INDIANAPOLIS – All five starters reached double-digits and the IUPUI attack hit 56.9 percent from the floor as the Jaguars roared to an 86-77 win over IPFW at Conseco Fieldhouse on Thursday night. Junior
Alex Young led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting and Dayton-transfer
Stephen Thomas netted a career-high 19 points in the victory. His high school teammate,
Sean Esposito matched his career-high with 18 points on six threes and
Leroy Nobles added 14.
“This was a big time win for our basketball team,” IUPUI Head Coach
Ron Hunter said. “I was a little nervous as to how we’d shoot the basketball in here, but both teams really were able to make shots. That surprised me a little.
“The key for us was that our offense was really balanced tonight. We were able to get Christian (Siakam) going early and that opened some things up for Alex and Leroy driving to the hoop. Once that started clicking, they sagged off of our shooters and they made them pay.”
IUPUI (14-10, 8-3 Summit) fell behind by eight early, but battled back behind Thomas’ hot start to eventually take a 38-34 halftime lead. The Jags closed the first half with seven points in succession, capped by a Nobles’ steal and layup and an Esposito leaning three as time expired.
The momentum carried over to the second half as IUPUI scored the first 12 points of the second half, making it a 19-0 rally. Esposito knocked in two more threes during the run, the first of which came from behind the NBA line on the left wing. The 6-foot-3 Cathedral High School-product went back-to-back again later in the half, pushing the lead out to 20 and prompting the second IPFW timeout of the first 5:09 of the period.
IPFW (14-8, 8-4 Summit) scored eight quick points and eventually got back within eight when Zach Plackemeier swished a three with 11:43 left. IUPUI answered virtually every IPFW basket, but the Mastodons cut it to 66-60 on a Ben Botts’ trey from the left wing with 9:19 to play. This time, the answer came with a pair of Thomas free throws, followed by a Young wing three in front of the Jaguars’ bench. IUPUI maintained at least an eight-point lead the rest of the way and made 11 free throws in the final four minutes to ice the victory.
Esposito came in averaging just 2.0 points per game and was 0-of-10 from three since being inserted in the starting lineup two games ago.
"That's the dimension Sean brings to us," Hunter said. "He stretches you out and makes you stay home defensively. When he gets going like he did tonight though, he makes those threes look like layups."
IUPUI hit 19-of-21 (90.5 percent) at the free throw line and 9-of-18 from beyond the arc on Thursday, both just missing setting new season-highs. IPFW also shot well, making 49 percent from the field and 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) from three.
Reigning Summit League Co-Player of the Week Frank Gaines led three ‘Dons in double-digits with 22 points and Plackemeier finished with 16. Indianapolis-native Jeremy Mixon tallied 12 in the return to his hometown on 5-of-8 shooting off the bench. Botts, IPFW’s top scorer, was held to just eight points on 3-of-9 shooting.
IUPUI owned the glass, 32-24 as Thomas grabbed a team-high six caroms. Young added five boards and four assists and
Christian Siakam contributed 10 points, five boards and tied his career-best with three blocked shots.
“They went really small a lot in the second half and that gave Christian trouble,” Hunter said. “But there were a lot of times when he was down there battling two and three guys for rebounds. He’s really improved and probably playing the best basketball of his career right now.”
With the win, IUPUI improved to 4-4 all-time at Conseco Fieldhouse and 4-3 when hosting at the home of the Pacers. More importantly, the Jaguars swept the season series with IPFW and took over sole possession of second place in The Summit League standings.
“Everyone was aware of what this game meant to the (Summit League) standings,” Hunter said. “We both wanted this win to get up to that No. 2 spot in the league.”
IUPUI will continue its important two-game Conseco homestand on Saturday night when its hosts No. 1 Oakland at 7:00 p.m., or immediately after the women’s game. Oakland comes in perfect in Summit League play and ranked No. 9 in the most recent CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. Pregame coverage with Scott McCauley (play-by-play) and Angelo Smith (analyst) will begin on 88.3 FM at approximately 6:55. In addition, the game can be viewed live over the internet as part of the IUPUI LIVE! subscription service on IUPUIJags.com.
