Box Score I Box Score (.pdf) I Photo Gallery I Video Highlights I Todd Howard Postgame I Alex Young Postgame

INDIANAPOLIS - The nation's top scorer picked a good time for the best night of his career. Summit League Preseason Player of the Year and the national leader with 1,810 points coming in, Alex Young, piled up 43 more big ones as IUPUI snapped a four-game skid with an 84-76 win over Western Kentucky on Saturday (Dec. 10) night.

Young's monster night eclipsed a pair of Odell Bradley 41-point efforts for the highest output in the program's Division I history and was the first 40-point outing yielded by Western Kentucky since 1971. The 6-foot-6 lefty hit 14-of-20 attempts from the floor and 12-of-13 from the foul line, carrying IUPUI (3-8) to the home victory. He was also 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point line and collected nine boards and three steals in 37 minutes. His previous career-high was 32 and he notched just the third 40+ point game in the program's Division I era.

For the entire 40 minutes, Young had the whole arsenal going, hitting on drives, pull-ups and from behind the three-point line. Young ignited an 11-0 run late in the first half as the Jaguars turned a 16-13 hole into a 24-16 advantage. Young scored six points during the rally while sophomore Mitchell Patton added a tip-in and assisted on an #Ian Chiles# wing three. Even after a Derrick Gordon 18-footer stopped the run, Chiles hit again to make it 27-18. WKU scored six quick points to close within four, but Young ended the first half a soft layup and a high arcing three at the final horn to send the score to 34-25.

"I know it's coming together for him," head coach Todd Howard said of Young. "He was always the recipient. He wasn't the initiator. Steph just did a whale of a job and I thought Ian Chiles was phenomenal."

"Pretty much everything was working," Young said. "Everything I put up tonight, I felt like it was in rhythm and it wasn't forced. I'm really at my best when I get in rhythm and get good shots. I was really glad that shots dropped.

"I hit the (first half) buzzer beater. They kept fouling me and I really have tried to emphasize hitting my free throws this year."

T.J. Price led Western Kentucky (4-7) with 19 points off the bench and Khalil McDonald tallied 15 in 24 minutes work.

Young had a slow start to the second half as the supporting cast shouldered the load early. Freshman Lyonell Gaines scored IUPUI's first two second half buckets as Young didn't scratch until the 11:48 mark.

During that time, Western Kentucky whittled IUPUI's nine-point halftime lead down to one at 40-39 less than seven minutes deep into the second half, but the Jags never gave away the advantage. Gaines helped keep IUPUI ahead with a free throw making it 41-39 and Young followed with a putback of a Christian Siakam miss to push the lead to four. The Hilltoppers later closed within three on a George Fant free throw, but IUPUI responded with a 14-2 run to extend out to a 15-point lead with under seven minutes to go.

Young and Stephen Thomas combined to score IUPUI's next 16 points, beginning when the former hit a contested three in front of his own bench as the shot clock expired. After a turnover, Thomas countered with a tough drive down the right side for his only field goal of the night. The bulk of the damage from there was done from the free throw line as Young and Thomas combined to hit 23-of-25 tosses.

Young seemingly capped it with a steal and dunk to push the score to 69-52 with 3:05 left, but WKU fought down the stretch to close the margin to single-digits. IUPUI was brilliant at the charity stripe late and ended the night hitting 29-of-37 (78.4 percent) in the win.

Thomas scored 13 points and delivered a game-high six assists and Patton turned in six points and a career-high nine boards in 23 minutes. Chiles tossed in six first half points on a pair of threes and Gaines added five points and five caroms.  IUPUI outshot WKU, hitting almost 45 percent from the floor, and outrebounded the Hilltoppers 38-36.

Defensively, IUPUI forced 15 turnovers and converted them into 20 points. Gordon, WKU's top scorer coming in, finished with eight points on just 3-of-10 shooting and Jamal Crook netted 11 off the bench. All total, the Jaguars collected eight steals among WKU's 15 miscues.

"We really challenged them defensively and on the glass," Howard said. "In the first half, we really met all of our goals of holding them under 30 (points) and wanted them under 39 percent from the floor. I know our defensive intensity was through the roof."

"This feels good to get back in the winning column," Young said. "It just feels good to get a win."

The win pulled IUPUI to 1-1 all-time against Western Kentucky, avenging a loss to the Hilltoppers from the 2005-06 campaign.

IUPUI will continue the season-long six-game homestand on Friday night when the Jaguars host St. Joseph's College on Friday (Dec. 16) at 7:00 p.m. inside The Jungle. Scott McCauley (pxp) will call the game on WNDE with pregame coverage beginning at approximately 6:50. In addition, the game can be viewed on IUPUIJags.com as part of the IUPUI LIVE! subscription service.

Adult tickets are just $10 while children 12-and-under are just $7. Kids 4-and-under are admitted for free.