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

MILWAUKEE, Wisc. - The IUPUI basketball team will continue a rigorous stretch to open the regular season when the Jaguars take on reigning Horizon League champs on Wednesday night (Nov. 19) inside UWM Panther Arena in an 8:00 p.m. Eastern tip. Andy Masur (pxp) will be on the call. The game will also be heard on WNDE 1260 AM, WNDE.com and the iHeartRadio app as Morgan Adcock (pxp) will describe the action. 

Wednesday's game is the sixth all-time between the two schools with Milwaukee owning a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series. 

IUPUI (0-2) is coming off back-to-back losses to Indiana State and Purdue, but has had a myriad of bright spots in the early going. At Purdue on Sunday, freshmen Leo Svete and D.J. McCall scored 14 each off the bench and classmate Aaron Brennan added six points and five boards off the bench. IUPUI cut Purdue's lead back to eight with just more than five minutes to play and had an attempt to cut it to five, but missed on a trey and saw Purdue finish the game on a 12-0 run to polish off the 20-point victory. 

All total, the Jaguars' bench has been impressive in the first two games, including tallying 44 of the Jaguars' 57 points at Purdue. 

QUICK HITTERS
- IUPUI is trying to avoid a second-straight 0-3 start to the year after opening last year with consecutive losses to Utah Valley, Evansville and SEMO before beating IU Northwest.
- Tonight's game with Milwaukee is a return contest from the 2013 Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters game in Indianapolis. 
- This marks the 43rd season of IUPUI basketball, beginning with the 1972 campaign.
- IUPUI will play every home game at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum this season in year one of a five-year pact. IUPUI last played home games at the Coliseum from 1975-79. The building was home to the Indiana Pacers from 1967-74.  
- More than half of IUPUI's 13-man roster is newcomers this year. All total, the Jaguars welcome seven new faces this year with four Division I transfers and three true freshmen.  
- IUPUI is 1-4 all-time against Milwaukee, having lost the last four games in the series. The last time the two schools hooked up, Milwaukee won 95-88 in double overtime in Indianapolis. 
- More than 64% of IUPUI's points have come from the bench in the season's first two games.

FIVE COUNT - QUICK TIDBITS FROM THE LAST GAME
Purdue 77, IUPUI 57 - Nov. 16, 2014 - West Lafayette, Ind.
LATE RUN
    IUPUI had an opportunity to cut the Purdue lead back to five with just over five minutes to play on Sunday, but junior P.J. Boutte missed a wing three. Purdue responded by making a trey on the ensuing possession and ultimately closed the game on a 12-0 run to win by 20. 

FRESH FACES
    IUPUI got strong efforts from three freshmen on Sunday, including the first-ever double-digit scoring games from freshmen D.J. McCall and Leo Svete. McCall scored 14 points (4-5 FG, 5-6 FT) and Svete scored all 14 of his before halftime (4-7 3's). A third rookie, Aaron Brennan, made his IUPUI debut with six points (3-4 FG) and five boards off the bench. 

WARM BENCH
    The Jaguars' bench provided 44 of IUPUI's 57 points with McCall (14), Svete (14) and Boutte (8) leading the way. Sophomore Jalen McCallum also made his third career appearance, registering two points (2-3 FT) and an assist in a career-high five minutes.

SLOW STARTERS
    IUPUI got off to an incredibly slow start, being outscored by the Boilers 15-2 in the game's first five minutes. The Jaguars turned the ball over six times during that span, aiding Purdue to an early advantage. 

FOUL WHOAS
    IUPUI was whistled for 32 fouls while drawing just 18 Purdue whistles on Sunday. Purdue outscored the Jaguars 19-13 at the foul line and took 14 more attempt than IUPUI. Five Jaguars finished with at least four fouls and Justus Stanback fouled out in just 10 minutes.

BALANCING ACT
    Nine different IUPUI players are averaging between four and 10 points through two games, led by Leo Svete's 10 points per game. The Jaguars' top returning scorer, Khufu Najee, is tallying 4.0 points per game thus far to round out the group. 

SECOND FIVE
    Head Coach Jason Gardner has been showcasing the team's depth in the early going, as four of the team's top five scorers have come off the bench in both games. Leo Svete (10.0 ppg), P.J. Boutte (8.5), D.J. McCall (8.0) and Aaron Brennan (6.0) hold four of the Jaguars' top five spots in the scoring column. Marcellus Barksdale (8.5) is the lone starter to rank among the team leaders in scoring. 

BENCH PRODUCTION
    Through two games, IUPUI's bench has scored 67 of the team's 123 points, equivalent to 54.5 percent of the team's scoring.  

FREE MONEY
    Whistles have piled up on the Jaguars in the season's first two games as IUPUI has been called for 62 fouls, while drawing just 39 fouls. All total, IUPUI has been outscored 55-30 at the charity stripe and yielded 77 free throw attempts, while receiving just 40 freebies. 

