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

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Junior Mitchell Patton had a career-high 27 points and 13 rebounds and senior guard Greg Rice added a career-best 21 points as IUPUI roared past Bowling Green, 80-66 in the consolation game of the North Regional of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Tuesday (Nov. 13) night at Crisler Arena.

Patton's second career double-double was complemented by the first career double-double from junior Donovan Gibbs, who finished with 10 points and a career-high 13 boards.

"We've played enough MAC teams, it's really a Big Ten style of play," head coach Todd Howard said. "It's smashmouth. They run a lot of shooters off screens, ultimately to get the ball back inside.

"We knew that Mitch and Donovan needed to do a whale of a job defensively. Shots went up from the perimeter and they got every rebound. They did a really good job of finishing off possessions."

A sneaky efficient IUPUI offense made the most of opportunities as sophomore Jordan Shanklin also had a career-best in the scoring column, contributing 12 points in 17 minutes off the bench on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting night.

Jordon Crawford led Bowling Green (1-2) with 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting and A'uston Calhoun ctontributed 19 points and six rebounds in the loss.

IUPUI closed the game on 16-4 run, beginning with a Patton assist on John Hart's only bucket of the game with 4:39 left. Clinging to a 64-62 lead, the Jaguars reversed the ball through the post and the 6-foot-9 lefty threw a strike to the wide open sharpshooter on the right wing, who sank the open trey to make it a two possession game at 67-62.

"It almost looked like one of our shooting drills," Howard said of Hart's key make. "He threaded the needle. We told him early, good defensive teams double good post players.

"When he got single coverage, he went to work."

After BG's Luke Kraus missed a challenged three at the other end, Rice dialed up a dagger out of the media timeout. The Jaguars cycled through their motion offense before Rice was given a look on the left wing, which he swished over top of the 5-foot-6 Crawford's close out. Crawford came back with an easy layup to make it a six-point margin, but Rice matched the bucket with a pair of free throws in a one-and-one opportunity. The lead finally reached double-digits when Patton sank a short jumper, prompting a BG timeout with 1:43 left after the outcome was in hand.

IUPUI finished with a 38-27 advantage off the glass and shot better than 60 percent from the field. The Jaguars hit 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from three-point range while limiting BGSU to just 40.9 percent overall and 7-of-21 from long-range.

IUPUI (2-1) fell behind by as many 11 points midway through the first half at 24-13 after Jehvon Clarke stroked a wing jumper, but IUPUI immediately answered when Shanklin drained a contested three at the other end. Shanklin's make seemingly energized his teammates, specfically on the defensive end as stops began coming more frequently than BGSU buckets.

Even after the Falcons reestablished a 37-30 lead at the 3:40 mark of the first half on a Chauncey Orr jumper, IUPUI closed the half with six straight points capped by a Patton putback at the final buzzer.

Rice ignited the late run with a steal near midcourt and an uncontested layup before Gibbs later scored on an 18-footer jumper that hit the back of the iron, bounded high off the rim and dropped through with 1:23 left.

Gibbs was strong at both ends of the floor, hitting 5-of-8 shots on offense while bothering Calhoun into an 8-of-21 effort defensively. He and Patton combined to grab 19 defensive boards and accounted for 26 of the team's 38 boards.

Hart, IUPUI's top scorer in the first two games of the season, hit just 1-of-6 shots and finished with three points. Howard opted to play Rice, Shanklin and Hart together in the backcourt for different stretches, especially late in the ballgame.

"It gave us another (ball) handler out there and then defensively, it allowed us to switch some things effectively," Howard said of that guard grouping.

Tuesday's game was the first-ever meeting between the two schools as IUPUI now owns two straight wins over Mid-American Conference opponents dating back to last season.

IUPUI will now return home to host Bradley at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 17) inside The Jungle in a regionally televised contest. Saturday's game can be seen on Comcast SportsNet Chicago as Brian Bedo (pxp) and Danny Adams (analyst) call the action. The IUPUI broadcast can be heard on WNDE.com, IUPUIJags.com or through the free iHeartRadio app available on smartphones as Scott McCauley (pxp) calls the action from courtside. Pregame coverage will begin at approximately 6:45 p.m..

Saturday's game can be viewed online as part of the IUPUI LIVE! subscription service on IUPUIJags.com. Tickets to Saturday's game are available by contacting John Rasmussen in the IUPUI Athletics Office at jrrasmus@iupui.edu or 317-274-5453.