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MUNCIE, Ind. - Looking to celebrate the Christmas holiday a couple days early, the IUPUI basketball team will return to action on Sunday (Dec. 23) when the Jaguars head up I-69 to take on Ball State at 2:00 p.m. inside Worthen Arena. Sunday's broadcast can be heard on WNDE 1260, WNDE.com and through the free iHeartRadio app available on smartphones as Scott McCauley (pxp) is on the call from courtside. Pregame coverage will begin at 1:45 p.m..

Despite a season-high 50 percent shooting effort from three-point range at Valparaiso on Thursday (Dec. 20) night, the Jaguars fell to the host Crusaders by an 89-69 score at the Athletics-Recreation Center. Valpo (8-4) punished the smaller Jaguars on the interior, outscoring IUPUI (4-10) 52-22 in the paint and outrebounding IUPUI, 40-22. Reigning Horizon League Player of the Year Ryan Broekhoff led the way with 17 points and nine boards.

Senior John Hart paced four Jags in double-digits with 18 points and both Donovan Gibbs and Greg Rice added 11 each. IUPUI raced out to a seven-point first half lead and trailed by only two at the break before taking a 42-40 lead early in the second half. VU countered with a back breaking 27-4 run to take a commanding double-digit lead. IUPUI got back within eight, but yielded seven straight points en route to the 20-point defeat. Junior guard Ian Chiles added 10 points and three assists, but was limited to just 3-of-10 shooting.

Ball State (5-5) had a three-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday when the Cardinals dropped a 66-56 decision to Purdue inside Mackey Arena. Before that, the Cards had claimed wins over Holy Cross (Ind.) and back-to-back wins over Summit League foe South Dakota. Junior guard Jesse Berry leads the BSU attack at 14.1 points per game and has made a team-high 18 threes in 10 games. Inside, junior college-transfer Majok Majok is averaging 12.2 points and 11.0 rebounds per game while earning more than seven trips to the foul line per game.

IUPUI and Ball State have played three common foes this year with both having taken on Butler, Indiana State and South Dakota. The Jaguars are 0-3 against that crop of teams this year while the Cards are 2-2 with a pair of wins to USD and losses to Butler and Indiana State.

Ball State leads the all-time series, 6-2, and the Jags are 0-4 all-time inside Worthen Arena.

IUPUI and Ball State hooked up twice last season on the hardwood with each team winning in their home cities. Ball State won 69-62 at Worthen Arena on Nov. 23 before IUPUI answered with a 66-57 win at Conseco Fieldhouse on Dec. 19. Alex Young had 22 points and seven boards in the Jaguars' Dec. 19 win and Chiles added 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Former BSU standout Jarrod Jones had 16 points and five boards in the game inside the Fieldhouse.

In the first meeting, Stephen Thomas led IUPUI with 18 points and six assists, while Jones had 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting in the BSU win. Sophomore Lyonell Gaines averaged 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in the two games and classmate Marcellus Barksdale was good for 8.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in the two matchups.

Barksdale is one of five scholarship players currently on the mend for the Jaguars as Head Coach Todd Howard was limited to just eight healthy bodies at Valpo on Thursday, including the return of #P.J. Hubert#.