Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

IU Indy Athletics

Scoreboard

D.J. McCall

GAME #7: JAGS TREK SOUTH TO TAKE ON PURPLE ACES

IUPUI to face Purple Aces on Saturday night (Dec. 6) at 8:05 p.m.

12/4/2014 3:45:00 PM

By: Ed Holdaway (@EdHoldaway), IUPUI Sports Information

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

INDIANAPOLIS - Coming off a tough three-point home loss to Georgia State, the IUPUI basketball team will hit the road for the first of two Midwest road games when the Jaguars take on Evansville (5-1) on Saturday night (Nov. 6) inside Ford Center. Tipoff is slated for 8:05 Eastern and the game will be heard on WNDE 1260 AM as Will Flemming (pxp) is on the call. 

IUPUI (2-4) had a chance to get even on the game's final possession against Georgia State, but Leo Svete was well off the mark on a contested three from the right wing. Junior Marcellus Barksdale matched his career-high with 22 points, including hitting all four of his three-point attempts. IUPUI dominated the taller Panthers on the glass 35-25, behind eight boards from DavRon Williams and a career-best seven rebounds from sophomore Elijah Ray. 

IUPUI comes in 0-2 all-time against Evansville, including an 84-78 home loss to the Purple Aces early last season. 

QUICK HITTERS
- IUPUI has had nine different leading scorers this year (includes ties) through just six games. Only Marcellus Barksdale has led the team in scoring in more than one game, having paced the Jaguars twice this season. 
- IUPUI basketball at the newly renamed Indiana Farmers Coliseum is easily the best value in town. After three games at the Coliseum, the Jaguars have played two overtime games and a third game that came down to a final possession.  
- More than 45 percent of IUPUI's points have come from the bench this season, including a 44-point effort at Purdue. All total, IUPUI has nine players averaging between 4-11 points per game.  
- P.J. Boutte ranks among the top five in The Summit League in assists (2nd; 5.3 apg), steals (2nd; 2.3 spg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.13 a/to).   
- 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
Georgia State 66, IUPUI 63 - Nov. 29, 2014 - Fairgrounds Coliseum
UPSET BID FALLS SHORT
    IUPUI nearly picked off Georgia State the last time out, leading the Panthers by six with 4:12 to play. GSU, coached by longtime IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter, earned preseason top 25 mention from multiple publications and is widely regarded as one of the nation's top Mid-Major programs. 
    GSU outscored IUPUI 15-6 over the final four minutes to snatch the win from the Jags. 

MARCELLUS' CAREER DAY
    Junior guard Marcellus Barksdale had a huge game, matching his career-high with 22 points to accompany five boards, three assists and two steals. Barksdale was 0-of-8 from three-point range coming in, but went a perfect 4-of-4 from deep and 8-of-9 overall from the floor to pace the Jaguars.  

HOT SHOTS
    IUPUI made a season-high eight treys against GSU and connected at a 50 percent clip for the second time this season. Barksdale (4-4), P.J. Boutte (2-3), Mason Archie (1-3) and D.J. McCall (1-1) all connected from long range in the loss. 

WINDEX WORK
    IUPUI outrebounded the opposition for just the second time this season, posting a season-high +10 margin (35-25) on the glass. Sophomore Elijah Ray grabbed a career-high seven boards and DavRon Williams had a game-high eight caroms. 

NO FREEBIES
    After going 15-17 at the foul line in the 1st half, IUPUI went without a 2nd half free throw.

UNCOMMON BALANCE
    Nine different IUPUI players are averaging between four and 11 points per game through six games, led by Marcellus Barksdale's 10.8 points per game. After six games, IUPUI has already had nine different leading scorers (including ties). 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. 

GUARD PLAY
    Two things Head Coach Jason Gardner has instilled in his team are the importance of making free throws and creating turnovers. 
    The Jaguars are tops in The Summit and tied for 13th nationally in free throw percentage (77.0%) and second in the league in steals (8.3 spg). IUPUI has three key players shooting better than 80 percent from the line in D.J. McCall (9-of-10), Khufu Najee (5-of-6) and Mason Archie, II (9-of-11). 

INSIDE STATE LINES
    Tonight's game with Evansville is the fourth and final non-conference game against an in-state foe. Thus far, IUPUI dropped a home game to Indiana State (66-79, ot) and a road game at Purdue (57-77) prior to a 71-69 overtime win over Ball State. 
    IUPUI will obviously play Fort Wayne twice during Summit League play. 

VERSUS THE ACES
    IUPUI lost to Evansville 84-78 in The Jungle last season, falling to 0-2 in the all-time series with the Aces. Here's a quick look at some individuals stat lines from last year's game:
    Stanback: 6 pts (2-8 FG), 4 reb, 2 ast
    Najee: 19 pts (7-11 FG), 1 reb, 2 ast
    Barksdale: 3 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast
    James: 0 pts, 1 reb, 6 min
    Ray: 2 pts, 1 reb, 8 min 

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 35.5 minutes per game, ranking among the league's top players. Barksdale leads the team in scoring (10.8 ppg) and second in rebounding (4.8 rpg), assists (2.7 apg) and steals (1.7 spg).

BENCH PRODUCTION
    Through six games, IUPUI's bench has scored 175 of the team's 387 points, equivalent to 45 percent of the team's scoring. The IUPUI bench has outscored the opposition in each of the season's first six games. 

WHISTLES UNKIND
    Whistles have piled up on the Jaguars in the season's first six games as IUPUI has been called for 154 fouls, while drawing just 115 fouls (6.5 foul differential/game). All total, IUPUI has been outscored 125-87 at the charity stripe (6.3 points per game). IUPUI has yielded 176 free throw attempts, while receiving just 113 freebies, a difference of 10.5 attempts per game.  

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. 

NEW DIGS
    This year marks year one as the Jaguars re-open the Indiana Farmers Coliseum, bringing basketball back to the historic facility. The venue will seat 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 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 road games, in addition to the Dec. 20 home game against South Alabama. 
    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 NC 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 and retained by Gardner. 
    Rookie forward Aaron Brennan was a three-year starter at 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.

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.   
Print Friendly Version