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INDIANAPOLIS - With a pair of conference victories last week, the Jags will look for their third straight conference win Saturday when they travel to Kansas City, Mo., to take on UMKC at 5 p.m. ET. Scott McCauley will have the call on IUPUIJags.com beginning just before tip.
 
SCOUTING THE KANGAROOS

• UMKC has been playing some of its best basketball as of late winning seven of its last eight games and enters this weekend with a 13-6 overall record and a 4-3 Summit League record.
• The Kangaroos rank second in the conference in scoring offense averaging 74.4 ppg, and they are led in that department by Dayon Hall-Jones’ 18.3 ppg, which is third in the conference.
• Kim Nezianya and LeAndrea Thomas also score in double-figures averaging 11.5 and 10.1 ppg, respectively.
• The ‘Roos also rank second in the conference in field goal percentage (.420), while ranking first and third in 3-point field goal percentage (.382) and rebounding (39.4), respectively.

 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST UMKC

• Saturday’s meeting between the two schools will be the 28th meeting all-time with IUPUI owning a 14-13 lead.
• On Senior Night a year ago, the Jags snapped the ‘Roos four-game winning streak in the series with a 75-61 victory.
• The Jags are 5-8 against UMKC when playing in Kansas City and have lost three straight on the road against the Kangaroos.
• IUPUI’s last road win in UMKC’s gym was on Jan. 7, 2008, by a score of 56-51.

 
A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST GAME

• Trailing by three points at the half and as many as eight early in the second half, IUPUI pulled together and held Southern Utah without a field goal for nearly 15 minutes while going on a 20-2 run as it rallied for a 56-49 win over the Thunderbirds Monday evening at The Jungle.
• The Jaguars, who came into the game yielding a conference-best 56.5 points per game, held SUU to just 18 second-half points and picked up its second straight league victory for the first time since February of the 2008-09 campaign.
• For IUPUI (8-11; 3-4 Summit), Kerah Nelson and Nevena Markovic stepped up their games in the second half combining for 20 of the team’s 28 points carrying the offensive load en route to the seven-point victory.
• Carli Moreland controlled the first 13 minutes of the game demanding the ball in the paint and scoring on almost every touch. With the Thunderbirds holding on to a three-point lead, 7-4, Moreland scored 13 straight points for Southern Utah from the 14:16 mark to the 7:17 mark keeping it in front, 20-16.
• During that stretch, Katie Comello and Markovic each buried a three to help the Jags remain within striking distance, before Markovic’s second triple and a Comello jumper from the right elbow gave IUPUI its first lead of the game, 21-20, with 5:44 to play.
• That lead wouldn’t last long as Southern Utah responded with three consecutive long balls during an 11-2 run that catapulted it back on top by eight points, 31-23.
• In the final 1:38, the Jags hit 1-of-2 free throws on three occasions and cashed in on a Clara Mitchell jumper as time expired trimming IUPUI’s deficit to three points, 31-28, entering halftime.
• The Jags were outrebounded 22-12 at the break and shot just 30.0 percent (3-of-10) from three compared to 66.7 (4-of-6) shooting from deep by the Thunderbirds.
• Southern Utah hit its first three shots out of the break to take a 38-30 lead, before IUPUI turned up its defensive intensity.
• After a Hailey Mandelko lay-up made the score 38-30, the Jaguars held the Thunderbirds without a field goal for the next 14:48 thanks in part to their full-court pressure defense.
• During that time frame, Nelson and Markovic combined to score 13 of IUPUI’s 20 points during a 20-3 run that turned the tides and placed IUPUI on top, 50-41.
• Outside of Markovic’s and Nelson’s scoring, Dawn Luster hit a huge triple with 9:49 to play to give IUPUI its first lead of the second half, 42-40, while Dee-Dee Bellamy hit the floor for a loose ball, found Luster who threw the ball ahead to Emily Phillips for a fast break bucket to cap the rally energizing the crowd and the team.
• Consecutive Kerah Nelson baskets pushed the Jaguars to a 54-43 lead with 2:05 to play, before a 6-0 run brought SUU within two possessions, 54-49, with 13 seconds to play. However, Phillips stepped to the line and buried a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left to close out the 56-49 victory.
• Nelson led the Jags with 15 points, while Markovic and Comello added 14 points and 10 points, respectively.
• After a sluggish first 20 minutes, the Jags shot 47.8 percent (11-of-23) in the second half compared to 28.6 percent (6-of-21) shooting for the visitors.
• The Jags forced 31 Southern Utah turnovers and scored 29 points off those turnovers. The 31 turnovers are the most turnovers forced by IUPUI since forcing Southern Illinois into 31 turnovers on Dec. 10, 2010.
• Moreland paced the Thunderbirds with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

