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INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will continue the season-long six-game homestand and resume Summit League play when it hosts Western Illinois on Friday (Dec. 30) at 7:00 p.m. inside the Jungle. The game comes on the heels of a week-long break for the Christmas holiday.
Friday's game can be heard in the Indianapolis-market on WNDE.com and via the iHeartRadio app available on smartphones. In addition, the game can be seen live on the web with the
IUPUI LIVE! subscription service as Scott McCauley (pxp) calls the action. Reserved tickets are available for just $10 and all IUPUI students with a valid JagTag will be admitted for free.
On the court, IUPUI (6-8, 0-2 Summit) is a perfect 4-0 on the homestand thus far, including Friday's 97-88 win over Valparaiso at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Senior
Alex Young scored a game-high 27 points and guards
Stephen Thomas (20 points) and
Ian Chiles (19 points) both notched new career-highs in the win. IUPUI built a 17-point halftime advantage before seeing the visiting Crusaders pull all the way even less than eight minutes deep into the second stanza. However, IUPUI refused to hand over the lead and later built back a 16-point edge before coasting to the win.
The Jaguars hit a school record 41 free throws in 48 attempts in the win, including a perfect 14-of-14 effort from Thomas. The 41 freebies topped the previous 35 hit at Lipscomb on Dec. 1, 2003, while the 48 attempts were the second-highest total in the program's Division I era. The aggressive IUPUI offense drew 33 whistles as four Crusaders fouled out and three others finished with four personals. Kevin Van Wijk led VU with 19 points. Young was later pegged The Summit League Player of the Week and Lou Henson award Mid-Major Player of the Week.
IUPUI's current four-game winning streak matches the program's longest from a season ago and has seen the Jaguars completely outplay opponents in every facet of the game. The Jaguars are outshooting foes from the floor (43.8-40.3 percent), three (39.2-33.8 percent) and the foul line (83.2-76.5-percent) and outscoring the opposition by 10.5 points per game at the charity stripe. In addition, IUPUI is outrebounding its past four opponents by 4.8 caroms per night and leading in turnover differential by +2.0 per game. Young has keyed the hot streak, averaging 26.3 points per game and hitting 51.5 percent from the floor. Chiles has been impressive as well, netting 12 points per game and having hit 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) from three.
The Jaguars enter Friday's game having won six straight over WIU and 24 of the past 25 meetings between the two schools. IUPUI leads the all-time series 26-8 and 13-1 in Indianapolis. A year ago, IUPUI won 56-45 in Macomb on Jan. 29, 2011 behind
Christian Siakam's 18 points and Young's double-double (10 pts, 13 reb). Young, the nation's active career scoring leader, comes in just 14 points shy of passing Hall of Famer Jesse Bingham for the No. 3 spot on the school's all-time scoring list and just 85 short of becoming the third 2,000 point scorer in school history and 11th in Summit League history.
The lefty leads the team in scoring (20.1 ppg), rebounding (6.6 rpg), blocked shots (14), steals (18) and threes made (26). Thomas moved up to second in the country in free throw shooting (94.2 percent) and has hit 30 straight entering play. He also comes in leading the Jags in assists (58) and is second on the club in scoring (10.3 ppg).
WIU (6-4, 1-1) is led by the newcomer duo of 6-foot-3 freshman Obi Emegano and 6-foot-7 junior Terell Parks. Emegano leads the Fighting Leathernecks in scoring (13.2 ppg) and is hitting 56.2 percent from the floor through 10 games. Parks, a junior college transfer, comes in netting 12.2 points and a team-high 9.5 boards per game, while making 64 percent of his shot attempts. Senior guard Ceola Clark III also comes in averaging double-digits at 11.7 points per, while handing out nearly five assists a night. WIU is shooting 45.2 percent overall while holding opponents to just 40.3 percent. Head coach Jim Molinari's team boasts early season home wins over Summit League foe North Dakota State and Eastern Illinois.
