left behind Young’s torrid second half start. SDSU (14-15, 10-8 Summit) kept firing though, and finally started hitting shots to pump some life into the nearly 5,000 fans at Frost Arena. Freshman Nate Wolters scored five straight on a layup and then a contested three-pointer, making it a nine-point game with just over 11 to play.

IUPUI senior Billy Pettiford had an immediate answer when he hit a 17-footer on a broken play, but the Jacks got a second straight three from Griffan Callahan off a drive and pitch from Wolters. This time, Young answered with a left-handed hoist from the top of the key to silence the SDSU faithful, pushing the IUPUI lead back to 11.

Clint Sargent made a third straight triple for the Jacks, but Young continued to answer, this time scoring IUPUI’s next five points, punctuated by a long three. Young scored 22 of his 28 in the second half, hitting 8-of-9 field goals and all three of his three-point attempts after halftime.

“Alex was an absolute stud tonight,” IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter said. “I’m not the smartest guy, but probably the smartest thing I did was put the ball in his hands. We did it a few years ago with a kid named George Hill and that turned out pretty well. Alex is just making plays right now, and he’s only a sophomore. He’s a tough, tough matchup out on the perimeter with the ball in his hands.”

IUPUI continued to answer the bell anytime SDSU tried to make a move, including a clutch three from Leroy Nobles from the corner with 6:20 to play after the Jacks had crept within seven. Then, with Young on the bench, it was senior Robert Glenn who made big plays that included a tough layup at the 2:56 mark and a breaking of a full-court press that led to a Nobles three-point play in transition. Glenn helped seal it, setting up classmate Jon Avery for a two-handed dunk with 1:38 left, pushing IUPUI’s lead out to eight.

The Jags made all eight of their free throw attempts in the final 77 seconds to secure their 15th league win, tying the program record.

Avery hit 7-of-9 field goal attempts to finish with 19 points off the bench and Pettiford had 12 points, nine boards, five assists, three blocked shots and three steals.

“Those two seniors are playing like they don’t want this thing to end. I’m happy for them that they’re playing some of their best basketball at this point in their senior years,” Hunter said. “We don’t win this game without those two tonight.”

With Glenn marred by foul trouble in the first half, Avery put the offense on his back, scoring 14 points in the first 20 minutes that included a tip-in at the final horn. Nobles finished the game with 13 points and Glenn chipped in 10 on just 5-of-11 shooting.

Young’s double-double was the second of his career with all 10 of his boards coming off the defensive glass.

IUPUI, which did the bulk of its damage on the inside, shot 57 percent overall while holding the Jackrabbits to 43 percent. The Jags outscored the Jacks 42-20 in the paint and outrebounded SDSU 36-28.

SDSU wasn’t bashful from behind the arc though, hitting 11-of-29 (37.9 percent) chucks, led by Clint Sargent’s five makes. Sargent scored 22 and Wolters finished with a season-best 17 points off the bench. Kai Williams added 10 points and five rebounds.

IUPUI will now enter The Summit League Tournament as the No. 2 seed riding a four-game winning streak. Hunter’s team will take on No. 7 Western Illinois at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday night inside the Sioux Falls Arena in Sioux Falls, SD. The Jags swept the season series with the Fighting Leathernecks.

Scott McCauley will provide pregame coverage at approximately 9:20 that evening.