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MUNCIE, Ind. - Senior Sean Esposito scored a career-high 20 points and the Jaguars hit 11-of-22 three-point attempts as IUPUI raced past Ball State, 77-68 inside Worthen Arena in Muncie on Sunday (Dec. 23) afternoon. Senior John Hart added 14 points, seven boards and five assists and sophomore Lyonell Gaines added 13 in the win. Sophomore Jordan Shanklin was the fourth IUPUI player in double-digits with 11 points off the bench.

Jauwan Scaife scored a game-high 21 points for the Cardinals and Chris Bond and Tyler Koch added 10 each.

"This was a good victory for us," IUPUI head coach Todd Howard said. "It was key for us to get off to such a good start and really set the tone of the game. Having even a four-point lead feels like a huge lead to us because we've already been through so much this season.

"Our guys have a lot of fight and a lot of heart in them. To come in here and get a road win before Christmas is a good feeling. We've worked really hard and honestly, we're a better team that our record indicates because of the injuries."

IUPUI (5-10), playing undersized again with junior center Mitchell Patton sidelined, embraced the size differential by using dribble motion and quick passes to work around BSU's defenders and free up open shooters.

For the first 10 minutes, IUPUI put on an offensive clinic. The Jaguars made five of their first seven and seven of their first 10 three-point attempts to grab an early double-digit advantage.

A Hart three made it 27-14 lead at the midpoint of the first stanza while Esposito, who hadn't hit more than one three in a game yet this season, hit three in the game's first six minutes. Both Greg Rice and Jordan Shanklin got in on the high wire act, hitting first half triples when being guarded by taller defenders. And despite the smaller lineup, IUPUI hung tough on the glass before ultimately succumbing 33-24 in the rebound column.

"I thought we rebounded well early," Howard said. "That was a key for us. We couldn't get beat on the glass early. We saw some shots go in and I thought we did a good job of blocking them out and chasing down loose balls.

"We've stressed to the guys about being quicker to the basketball and I thought we did a better job of that today."

Ball State (5-6) closed within six at 38-32 at the half, capped by a Majok Majok putback with 30 seconds left.

BSU clawed within five in the early moments of the second half before IUPUI regained its footing and showed some swagger in getting the lead back to 13. After BSU head coach Billy Taylor replaced his entire lineup with five reserves in an attempt to send a message to his troops, IUPUI continued to create offense. Shanklin blew past Chase Brogna, drawing a foul and completing a layup in the process and then jawed with the BSU guard heading into the media timeout with 11:13 to play.

When play resumed, Ball State went back to its regulars and the Cardinals' top scorer coming in, Jesse Berry, tried to single-handedly bring his team back. The Lafayette-native scored on a drive and then assisted Michael Ramey on a three that cut the lead to seven with 9:23 left. Two possessions later, Ball State pulled within three when Koch putback a Berry missed three, making it a 59-56 score with 8:16 left, forcing Howard to call timeout.

Rice pushed the lead back out to five when he hit a tough 19-footer in front of the Jaguars' bench as the shot clock expired with 6:21 to play, helping IUPUI recapture the game's momentum.

It was Esposito who fired the final daggers through Ball State, giving the Jaguars a second straight win over the Cardinals dating back to last season.

Clinging to a 61-57 lead, the Jaguars cycled through an offensive set that left the IUPUI sharpshooter matched up with Majok, BSU's 6-foot-9 frontliner. Esposito calmly swished a lightly contested trey from the right wing off a Hart feed, making it a seven-point lead with 3:51 left. After Scaife hit a pair of free throws, Esposito hit his second three in as many trips after Rice cut through traffic and spotted the open shooter on the wing.

Again Ball State hit a pair of free throws to get within six, but Esposito helped put the nail in the coffin on the Jaguars' ensuing offensive possession. IUPUI milked the shot clock down under 10, leaving Esposito isolated against Majok at the top of the key. The IUPUI guard blew past Majok, resulting in a reach in foul with just 2:08 left. However, the Cardinals were under the foul limit, giving the Jags a new 35-second shot clock with which to work. This time, Rice drove down the lane and fed Gaines for a two-handed dunk and a Koch foul as the shot clock winded down.

From there, IUPUI played keepaway and hit 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to earn its first-ever win in Muncie and improve to 3-6 all-time against Ball State.

"When you're going against a team that switches off as much as (Ball State) do and is a good help-side team, you're going to get some matchups of guards against their bigs," Esposito said. "That led to some open shots and fortunately, we were able to knock down some of those looks."

Esposito, a 40 percent three-point shooter entering this season, had made just 10 threes this season before firing in six on Sunday. Rice was 2-of-3 from deep and Hart made 2-of-5 threes and 5-of-10 shots overall. The Jaguars' offense turned in 18 assists on 27 baskets as Rice had seven and Hart had a season-high five. All total, IUPUI shot 52 percent from the floor and turned the ball over just 11 times while forcing 17 BSU miscues.

Junior Donovan Gibbs scored all eight of his points in the second half with the bulk of his attempts coming from point blank range.

Berry finished with nine points on just 1-of-6 shooting and turned it over six times in 30 minutes work. He came into play having scored 22 points in each of his past two games and ranked ninth in the Mid-American Conference in scoring.

The win snapped the Jaguars' recent two-game skid and was the team's first true road victory of the season.

IUPUI will return home to host its first of three Summit League games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Thursday, Dec. 27 when the Jaguars welcome Fort Wayne to Indianapolis. Tickets are available by clicking here or by contacting John Rasmussen at 317-274-5453. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with pregame coverage on WNDE 1260 AM, WNDE.com and on the iHeartRadio app with pregame coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m.. Scott McCauley (pxp) will call the action while the game can also be seen on the IUPUI LIVE! subscription service on IUPUIJags.com.