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MACOMB, Ill. - With injuries continuing to mount, the IUPUI basketball team will face a tough task when the Jaguars head to Macomb, Ill. to take on Summit League leader Western Illinois (11-3, 4-0 Summit) on Saturday (Jan. 5) night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. The game can be heard on WNDE.com with Scott McCauley's pregame coverage beginning at 7:45 p.m..

IUPUI (6-12, 1-3 Summit) was limited to just six scholarship players in Tuesday's 81-63 loss at Maryland with senior Sean Esposito leading four Jaguars in double-digits with 16 points in his 100th career game. Behind him, sophomore Lyonell Gaines added 14 points and seven rebounds and junior Donovan Gibbs chipped in 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

Senior Greg Rice continued his strong play of late, finishing with 12 points and seven assists in 37 minutes work. IUPUI blazed out to a 14-3 lead against the Terrapins with Gaines and Gibbs leading the way against Maryland's much larger frontcourt. The Terps, who received votes in both the AP and USA Today Coaches Top 25 polls last week, finally got going and took a 41-34 halftime lead before stretching out to a double-digit lead in the opening five minutes of the second half.

Esposito hit 5-of-11 shots, including three threes, for his second-highest scoring output of the season. All five IUPUI starters hit at least one trey as the Jaguars finished 9-of-23 (39.1 percent) from long distance. IUPUI shot 52 percent overall in the first half, but couldn't sustain the hot pace against the Terps, finishing at 44.4 percent.

Senior John Hart has been in a recent two-game slump, but continues to lead the Jaguars in scoring (14.2 ppg), steals (25), threes made (37) and minutes (581). Junior center Mitchell Patton, who has missed five of the past seven games, is netting 13.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game and Gibbs comes in at 9.3 points and 6.1 caroms per game.

With the injuries especially taking a toll on the Jaguars' front line, IUPUI has opted to play smaller lines. All total, five different Jaguars have made at least 17 threes this year with both Hart and Jordan Shanklin averaging more than 1.5 makes per contest.

Western Illinois is riding an eight-game winning streak and is a perfect 6-0 at home this season. The Fighting Leathernecks have been tenacious defensively, allowing opponent to hit just 37.9 percent overall and 31.4 percent from three-point range. WIU has held seven opponents under 50 points and three foes under 40 points. In their most recent win, WIU limited Savannah State to just 35 points in a pre-shot clock era-esque 39-35 victory.

Senior forward/center Terell Parks leads the Leathernecks in scoring (13.1 ppg), rebounding (9.0 rpg), blocked shots (40) and field goal percentage (.538) while playing nearly 32 minutes per game. Veteran point guard Ceola Clark III comes in averaging 12.3 points, 4.0 assists and nearly two steals per game. Adam Link is their third double-digit scorer, coming in at 10.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

IUPUI leads the all-time series 27-9 and has won 26 of the last 28 meetings between the two schools. The last time the two teams played at Western Hall, WIU's Remy Roberts-Burnett hit a three as time expired to send the Leathernecks to a 57-55 victory on Jan. 28, 2012.