 
COMELLO EARNS WEEKLY HONOR

• After helping the Jaguars to back-to-back conference wins for the first time since the end of the 2008-09 season, sophomore guard Katie Comello was named a Summit League Co-Player of the Week, sharing the weekly honor with Southern Utah’s Carli Moreland.
• The weekly honor is the first for Comello and she becomes the first IUPUI player to earn the award this season.
• She is also the first Jaguars player to pick up the award in over three years. Jernisha Cann was the last Jags player to earn the weekly distinction back on Dec. 23, 2008.
• The Colerain Township, Ohio-native kicked off her week scoring a career-high 28 points leading IUPUI to a 72-48 win over Oral Roberts.
• Comello connected on 8-of-13 field goals, including 6-of-11 from behind-the-arc tying a career-high, while equaling a career-best with four steals against the Golden Eagles.
• The 24-point win over the Golden Eagles was IUPUI’s largest margin of victory over ORU in series history.
• Comello followed that performance with a 10-point, five assist effort in just 22 minutes of action in a 56-49 win over Southern Utah.
• For the week, Comello averaged 19.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.0 apg and 4.0 spg, while shooting 55.0 percent (11-of-20) from the field, 50.0 percent (7-of-14) from three, and 90.0 percent (9-of-10) from the charity stripe.

 
MARKOVIC BOUNCES BACK

• Over the three games prior to Monday’s game against Southern Utah, Nevena Markovic had failed to score in double figures in each of those games.
• That stretch was the longest she has gone in her brief career without scoring in double figures.
• However, she broke that streak against the Thunderbirds scoring 14 points, while grabbing a team-high six boards and blocking four shots.
• Those four blocks tied a career-high and the 6-4 forward went 2-of-5 from three, her first game hitting multiple three’s since Jan. 4.

 
AROUND THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
Through four weeks of conference play, below is where The Jags and the players rank among Summit League leaders in overall and Conference-Only games:
Overall (Team):
Scoring Defense.............. 2nd, 57.1
Field Goal Pct. Defense.... 4th, .385
3-Point Pct. Defense........ 4th, .294
Turnover Margin............. 2nd, +4.5
Steals............................. 2nd, 10.9
Conference-Only (Team):
Scoring Defense............... 1st, 55.4
Field Goal Pct. Defense.... 3rd, .375
Rebounding Defense....... 4th, 35.7
Turnover Margin............. 2nd, +4.1
Blocks............................... 3rd, 4.4
Steals.............................. 3rd, 10.1
Overall (Individual):
Scoring.... Kerah Nelson (5th, 15.9)
Field Goal Pct. Kerah Nelson (9th, .464)
Assists...... Katie Comello (7th, 3.7)
.................. Emily Phillips (8th, 3.5)
Free Throw Pct. Kerah Nelson (4th, .819)
Blocks. Nevena Markovic (6th, 1.9)
Steals.. Dee-Dee Bellamy (4th, 2.4)
.................. Emily Phillips (7th, 2.0)
................. Katie Comello (9th, 1.9)
3-Point FG Made Katie Comello (6th, 1.8)
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio Katie Comello (6th, 1.2)
.................. Emily Phillips (7th, 1.2)
Offensive Rebounds Clara Mitchell (7th, 2.4)
Defensive Rebounds Nevena Markovic (6th, 4.9)
Conference-Only (Individual):
Scoring.... Kerah Nelson (8th, 14.3)
Assists........ Emily Phillips (4th, 4.1)
................. Katie Comello (8th, 3.3)
Free Throw Pct. Katie Comello (8th, .842)
............... Kerah Nelson (9th, .839)
Blocks. Nevena Markovic (5th, 2.1)
Steals........ Emily Phillips (t-7th, 2.1
.............. Katie Comello (t-7th, 2.1)
....... Dee-Dee Bellamy (t-10th, 1.9)
3-Point FG Made Katie Comello (t-4th, 2.4)
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio Emily Phillips (5th, 1.7)
............... Katie Comello (10th, 1.2)
Defensive Rebounds Nevena Markovic (5th, 5.1)
 
NELSON BECOMES PART OF 1,000-POINT CLUB

• A lay-up with 6:48 to play against Oral Roberts on Jan. 14, gave Kerah Nelson her 15th point of the gave the 1,000th point of her career.
• Nelson finished with 18 points against the Golden Eagles and by surpassing the 1,000-point milestone, Nelson became the 20th player in program history to do so.
• The St. Petersburg, Fla.-native also became just the fifth player to reach the scoring milestone as a junior.
• Head coach Austin Parkinson went on to say, “I couldn’t be happier for Kerah because she has been through a lot and to score her 1,000th point this early in her career – with the rest of this season and her senior year left – is extremely, impressive.
• Following the game, Nelson went on to add, “It means a lot. I had no idea I was that close to 1,000 points. Without my teammates I couldn’t have gotten there and I’d like to thank them first and I guess hard work pays off.”