SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – On Sunday night, Batman took a back seat to Robin as the Jaguars rolled past UMKC, 79-55 in the quarterfinals round of The Summit League Tournament. Senior
Leroy Nobles scored a career-high 37 points, falling one shy of tying the tournament single-game record, as IUPUI advanced to take on Oral Roberts in Monday’s second semifinal.
Nobles hit 11-of-17 shots, including 6-of-9 from three and 9-of-10 at the foul line to eclipse his previous career-high by six points. His 37 points were the most by a Jaguar since
Robert Glenn scored the same amount in the 2009-10 season opener at Drake.
"He has had a great year. He is a kid that didn't get recruited and didn't have any scholarship offers," IUPUI Head Coach
Ron Hunter said of his First Team All-Summit League guard. "He is a kid that couldn't make a jump shot out of high school. He was a dribble and drive sort of guy."
Nobles scored 18 in the first half and trumped that effort with 19 second half points.
"Coach (Hunter) challenged me mentally and physically like he challenged all the players at the beginning of the game," Nobles said. "I just responded, that is all. I don't base myself on individual goals because we work hard as a team. Without my teammates, my accomplishments would be nothing."
Junior
Stephen Thomas finished with 15, all in the second half, and
Alex Young added 12 points and a career-high with seven assists. A third junior,
Christian Siakam, rounded out IUPUI’s quartet in double-digits with 10 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year as IUPUI won the glass 35-20.
"We said it is one the one thing we had to do, not just for this game but for three games," IUPUI Head Coach
Ron Hunter said of his team's rebounding edge. "We wanted to rebound for three days because when we outrebound people, we usually win. We want second and third cracks at it. Rebounding is about effort."
Bakari Lewis led three ‘Roos in double-figures with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
Even though Young hit a three on the Jaguars’ first possession, the rest of the first five minutes were sluggish at best. UMKC’s Reggie Chamberlain hit back-to-back threes, the second of which came in transition after an IUPUI turnover near midcourt and prompted an early timeout at the 17:45 mark.
IUPUI trailed 13-3 after a Jay Couisnard trey before the offense finally began to gain traction. Nobles’ long-range marksmanship coupled with Siakam’s interior presence fueled IUPUI to a 34-14 scoring advantage over the final 15:35 of the first half. Young played the role of distributor, but also had flashes including a two-handed dunk down the left side of the lane with 1:40 left before halftime.
Leading 37-27 at the break, IUPUI yielded four quick points to start the second half before a 13-2 run seemingly gave IUPUI control. Nobles and Thomas led the way as the lead grew to 50-33 with 14:15 left. The lead ballooned to 61-39 when Thomas scored a three-point play on an underneath out of bounds play with 8:52 to play. UMKC (16-14) got no closer than 16 points the rest of the night.
After the sluggish start, IUPUI (19-13) rebounded to shoot 51.9 percent from the floor and 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from the floor. IUPUI also hit 78.3 percent from the charity stripe and outscored UMKC 18-4 at the foul line.
UMKC hit 49 percent overall and just 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) from three-point range. The 'Roos hit three of their first four threes before going 0-of-10 over the final 36 minutes. Couisnard closed his college career with 14 points and five rebounds and Chamberlain tallied 12 on 5-of-7 shooting.
The Jaguars improved to 10-1 all-time in Summit League Tournament openers and 3-0 against UMKC in the postseason.
"We don't celebrate first round wins," Hunter said. "We did what we thought we were supposed to do. I thought we were pretty good defensively. I believe these kids are on a mission."
IUPUI will take on Oral Roberts at 9:30 p.m. Eastern on Monday for a spot in The Summit League title game. ORU swept the season series after IUPUI eliminated the Golden Eagles from the postseason a year ago.
"I think you will see a great game and we are really excited about playing," Hunter said.
The game will be aired on ESPN3 and ESPN Full Court while it can be heard in Indianapolis on 88.3 FM / The Walk. Scott McCauley (play-by-play) will call the action beginning at approximately 9:25 p.m..