FUTURE HOST
    Good news piled up for Indianapolis and the IUPUI program over the past week as Indy was awarded the 2021 Men's Final Four and 2017 First/Second Round games.
    IUPUI will co-host this year's Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium, along side partners from the Horizon League and Indiana Sports Corp. In 2017, games will be played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and the Men's Final Four returns to Indy and LOS in 2021.  

IUPUI TO CO-HOST 2015 FINAL FOUR
    The IUPUI Athletics Department will serve as an institutional co-host of the the 2015 Men's Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium. IUPUI will host the event in conjunction with the Horizon League and Indiana Sports Corporation. 
    The 2015 Final Four logo was unveiled on Friday, December 13 at the NCAA National Offices in Indianapolis, with IUPUI Director of Athletics Michael Moore and Horizon League Commissioner Jon LeCrone doing the official unveiling.

NEW LOOK
    IUPUI made a change at the top at the conclusion of last season, bringing former Indiana Mr. Basketball Jason Gardner to replace Todd Howard as Head Coach. 
    Gardner was on staff at Memphis after previously coaching at Loyola for two seasons. 
    Gardner retained two of the three-man signing class and added six newcomers, including five Division I transfers. Gardner also retained Matt Crenshaw from last year's coaching staff and later hired Jon-Michael Nickerson and Scott Gillespie to round out his coaching staff. Both Nickerson and Gillespie were graduate managers at Memphis during Gardner's year with the Tigers. 

NEW DIGS
    This year marks year one as the Jaguars re-open the Fairgrounds Coliseum, bringing basketball back to the historic facility. The venue will seat roughly 6,800 for basketball and has been fully renovated, including distinctive branding, brand new concourses, a state-of-the art sound system and a center hung double ribbon scoreboard. 
    The Jaguars opened the building with a 79-66 overtime loss to Indiana State in front of a crowd of 3,159. 
 
BETWEEN THE LINES
    The Jaguars bring back six letterwinners from last year's team, most notably senior guard Khufu Najee and junior Marcellus Barksdale. 
    Najee earned Summit League All-Newcomer honors last season after averaging 10.8 points and shooting 47.4 percent overall in 14 league games. Meanwhile, Barksdale ranked among The Summit League leaders in rebounding (6.8 rpg), assists (117) and steals (35), while averaging a career-high 8.6 points per game. 
    The other four returners are all sophomores - Elijah Ray (5.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg), Justus Stanback (3.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg), Jalen McCallum (2.5 ppg) and Josh James (2.0 ppg, 68.0 FG%). 

PLAYING PERCENTAGES
    Below are the percentages returning of IUPUI's major statistical categories in 2014-15. 
    POINTS:     39.3% returns (836/2126)
    REBOUNDS:     48.3% returns (445/921)
    ASSISTS:     59.2% returns (197/333)
    MINUTES:     46.7% returns (3,003/6,425)
    3's MADE:     25.7% returns (36/140)
    BLOCKS:     37.8% returns (37/98)
    STEALS:     52.8% returns (85/161)

LEADING STATISTICS RETURNERS
    Below is a listing of IUPUI's top returners in selected statistical categories:
    PPG: Najee (9.9), Barksdale (8.6)
    RPG: Barksdale (6.8), Najee (2.7)
    MPG: Barksdale (33.6), Najee (33.0)
    Assists: Barksdale (117), Najee (62)
    Blocks: Barksdale (24), Najee/Stanback (6)
    Steals: Barksdale (35), Najee (29)
    3's Made: Najee (16), Barksdale/Ray (7)
    FT Made: Barksdale (103), Najee (61)

JAGS ON THE TUBE
    All but one of IUPUI's home games will be televised this season on Hometown Sports & News (HTSN / RTV6.2). Greg Rakestraw and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell will be on the call and most games will be simulcast on ESPN3. 
    
BACK ON 1260
    For the fourth straight year, IUPUI games will be broadcast on WNDE 1260 AM and on the free iHeartRadio app, available on smartphones. 
    Nearly every game will be heard over the AM airwaves in Indianapolis while every broadcast will be on iHeartRadio.
    Veteran broadcaster Will Flemming will be on the call for the second straight season. 

SCHEDULE NOTES
    IUPUI will host 13 regular season home games this season, while also hitting the road to take on teams from the Big Ten (at Purdue; Nov. 16), BIG EAST (at Xavier; Dec. 9). The home slate includes games against Indiana State (Nov. 14), Ball State (Nov. 22), Georgia State (Nov. 29), Eastern Kentucky (Dec. 13) and South Alabama (Dec. 20). 
    The home slate marks some notable opponents with in-state games against ISU and Ball State. The Nov. 29 game with Georgia State marks the return of longtime Head Coach Ron Hunter, while EKU is coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance. The South Alabama also has an Indiana tie as the Jaguars are coached by former Butler standout Matthew Graves. 
    The game against Purdue marks the first-ever meeting between the Jaguars and Boilermakers. In doing so, the Jaguars will now have played all nine Division I in-state teams.
    Other road games include return games at Milwaukee (Nov. 19), Drake (Nov. 25), Evansville (Dec. 6) and 2014 NCAA Tournament participant North Carolina Central (Dec. 29).  

