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DENVER - A lengthy scoring drought in each half ultimately put the brakes on the IUPUI offense as the Jaguars fell at Summit League newcomer Denver on Saturday (Jan. 18) night, 66-45. Senior center Mitch Patton scored a game-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, but got little help from the rest of his mates as the Jaguars slid to 0-4 to start Summit League play. 

Sophomore Marcellus Barksdale chipped in nine points and 11 boards and senior Donovan Gibbs scored eight points on 4-of-4 shooting in the loss. 

Chris Udofia led three Pioneers in double-digits with 16 points, eight boards and six assists and Brett Olson scored 15, including hitting 3-of-5 from three-point range. Cam Griffin added 10 points in just 19 minutes work. 

IUPUI (5-16, 0-4) hit its first four field goal attempts of the night and built a quick 9-2 lead, powered by a pair of Patton buckets. The Jaguars maintained a seven-point lead on a Gibbs putback at the 12:29 mark of the first half, but then went scoreless for nearly nine minutes, allowing Denver (8-10, 1-2) to reel off a decisive 21-0 run. The Pios made four threes during the rally, including three straight from the combination of Marcus Byrd and Olson.

Barksdale eventually stopped the run with an old fashioned three-point play, but Denver led 30-18 at the break. 

Despite showing better offensively in the second half, the Jaguars were never able to make much of a dent in the deficit as Denver was equally proficient. The Jaguars closed within 10 on a Patton tip-in with 17:50 left, but Denver countered with three points on a Griffin free throw and a Udofia layup. 

The Jaguars were down 46-32 with 11:08 to play after Barksdale banked in a layup, but went scoreless for nearly four minutes allowing a quick 8-0 DU run to push the lead beyond 20. 

IUPUI shot just 36.4 percent overall and was held to a season-low 45 points against Denver's methodical Princeton-style offense. Junior Khufu Najee made a three on IUPUI's first possession of the game, accounting for the Jaguars' lone make of the evening in nine tries. Conversely, Denver hit 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) treys and 47.9 percent overall, while handing out 17 assists on 23 buckets. 

Nate Engesser was a perfect 3-of-3 from deep off the DU bench and Byrd hit 2-of-3 tries. 

The Jaguars' backcourt of Chiles and Najee struggled to hit shots, going a combined 2-of-16 to score five points. IUPUI turned it over 12 times and forced just eight miscues, leading to a 18-6 disadvantage on points off turnovers.  

The win was Denver's first-ever in The Summit League while IUPUI dropped to 0-4 to start league play for the first time since 1999-00.

IUPUI will have a full week between games, returning to action on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Fort Wayne. The two teams split last year's season series with each school holding serve on its home floor.