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OMAHA, Neb. - Junior Donovan Gibbs scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed 10 boards for his second career double-double, but it wasn't enough as Summit League newcomer Omaha picked off the Jaguars, 90-79 inside Ralston Arena on Thursday (Jan. 10) night.

John Karhoff led four Mavs in double-digits with 20 points and CJ Carter contributed 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Justin Simmons tallied 16 points and six boards and Alex Phillips turned in 15 in the win. Omaha (5-14, 2-5 Summit) shot 62.3 percent from the floor overall, helping offset 18 turnovers.

"Too many momentum plays hurt us," IUPUI head coach Todd Howard said. "After taking the lead in the second half, we missed two layups that they converted for five points. That's four (points) you don't get to build a lead and five they get. That's a nine-point swing that we hand ourselves daily. Missed layups can't happen at this level."

IUPUI (6-14, 1-5 Summit) senior Sean Esposito closed with 20 points, including hitting 5-of-10 from three-point range, and sophomore #Jordan Shanklin# added 15 points in his second career start. The Jaguars were limited to just seven scholarship players on Thursday night.

"Pedestrian effort isn't going to work with a short bench," Howard said. "P.J. (Hubert) battled but was done and couldn't return. Mitch (Patton) was the same, so five guys battled and I respect their effort a ton."

Howard's team was playing uphill for most of the second half and was down 82-75 with just 1:48 left after Carter split a pair of free throws.

Rather than fade, IUPUI fought until the final horn.

IUPUI immediately responded with a Gibbs layup and called timeout, trailing by five. On UNO's ensuing possession, Gibbs picked off a pass near midcourt and raced the other way for his third dunk of the night, making it a one possession game with 72 seconds left.

The Jaguars cranked up the defensive intensity in the closing minute, harassing the Mavs for the entire possession and seemingly had a much needed defensive stand. IUPUI knocked the ball away from Caleb Steffensmeier, but as the Mav was falling to the ground, he tapped the ball to Alex Welhouse for an uncontested layup with just three ticks left on the shot clock.

Checkmate.

"We cut it to three with a minute left and the ball spits through three people and they score on a scrambled loose ball," Howard said. "Now you're down five and it's a foul game."

Forced to fire quickly, Esposito came up empty on a trey with 32 seconds left and the Jaguars had to foul to try to extend play. Omaha finished with six quick points, four of which came at the foul line, to win by 11.

IUPUI, playing without leading scorer John Hart for the first time all season, started hot from three-point range as a pair of early Shanklin treys gave the Jags a 9-4 lead in the opening four minutes. A 14-6 UNO run midway through the first half put the hosts ahead 30-18 at the 4:46 mark and they would ultimately take a 42-36 lead to the locker room.

The Jaguars fell behind by 12 early in the second half before Esposito single-handedly shot IUPUI back into the ballgame. Sophomore Lyonell Gaines tipped-in a P.J. Hubert miss at the 13:29 mark to make it a 10-point deficit at 61-51 and after a Marcus Tyus miss, Esposito deposited a three to cut the lead to seven.

Tyus split a pair of freebies on the next possession, but Esposito countered with another triple to get the lead back to five. Gibbs pulled IUPUI back within three on a 15-foot jumper before Esposito tied the game at 62 all with 11:03 left. The Jaguars took a brief 64-63 lead on a Shanklin layup, but UNO scored the game's next five points and led the rest of the way.

The Mavs bullied their way through the Jaguars' defense, outscoring IUPUI 54-34 in the paint to account for the 62.3 percent field goal shooting. With junior center Mitchell Patton limited to just six minutes, IUPUI opted to fire judiciously from three-point range, hitting 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) attempts.

Esposito became the 12th player in school history to hit 100 career treys, moving his career number to 103 with five makes on Thursday. Gibbs hit 10-of-13 field goal attempts and was one of three Jaguars to collect three steals, while Shanklin was 5-of-9 overall and 2-of-5 from deep.

Both Greg Rice and Hubert finished with eight points each with the former handing out a team-high four assists.

The loss was IUPUI's fourth straight and dropped the Jags to 1-9 on the road this season.

IUPUI will return home for a quick two-game homestand when the Jaguars host North Dakota State (Jan. 17) and South Dakota State (Jan. 19) in Summit League action. Thursday's NDSU game will tip-off at 7:00 p.m. at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and can be heard on WNDE 1260 AM, WNDE.com and on the free iHeartRadio app available on smartphones. Scott McCauley (pxp) will call the action and that game can also be viewed on the IUPUI LIVE! subscription service at tip time.