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INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will host South Alabama (2-6) in game two of the 2014 Gotham Classic on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 20) at 1:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The game will be televised on HTSN and ESPN Full Court as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Bob Lovell (analyst) call the action from courtside. In addition, the game can be heard locally on WNDE 1260 AM as Morgan Adcock (pxp) is on the call. 

In line with the holiday season, the IUPUI Athletics Department is offering free tickets to any K-12 students who attend Saturday's game. Students will be able to pick up their complimentary ticket inside the Indiana Farmers Coliseum lobby. Fans will also be able to pose with the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship trophy in the lobby and Junior Jaguars will be invited to the floor following the game to shoot baskets or meet-and-greet selected IUPUI players. Additionally, the IUPUI Athletics Department will recognize the conference champion men's cross country team late in the first half and will have local first grade teams square off in a halftime exhibition basketball game.

Interested fans may also purchase their Summit League mini plans on Saturday as the game is the final non-conference contest of the season. 

IUPUI (2-8) opened the Gotham Classic with a 57-47 loss at Howard on Monday (Dec. 15) and will trek to both Richmond (Dec. 23) and Pepperdine (Dec. 27) following today's game. 
 
QUICK HITTERS
- A win today would snap the Jaguars' season-long six-game losing skid and move IUPUI's record to 2-3 at home.  
- Today's game is the second of four legs in this year's Gotham Classic - a tournament that will see the Jaguars travel more than 6,500 miles over a 12-day stretch. In addition to today's game, IUPUI is slated for forthcoming trips to Richmond (Dec. 23) and Pepperdine (Dec. 27).  
- IUPUI has had nine different leading scorers this year (includes ties) through 10 games. Marcellus Barksdale, Leo Svete (three times) and Mason Archie, II (twice) are the only Jags to have led the team in scoring in more than once. 
- Nearly 44 percent of IUPUI's points have come from the bench this season, including a season-high 44-point effort at Purdue. All total, IUPUI has 11 players averaging between 2-10 points per game. 
- IUPUI has been relegated to just nine scholarship players for the past month with Khufu Najee sidelined. Three other scholarship players are sitting out the season as Division I transfers. 
- Today's game is the first-ever meeting between South Alabama and IUPUI on the hardwood.   
- This marks the 43rd season of IUPUI basketball, beginning with the 1972 campaign.
- IUPUI will play every home game at the Indiana Farmers 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.  

FIVE COUNT - QUICK TIDBITS FROM THE LAST GAME
Howard 57, IUPUI 47 - Dec. 15 - Washington, D.C. (Burr Gymnasium)
SOUR SHOOTING
    IUPUI shot a season-low 28.3 percent in Monday's 57-47 loss at Howard, including hitting just 4-of-26 (15.4 percent) from three-point range. Only DavRon Williams (2-of-3) and Josh James (2-of-3) hit more than half of their attempts in the 10-point loss and the Jaguars were unable to clear 30 percent from the field in either half. 

TAKING CARE OF IT
    IUPUI matches its season-low with just 11 turnovers while forcing 21 Howard turnovers. The Jaguars cashed in on the mistakes, outscoring Howard 16-8 in points off turnovers. 

NONE IN DUBS
    For the second time this year, IUPUI was without a double-digit scorer as redshirt freshman Leo Svete scored a team-high nine points (3-11 FG, 3-10 3's) in the loss. The team's top scorer, Marcellus Barksdale, was limited to eight points and 0-of-5 from the field. 

RUN, RUN, RUN
    IUPUI had an impressive 14-1 run in the second half, cutting Howard's 15-point lead back to 39-37 with 9:17 left. The Jaguars never got fully over the hump though as Howard answered with a  10-0 burst and never relinquished the lead after halftime. 

LINE ISSUES
    IUPUI came in ranked tops in The Summit and among the nation's top 50 in free throw percentage, but made just 56.5 percent at Howard. After a perfect 6-of-6 effort in the first half, the Jaguars made just 7-of-17 after halftime to close at 13-of-23. The normally reliable D.J. McCall, who had missed just one all season prior to Monday, was 1-of-5 in the loss. 

UNCOMMON BALANCE
    Eleven different IUPUI players are averaging between two and 10 points per game through 10 games, led by Marcellus Barksdale's 9.6 points per game. IUPUI has already had nine different leading scorers (including ties). P.J. Boutte, Marcellus Barksdale, Leo Svete, D.J. McCall, DavRon Williams, Jalen McCallum, Elijah Ray, Mason Archie and Aaron Brennan have each led the squad in scoring in a game thus far. 
    IUPUI has nine players averaging at least 15 minutes per game as well. 

LOW LEADER
    Barksdale's 9.6 points per game scoring average would easily be the lowest total to lead the Jaguars in a single-season in program history. The lowest scoring output to lead the Jaguars in a season is 12.4 points per game by Charles Price in 2001-02. 

HITTING 70
    IUPUI is 2-0 this season when scoring at least 70 points and 0-8 when failing to reach that number. 

THEFTS
    IUPUI is tied for 32nd nationally (second in The Summit) with 8.8 steals per game. Junior Marcellus Barksdale leads the squad at 2.2 steals per game while P.J. Boutte averages 1.6 steals a night. Freshman Aaron Brennan is third on the squad with 10 steals.  

42 STRAIGHT
    Junior Marcellus Barksdale has now started 42 straight games, dating back to the 2012-13 season opener. No other IUPUI player has started more than 10 straight games. Barksdale and Mason Archie are the only two Jags to start every game this season. 

MR. INDISPENSABLE
    While Gardner has shown a deep and versatile bench, the one constant for the Jaguars this season is junior guard Marcellus Barksdale. The 6-foot-5 veteran is playing better than 33 minutes per game, ranking among the league's top players. Barksdale leads the team in scoring (9.6 ppg), free throws made (27) and steals (22) and is second in rebounding (4.6 rpg) and assists (2.1 apg).

BENCH PRODUCTION
    Through 10 games, IUPUI's bench has scored 263 of the team's 603 points, equivalent to 43.6 percent of the team's scoring. The IUPUI bench has outscored the opposition in eight of the season's 10 games.

WHISTLES UNKIND
    Whistles have piled up on the Jaguars this season, resulting in a heavy scoring deficit at the foul line. Here's the numbers:
                     Fouls    FT-ATT (per gm)
    IUPUI:     234 (23.4/gm)    128-178 (12.8-17.8)
    Opp.:     181 (18.1/gm)    191-272 (19.1-27.2)

FUTURE HOST
    Good news piled up for Indianapolis and the IUPUI program in November 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.  

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. 

"5 NOTABLE FIRST-TIME COACHES"
    Gardner gained mention from Athlon's preseason publication as one of "5 Notable First-Time Coaches". The magazine notes: the former Arizona star and Indiana Mr. Basketball will be 34 when the season starts. A former assistant at Loyola (Ill.) and Memphis, Gardner replaces Todd Howard, who struggled to fill the shoes left by Ron Hunter, now at Georgia State. 

The full IUPUI Game Notes can be seen by clicking here