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Live Stats
OREM, Utah - The IUPUI basketball team will tip-off the 2013-14 campaign on Friday (Nov. 8) when the Jaguars take on Utah Valley inside the UCCU Center (8,500) in Orem, Utah. Friday's game is the return game of a home-and-home series that began in Indianapolis a season ago.
The game can be heard in Indianapolis on WNDE 1260 AM with the broadcast being joined already in progress. Will Flemming (pxp) will be on the call in his first season as the Jaguars' lead broadcaster.
On the court, the Jaguars are coming off an 85-73 exhibition win over Kentucky State inside The Jungle last weekend, getting 22 points each from both
Ian Chiles and
Khufu Najee. Chiles, who missed nearly all of last season due to an injury, made a triumphant return to the Jaguars' lineup by hitting 8-of-16 shots, grabbing eight boards and handing out four assists.
Najee scored 16 points in the first half as the Jaguars built a 44-31 halftime advantage. The lead grew as large as 21 points in the second half as the Jaguars led by double-digits over the final 21 minutes of the contest.
The interior duo of
Mitch Patton and
Donovan Gibbs had 18 and 12 points, respectively, combining to hit 9-of-12 shot attempts. As a team, IUPUI connected on 54.2 percent from the floor and limited KSU to just 45.5 percent shooting. The Jaguars did the bulk of their damage inside the arc, hitting just 1-of-8 from three-point range. Relying on the interior, IUPUI also outscored KSU 32-7 at the free throw line.
The starting five tallied 79 of the team's 85 points in the exhibition while only
Justus Stanback (four points) and
Cortell Busby (two points) scoring off the bench. #P.J. Hubert#,
Josh James,
Elijah Ray and
Linwood Ross all played, but didn't score.
IUPUI beat UVU, 67-54 in both teams' home opener in Indianapolis a year ago, led by
John Hart's 19 points and a 15-point, seven-rebound effort from Patton. Both Gibbs and
Greg Rice tallied 10 points each. Defensively, IUPUI clamped down on the Wolverines, allowing them just 38.9 percent from the field and forcing 18 turnovers.
Holton Hunsaker scored 15 points for Utah Valley in the loss and Ben Aird added 11 points, 13 rebounds and three steals. Aird and Hunsaker are UVU's top reserves from last year's 14-18 squad. Aird, a 6-foot-9 center, averaged a team-high 15.1 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 57.5 percent from the floor and blocking 58 shots in 30 games. Hunsaker, son of Head Coach Dick Hunsaker, chipped in 13.2 points per game and 3.1 assists per game while making a team-high 65 treys.
IUPUI is 9-6 in season openers in the program's Division I era and 2-0 under Head Coach
Todd Howard. Howard's squad beat Anderson 101-68 in his first season before knocking off Utah Valley a year ago. The Jaguars have also enjoyed considerable success in the state of Utah, having won its last six trips to the Beehive State against former Summit League foe Southern Utah. All total, IUPUI is 10-4 in games played in Utah in the Division I era.