Game Notes (.pdf) I Live Audio I Live Video I Live Stats

FARGO, N.D. - The IUPUI basketball team will cap the 2012-13 road slate when the Jaguars take on North Dakota State on Saturday (Feb. 16) at 8:00 p.m. inside the Bison Sports Arena. The game can be heard on WNDE 1260 AM, WNDE.com and on the free iHeartRadio app on mobile devices as Scott McCauley's (pxp) pregame coverage begins at approximately 7:45 p.m..

IUPUI (6-21, 1-12 Summit) has dropped 11 straight entering play, but comes in at 4-1 all-time against NDSU (19-7, 10-4 Summit) in Fargo. The Bison knocked off the Jaguars 78-40 on Jan. 17 of this season at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, despite missing leading scorer Taylor Braun. TrayVonn Wright led NDSU with 16 points and seven boards in 21 minutes in that contest while Lawrence Alexander chipped in 11 points and three assists. Junior center Mitchell Patton provided the Jaguars with a bright spot off the bench, closing with 17 points and four boards in 28 minutes work.

The Jaguars dropped the frontend of this two-game road trip on Thursday (Feb. 14) at South Dakota State, 82-45. Junior Donovan Gibbs finished with a team-high 16 points and six boards, but was not enough to offset the Jackrabbits' balanced attack. Nate Wolters led SDSU with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting and Jordan Dykstra added 14 points and a career-best 15 caroms.

SDSU hit 53.8 percent overall and 11-of-22 from three while limiting IUPUI to just 35.8 percent for the game.

The junior frontline of Patton and Gibbs continues to perform at a high level, teaming to average 24.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game in Summit League play. Gibbs is making a case for an All-Summit League ballot, averaging 12.4 points (11th in the league) and 6.2 rebounds (7th in the league) against league foes, while hitting 63.1 percent (4th in the league) from the floor.

The backcourt of Sean Esposito and Greg Rice have also played well since the start of the calendar year, but depth has been an issue. Head coach Todd Howard's squad is down to just seven scholarship players and nine healthy bodies with five players missing the season due to injury. Both Nick Kitcoff and Lyonell Gaines provided productive minutes in Thursday's game at SDSU including a career-high 19 minutes of action for Kitcoff. Gaines tallied eight points on 4-of-6 shooting in 20 minutes off the bench.

NDSU dropped a 49-36 home decision to Western Illinois on Thursday night and shot just 28.3 percent from the floor. The Bison led 22-17 at the half, but hit just 3-of-22 (13.6 percent) second half field goal attempts and were outscored 32-14 after the break. Wright and Alexander led the Bison with 10 points each while Terell Parks fueled WIU's effort with 13 points and 15 boards.

NDSU has been without Braun since mid-January, but still sits third in The Summit League standings. Bjorklund comes in averaging 11.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game while connecting on 68.8 percent from the floor. Alexander, last year's Summit League Newcomer of the Year, is netting 10.7 points and just less than four assists per game from the lead guard position. As a team, NDSU has been among the league's top defensive squads, holding foes to just 55.5 points per game and 38.4 percent shooting from the field.

IUPUI is 7-4 all-time against NDSU since the series began in 2008.