MACOMB, Ill. - The Jags close out their three-game road trip on Saturday, Jan. 29, when they head to Macomb, Ill., to square off against Western Illinois. Tip is set for 5:30 p.m. EST and Scott McCauley will have the call beginning at 5:25 p.m. IUPUI seeks to do what Western Illinois achieved on Dec. 31, and that is win on its opponents home floor. On New Year's Eve, the Leathernecks escaped the Jungle with a 51-50 triumph.

·         IUPUI returns home to play a familiar foe in Savannah State. The Jaguars last met the Tigers in their first game following a 16-day layoff in December in which SSU downed IUPUI, 69-52.

·         Limiting UMKC's offensive rebounding was one of the keys for IUPUI entering Monday's (Jan. 24) contest, but the Kangaroos corralled 15 offensive rebounds leading to 21 second-chance points as UMKC rolled to a 73-55 win over IUPUI.

·         For the fourth straight game, Kerah Nelson scored in double figures with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor. Nelson also added six rebounds and three assists notching team highs in all three statistical categories.

·         However, the story of the game was UMKC's rebounding and ability to get to the free throw line. The Kangaroos outrebounded the Jaguars 41-27 and converted 21-of-26 free throw attempts compared to 9-of-13 for IUPUI.

·         By the 13:30 mark of the first half, UMKC had jumped out to a 12-2 lead and the Jaguars hit 1-of-7 shots from the floor in addition to turning the ball over five times.

·         Over the next 2:04, IUPUI turned the tables on the Kangaroos by extending its defensive pressure allowing its offense to get going. Jasmine Horne buried a deep jumper from the top of the key and Nelson converted two looks in the paint during a 7-0 run that cut the Jaguars deficit to three, 12-9, with 11:26 on the clock.

·         IUPUI trailed 18-14 at the 7:50 mark, but the Kangaroos got to the free throw line five times over the next 4:11, converting all five attempts, in the midst of a 12-3 run upping their lead to 30-17, their largest of the half.

·         Buckets by Nelson and Horne over the final three minutes were enough to trim the Jags deficit to 12 points, 33-21, entering halftime.

·         The defensive intensity was nonexistent over the first five minutes of the second half as both teams nearly doubled their offensive output of the first half during that span.

·         Unfortunately for IUPUI, even though the flow of the offense improved, the Jags found that their halftime deficit had grown from 12 to 14 points, 44-30.

·         However, just as the Jags looked to reduce their lead into single digits, a 10-3 Kangaroos run over a three minute stretch expanded the UMKC advantage to 60-39 with 7:36 remaining.

·         IUPUI was able to bring its deficit down to 15 in the final five minutes, but the Jags ultimately fell to the Kangaroos, 73-55.

·         Western Illinois enters this weekend's match-up as winners of two of its last four games.

·         WIU owns an overall mark of 6-13 and a Summit League record of 4-5.

·         Sadie Webb leads the team in scoring (11.8 ppg) and is joined in double figures by Valencia Kelly (10.5 ppg).

·         In a win at Southern Utah on Jan. 24, the duo of Webb and Kelly combined to score 47 of the Leathernecks 77 points on 18-of-31 shooting from the field.

·         In conference-only play, Webb has stepped her game up and is averaging 15.4 ppg, while hitting 54.5 percent of her shots.

·         The IUPUI Athletics Department also announced changes to the basketball schedule for the month of February, affecting both the men's and women's slate.

·         IUPUI will now host Oakland University in a doubleheader at Conseco Fieldhouse on Feb. 5.

·         The women's game will start at 4:30 and be followed by the men's contest at 7 p.m..

·         Originally, the women's game was to be played in The Jungle on Saturday, Feb. 5 and the men's game was going to be on Sunday, Feb. 6 at Conseco at 1:30 p.m.

Below is where IUPUI players rank among the Top 10 in Summit League statistical categories (overall/conference):

.. Rebounding Kerah Nelson (T-8th, 6.5)

·         Following a one-game absence against Oakland on Jan. 10, sophomore Kerah Nelson has been a bright spot for the Jaguars.

·         Starting with a Jan. 15 decision against South Dakota State, Nelson has now scored in double figures in four consecutive games for the Jags.

·         Against the Jackrabbits on Jan. 15, Nelson scored 17 points, and followed that performance with a 19-point, six-rebound outing against North Dakota State just two days later.

·         The offensive improvements continued at Southern Utah, when Nelson erupted for a career-high 29 points, surpassing her previous career high of 27 points set earlier this season against IU-Southeast on Nov. 23, 2010.

·         For the fourth straight game, Nelson hit at least seven field goals as she went 7-of-9 from the floor against UMKC on Jan. 24 to score a team-high 15 points.

·         In the month of January, Nelson is shooting a sizzling 67.7 percent from the floor (42-of-62), which includes connecting at a 72.9 percent clip (35-of-48) over the last four games.

·         Her field goal percentage over the last four games has resulted in her scoring 20.0 ppg.

·         On the season, Nelson is fifth in all games in field goal percentage (.518), while ranking first in field goal percentage (.671) and tying for ninth in scoring (15.0) in conference-only games.