Box Score I Box Score (.pdf) I Photo Gallery I Video Highlights

INDIANAPOLIS - Junior Alex Young scored 22 of his season-high 27 points in the second half and the Jaguars erupted for 56 points after the break as IUPUI outlasted South Dakota State, 81-76 on Saturday night in the Jungle. With IUPUI leading by three in the closing seconds, Young picked off a pass and sprinted ahead for a two-handed dunk in the closing seconds to seal the win.

"Big time play. Absolutely a big time play," Hunter said of his junior's theft and jam.

The game represented the fourth time in school history that Head Coach Ron Hunter worked the sidelines in his bare feet in support of Charlotte-based non-profit Samaritan's Feet. IUPUI (11-9, 5-2 Summit) is now 3-1 in those four contests and has won six of its past seven outings during the current campaign.

The Jaguars shot a blistering 76.7 percent from the floor in the second half and finished the game hitting nearly 60 percent overall while the 56 second half points were a season-high. 

"This was a really good win for us - really good. That's a good basketball team on the other side. They've got one of the best point guards we've seen and great shooters all over the floor," Hunter said. "Tonight, Alex Young just flat out put on a show. There was nobody on the floor that could stop him in the second half. He's fun to watch when he gets going like that and I truly think that he's the toughest matchup on the perimeter in our league. Tonight, every bucket he made was going to the basket and when he's aggressive like that, there's literally no stopping him."

IUPUI yielded a 14-0 run late in the first half and trailed by as many as 14 points before halftime. Donovan Gibbs, John Ashworth and Young hit shots in succession to pull IUPUI back within seven before a steal and basket at the final horn pushed SDSU's lead out to 34-25 at the half. SDSU (12-6, 4-3) continued to lead by 11 early in the second half before the Jaguars began closing in.
 
Down 50-41 with 13:31 to play, IUPUI used a 9-0 run to knot the score at 50 all at the 10:24 mark. The Jackrabbits refused to let the Jaguars take the lead though, and later pushed their lead out to 63-56 when Nate Wolters swished a long three from the right wing with 5:47 left.

Again, IUPUI tied the game with a 7-0 run, capped by a Leroy Nobles trey, but still was unable to take the lead. SDSU's Clint Sargent stopped the bleeding with a three after an offensive rebound, making it 66-63 with 3:14 left. Young answered with a traditional three-point play when Jordan Dykstra was called for goal tending on a drive to the bucket and the lefty made the free throw after the final media timeout.

IUPUI finally took the lead with 2:31 to play when Young penetrated into the defense a lofted a floater over Griffan Callahan. After a quick defensive stand, the Jags went up four on a Nobles back door cut with 1:54 left. Young put IUPUI up six with 1:22 left, but the Jackrabbits refused to go away, hitting two threes in the final 1:02.

Young answered SDSU's first three with a spinning drive that sat on the back rim for seemingly an eternity before dropping through with 31.9 seconds left. Callahan cut the Jaguars lead back to two with 22 seconds left with a three, but Young came through with enough free throws and the final steal and dunk to cap the win.

Young ended up 10-of-17 from the floor and 7-of-10 at the foul line in 39 minutes work. The 6-foot-6 Indianapolis Northwest-product added seven boards, three assists and three steals on the night. Nobles scored 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting and Christian Siakam pitched in 12 points and six rebounds in 25 foul plagued minutes. Ashworth closed with eight points and a season-high seven assists and Stephen Thomas chipped in nine tallies and six boards.

Wolters, The Summit League's top scorer, led three Jackrabbits in double-digits with 24 points and five assists while Sargent added 17 on 5-of-12 shooting from three. Dykstra finished one board shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds and made all six of his free throw attempts.

SDSU finished the game shooting 48 percent overall and hit 11-of-26 (42.3 percent) from three. The Jacks outrebounded IUPUI 29-27, but were outscored 16-9 on second chance points.

The game was tight from the outset with the score being tied five times in the first 11 minutes before SDSU went on its 14-0 run by holding IUPUI scoreless for over six minutes.

"We need to eliminate the scoring droughts and those have bothered us all season long," Hunter said. "We just stopped being aggressive and we were settling for too many jumpers. That's not our game, but that's also a credit to what they did defensively. They shut down our driving lanes and made us take those shots. When they're not falling, that's when we really struggle."

After the game, a gimpy Hunter emerged from the Jaguars' locker room to discuss the Samaritan's Feet partnership.

"My feet hurt bad, but it's not about me. It's about those kids that don't have the luxury of owning a pair of shoes. As long as I'm coaching, I'm going to continue to do this. I'm able to help give them a voice and hopefully impact a lot of kids' lives along the way," Hunter said. "I'm glad the media were here to help cover it, because that's only going to continue to further the cause. It's only continued to get bigger and bigger and I'm just glad I can be a part of it."

Hundreds of coaches at all levels are expected to coach in their bare feet over the course of the season in support of the Samaritan's Feet project, which Hunter initiated in 2008.

IUPUI will return to action on Thursday when it heads to Kansas City to play UMKC inside the Swinney Rec Center at 8:05 p.m.. Pregame coverage with Scott McCauley (play-by-play) will begin at approximately 7:55 on 88.3 FM / The Walk.