Box Score I Box Score (.pdf) I Photo Gallery I Todd Howard Postgame

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The IUPUI basketball fought hard all night, but never found a true offensive flow as the Jaguars dropped a 72-67 count at IPFW inside Memorial Coliseum on Thursday (Jan. 5) night. The loss snapped IUPUI's season-best six-game winning streak and dropped the Jaguars back under .500 overall and in The Summit League.

Senior Alex Young led all scorers with 25 points, albeit on 9-of-24 shooting, and sophomore Ian Chiles added 13 in the loss. Frank Gaines led three Mastodons in double-digits with 22 points and six boards and Mario Hines tallied 14 off the bench.

IUPUI (8-9, 2-3 Summit) shot just 39.7 percent from the floor and were outrebounded 40-29 in the defeat.

"When you're not making shots, you panic and you stress out a little bit and you begin to force things," IUPUI head coach Todd Howard said. "I thought when we executed and shared the ball, I thought we were playing at a high level like we have been.

"We knew going on the road, what that entails and it always involves the extra pass and getting patient in the offense. I can't really fault our effort." 

From the word go, IUPUI found more iron than net as the Jaguars led only briefly at 7-6 less than four minutes in on a Lyonell Gaines layup. IPFW (9-6, 3-3 Summit) responded with four straight and later pushed out to a six-point lead on an Isaiah McCray triple midway through the half.

IUPUI's shooting struggles continued as the Jaguars hit just 10-of-30 (33.3 percent) first half tries while the hosts went 15-of-28 (53.6 percent) before the break. Late in the half, IUPUI pulled even at 21 all on a Jordan Shanklin steal and transition finish at the 6:20 mark, but the rookie point guard was whistled for a contact technical as he retreated to the defensive end, leading to Justin Jordan splitting a pair of freebies. IPFW was seemingly energized by the call and blew off a 12-1 run over the next near five minutes.

Hines fueled the burst for the 'Dons on the inside before Chiles stopped the bleeding for the Jaguars. The sophomore guard scored five quick points to make it a six-point game before IPFW tallied the final four points of the half for a 37-27 halftime advantage.

Despite continuing to chip away, IUPUI never got completely over the hump in the second half. IPFW scored first to take a 12-point lead but the Jaguars methodically got back within three at 51-48 with 8:23 remaining. Incredibly, the Jaguars made their run with the freshman trio of Gaines, Shanklin and Marcellus Barksdale all on the floor together.

"Their energy was good. They moved the ball. We got a lot of touches, a lot of passes and a lot of ball reversals," Howard said of his freshmen. "They just really played live. They were fresh and really played live. For three freshmen to go on the road for their first conference game, they answered the bell."

IUPUI showed life when a Young trey made it 51-46 before Barksdale made it a three-point game at the foul line. However, IPFW countered with a quick 8-0 run in less than two minutes. Antwaun Boyd capped the rally with a three-point play out of a timeout.

IUPUI crept back within five on a Mitchell Patton putback three-point play, but after IPFW broke the Jaguars' full-court press, Michael Kibiloski stuck a three-point dagger from the corner to squash the comeback hopes. His triple was the 'Dons lone second half three point attempt while the Jaguars were 3-of-11 in the second half at the other end. IUPUI missed three clean looks at treys in the final 3:38 and a pair of free throws, all of which would've cut the lead to four or even three. After struggling at the charity stripe all night, IPFW hit six of its final eight attempts to seal the win.

The Mastodons finished 17-of-30 (56.7 percent) at the foul line and outscored the Jaguars 17-11. IUPUI stayed close by taking advantage of 21 IPFW miscues and converting them into 25 points.

Senior Stephen Thomas rounded out IUPUI's double-digit scorers with 10 points and four assists and Patton finished with seven. Jordan closed with 12 points and five caroms for the 'Dons, who got 37 points off the bench. Hines was pressed into extended action after starting center Trey McCorkle suffered an injury midway through the first half. IPFW's second leading scorer coming in, McCorkle had just two points in seven minutes work.

The loss dropped IUPUI to 10-3 in the Division I era against the 'Dons and was the program's first loss in Fort Wayne since 2004.

IUPUI will conclude the two-game Summit League roadtrip on Saturday night when the Jaguars head to Rochester, Mich. to take on Oakland University at 6:00 p.m.. That contest can be heard on WNDE 1260 as Scott McCauley (pxp) calls the action from courtside at the Athletics Center O'Rena. His call can also be heard on WNDE.com and through the free iHeartRadio app available for smartphones.