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

INDIANAPOLIS - Senior John Hart led four Jaguars in double-digits with 19 points in his IUPUI debut as the hosts rolled to a 67-54 win over Utah Valley inside the Jungle on Friday (Nov. 9) afternoon. Junior Mitchell Patton added a career-high 15 points and seven rebounds and both Donovan Gibbs and Greg Rice added 10 each in the win.

Holton Hunsaker paced Utah Valley (0-1) with 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting in the loss.

"We were very well prepared. I think that's easy to do for your opener, but you're facing a team that I think would do outstanding things in our league," head coach Todd Howard said. "They're a big team. They won 20-plus games. I thought we answered the bell, just ready to go.

"We were prepared with energy, with fight, with moxie and it started with defensive stops. We closed the first half and started the second half with defensive energy."

IUPUI took control of the game late in the first half, outscoring the Wolverines 10-1 over the final 4:45 before the break. Patton scored seven straight IUPUI points including a three-point play off a feed from Hart with 1:50 left, making it 40-26. On the next trip, junior #P.J. Hubert# collected a steal in front of the IUPUI bench and was rewarded at the offensive end with a clean look from the right side. The 6-foot-5 sharpshooter splashed the three, pushing the lead to 43-26 at the half.

The momentum carried over to the start of the second half as the Jaguars scored the first seven points to take a 50-26 lead. Hart opened with the first five points of the second half before Rice added a pair of free throws at the 14:27 mark. Utah Valley got as close as 12 at 59-47 with 6:38 to play, but IUPUI scored the game's next six points including a fallaway jumper from Hart and an easy layup from Patton off a gorgeous lob from Donovan Gibbs.

Gibbs led IUPUI with nine rebounds as the Jaguars won the glass, 36-33. Patton grabbed seven caroms and Sean Esposito snared a career-high six boards.

"(Utah Valley's) frontline is very good. Even teams around here in the Midwest, I don't know if you see that size," Howard said of UVU's frontcourt. "More importantly to Mitch and Donovan, that's what they do everyday. They done it at practice, they've done it at our scrimmages and exhibition work.

"They're playing against guys their age or younger - they're not freshmen or sophomores going against older guys every possession and it shows. I'm very happy with their leadership on the floor, how they play within our system and their overall leadership on the floor."

However, the game hinged on the turnover battle and the Jagaurs ability to make shots.

IUPUI turned the ball over 14 times, leading to just seven UVU points. On the flip side, the Wolverines turned it over 18 times, resulting in 18 IUPUI points.

The Jaguars shot 44 percent from the floor and hit 8-of-23 (34.8 percent) from three-point range while limiting UVU to just 38.9 percent shooting. The guests struggled from behind the three-point line, connecting on just 5-of-17 attempts.

IUPUI opened well, using an early 8-0 run to take an 8-2 lead, thanks to two early Hart treys. The Wolverines crept within one at the 14:15 mark, but the Jags used a 7-0 run to go up by eight. Just more than two minutes later, the lead grew to double-digits, where it stayed nearly the rest of the day.

Despite missing some key pieces on Friday, IUPUI (1-0) showed good balance with 10 players providing quality minutes. Sophomore Jordan Shanklin tied his career-high with five points off the bench and classmate Marcellus Barksdale played 18 minutes, contributing two assists and two boards. Rice, who takes over as the Jaguars' starter at the point, delivered a career-high five assists against just three turnovers.

Ben Aird had a double-double for UVU in the loss with 11 points and 13 boards and Jason Johnson added nine points in 32 minutes off the bench.

IUPUI will return to action on Monday when the Jaguars take on No. 5/5 Michigan at 9:00 p.m. at Crisler Arena as part of the NIT Season Tip-Off. The game will be televised on ESPNU with Jon Sciambi (pxp) and Bruce Pearl (analyst) calling the action. The game can be heard in the Indianapolis-market on 1260 AM and worldwide on WNDE.com or through the free iHeartRadio app available on smartphones. Scott McCauley (pxp) will call the action with pregame coverage beginning at approximately 8:45 p.m..

"It's a great opportunity, I think, for our league and our school to be in the tipoff, NIT tournament that traditionally kind of starts of the college basketball season," Howard said. "What a great matchup - certainly Michigan is a top five team with great players. I think the world of Coach Beilein with how he runs his program."