GOTHAM CLASSIC
    IUPUI will play four games as part of this year's Gotham Classic, sponsored by the Gazelle Group. Three of the four games will be true road games, in addition to the home game against South Alabama on Dec. 20. 
    The Classic will begin at Howard (Dec. 15) before the home game with South Alabama (Dec. 20). From there, IUPUI will play at Richmond (Dec. 23) and Pepperdine (Dec. 27). The Jaguars will then head back east to play at North Carolina Central (Dec. 29). 
    Including the game at NC Central, the Jaguars will travel more than 6,500 air miles during that five-game stretch, including a 2,250 mile trip from Malibu, Calif., to Durham, N.C..  

DI'S ELIGIBLE
    This year's roster includes three DI transfers who practiced with the team a season ago. Detroit-transfer P.J. Boutte leads that group, having played 66 games in two years for the Titans. 
    Boutte finished as the state's career leader in assists while at Indianapolis Howe High School and was the Indianapolis Student-Athlete of the Year in 2011. 
    Senior forward DavRon Williams played in 21 games (five starts) at North Carolina Central in 2012-13 before sitting out last season and Mason Archie, II played 26 games in two years at Davidson College before joining the Jaguars. 

CLEAR FOR TAKEOFF
    The IUPUI program got a double dose of good news during the month of October, learning that both Mason Archie, II and Leo Svete would be eligible at the start of the season. 
    Archie, a Davidson-transfer, didn't enroll at IUPUI until last spring, but the NCAA deemed it would be in his best interest to be immediately eligible at the start of the season, as opposed to waiting until second semester. Academically, Archie is on pace to graduate this spring, but has two years left of eligibility. 
    Svete, a Western Michigan-transfer, missed the past two years due to separate knee injuries, but was ruled immediately eligible by the NCAA. The 6-foot-5 guard missed his senior year of high school to an injury before then missing last year at WMU to a second mishap. Svete was cleared in October and will retain all four years of his playing eligibility. He was the first player to commit to the IUPUI program after Gardner took over. 

FRESHIES
    Two true freshmen were signed by the previous coaching staff, but are expected to play key roles for this year's squad. 
    Rookie forward Aaron Brennan was a three-year starter at nearby Guerin Catholic, where he finished as the program's 
all-time leader in points and rebounds. Brennan averaged 16.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 blocks per game, earning a spot on the Indy Star's Super Team Second Team.
    A second freshman, D.J. McCall was named to the prestigious Indiana All-Star Team after averaging 18.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game at Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran High School. The 6-foot-5 guard helped Concordia Lutheran to an IHSAA Class 3A state runner-up finish in 2013, including scoring 17 points in the state championship game. 
    A third true freshman, swingman John Hubler, was later added by the current staff. Hubler averaged 15.5 points per game, earning First Team All-District 3 honors a season ago. 

FOUR DOWN
    IUPUI practices should be intense this year with four Division I transfers sitting out, including a trio of Loyola-transfers. 
    The Jaguars have backcourt depth on the way in Darell Combs (Eastern Michigan) and Jordan Pickett (Loyola). Up front, former Loyola big men Matt O'Leary and Nick Osborne will also sit out this season. O'Leary and Osborne roomed together while at Loyola.
    Of the four, three played high school basketball in the Hoosier State and Combs prepped at Thornwood High School in Chicago. 
    Combs, a 6-foot-2 guard, averaged 7.5 points and 1.4 assists per game at Eastern Michigan. Combs made six starts for the Eagles and shot 32.7 percent from three-point range while scoring in double-digits 11 times. 
    Pickett, a 6-foot guard, was limited to just five games at Loyola last season, totaling four points and five assists for the season. 
    O'Leary, a 6-foot-8 forward, played in 61 games and made five starts in two years at Loyola. Last season, the Terre Haute-native averaged 4.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 43.5 percent from the floor.   
    Osborne, a 6-foot-8 forward, played in 59 games and made 26 starts in two years at Loyola. The Muncie-native netted 5.4 points and 4.0 boards per game last season while shooting 50.4 percent from the field.

STAFF PRODUCTION
    Few coaching staffs can match the production of the IUPUI staff during their respective playing days. All total, IUPUI's four coaches combined to score 5,588 points in their four-year careers, led by Gardner's 1,984 points at Arizona. Gardner later had his No. 22 jersey retired at Arizona. 
    Scott Gillespie scored 1,871 points in his four years at Ripon College while Associate Head Coach Matt Crenshaw tallied 938 points in four seasons with the Jaguars. 
    Lastly, Jon-Michael Nickerson scored 795 points in his four-year career at Kennesaw State. Nickerson took a circuitous path to the hardwood, originally playing professional baseball after being drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 16th round of the 2003 MLB Amateur Draft. Nickerson played rookie and Single-A ball before retiring just prior to the 2006 season.