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INDIANAPOLIS - This one went from a blowout to a barnburner and ultimately, a defeat. IUPUI used an offensive explosion to surge out to a 22-point first half lead, but was unable to seal the deal as Summit League newcomer Omaha stormed back to beat the Jaguars, 85-78 inside The Jungle on Saturday (Feb. 9).

Sean Esposito and Mitchell Patton led IUPUI with 23 points each and Greg Rice added 16 in the loss. Junior Donovan Gibbs also finished in double-digits with 12 points and six boards (five offensive).

John Karhoff paced four Mavericks in double-digits with a career-high 26 points and five assists and Alex Welhouse added 17 points and 12 boards. Justin Simmons closed with 18 points and seven rebounds and CJ Carter added 16 points.

IUPUI students were out in full force at The Jungle for Homecoming, with one fan holding a sign reading, “Oh Lord, we’re on fire!”

On fire best described Esposito and the Jaguars in the opening 20 minutes.

Esposito nearly set a new career-high before halftime,  putting up 20 of his 23 points in the first half. He finished the game 7-of-10 from deep after hitting all six of his first half attempts. Two of his six treys came from well beyond the three-point arc in heat check fashion. 

Rice opened up the Jags’ first half scoring with a pull-up jumper, beginning what would be a season-high 51-point first half. Nearly seven minutes later, Esposito began his scoring rampage on the Mavericks when he hit his first three of the game. Rice and Esposito were a combined 10-of-10 from three-point range in the first half, teaming to score 34 in the first 20 minutes.

The Jags took a commanding 13-point lead on two consecutive Rice threes halfway through the first half and later blew ahead by 22 at the 4:29 mark after two more Esposito connections. After shooting nearly 60 percent in the first half, it seemed the Jags were well on their way to snapping its nine-game losing streak.

"I just came out focused and we came out with a sense of urgency," Rice said. "We were ready and we got guys the ball and they got us the ball back. We did a good job of really getting the ball inside. That made it easier for us to get it back outside, which led us to open shots."

"It was a great first half," IUPUI Head Coach Todd Howard said. "It was a performance for the ages. The second half started with us missing shots and them going 11-for-12 at the (free throw) line. That gave them life and then the glass really haunted us again.

"It's really tough because we're working hard - extremely hard."

The Mavs erased IUPUI's 17-point halftime lead in a matter of just more than nine minutes. The Jaguars were stuck on 55 for more than four minutes, allowing the guests to rattle off 15 straight points to cut the lead back to two.

"A big problem with us is guys have a hard time getting back on defense after a missed shot. We came out and missed a couple of shots and we gave them a couple of fouls. They got on the free throw line and we dropped the morale of the team," Rice said.

Welhouse finally put the guests over the hump with a trey at the 10:52 mark, but Donovan Gibbs promptly answered with a three of his own to put the Jags back in front. Omaha scored the game's next five points and led for the final 10-plus minutes of the game.

IUPUI (6-20, 1-11 Summit) got within four at 78-74 with 1:25 left, but Omaha came up with the dagger on the game's next possession. After milking the shot clock down, the Mavericks faced a sideline inbounds pass in front of its own bench with just one second left to shoot. Justin Simmons lobbed a pass to Karhoff on the opposite block, who banked in a shot in one motion to put the Mavs in front by six.

Forced to foul late, Omaha (9-18, 6-8 Summit) sealed the win at the free throw line.

Omaha outrebounded the Jaguars 40-26 and bullied their way to a 46-28 scoring advantage in the paint. The Mavs also outscored the Jags 16-8 on second chance points, thanks to 12 offensive rebounds.

Patton led IUPUI with seven boards and a career-high four blocked shots, while hitting 10-of-14 from the floor. The Jaguars connected on 10-of-15 first half treys, but were just 2-of-12 after intermission. Omaha rarely looked at the three-point line, hitting just 4-of-13 attempts. Content to throw the ball inside, Karhoff hit 11-of-17 shots from in close as four of the Mavs' five starters had at least six field goals.

Omaha shot 63 percent from the field in the second half and finished the game hitting 53.2 percent overall. The Mavs also got to the foul line 21 times, while IUPUI earned just six free throw attempts. The loss was IUPUI's fifth straight at home and gave Omaha a home-and-home series sweep over the Jaguars this season.

The Jaguars will now hit the road for a two-game Summit League trip, beginning at South Dakota State on Feb. 14 at 8:05 p.m.. That game can be heard on WNDE 1260 AM, WNDE.com and on the free iHeartRadio app as Scott McCauley (pxp) calls the action from Frost Arena. His pregame coverage will begin at approximately 7:45 p.m..