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MACOMB, Ill. - The IUPUI men's basketball team will put a capper on the regular season on Saturday (Mar. 1) night when the Jaguars face off against Western Illinois (9-19, 3-10 Summit) inside Western Hall at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. The game can be heard in Central Indiana on WNDE 1260 AM and worldwide on the free iHeartRadio app as Will Flemming (pxp) calls the action from courtside. 

IUPUI comes in looking to snap a three-game skid and four-game losing streak to Western. 

A second half dryspell spelled doom for the Jaguars at Omaha on Thursday (Feb. 27) night after Head Coach Todd Howard's team had taken a 40-39 lead with just less than 17 minutes left. After trailing by as many as 14 in the first half, the Jaguars closed the first stanza with an 11-0 run and eventually went in front on a Khufu Najee bucket to start the second half. Later, sophomore Marcellus Barksdale put the Jaguars in front with a jumper, but Omaha countered with a decisive 17-0 run to run away victorious. Senior P.J. Hubert stopped the rally with a trey, but Omaha tacked on six more quick points and never looked back. 

Junior Ian Chiles was brilliant off the Jaguars' bench, notching his ninth 20-point game of the season, hitting 8-of-13 shots in the loss. Senior Donovan Gibbs had his highest scoring output in nearly two months, tallying 14 on 6-of-12 shooting, and Barksdale finished with eight points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Up front, Mitch Patton blocked four shots to vault into fifth-place on IUPUI's all-time list, upping his career total to 85 rejections. 

Omaha converted IUPUI's 21 turnovers into 34 points and outscored the Jaguars 36-22 in the paint in the win. Mike Rostampour led four Mavs in double-digits with 18 points and nine boards and Marcus Tyus chipped in 17 points, including 3-of-5 from downtown. Justin Simmons (15) and John Karhoff (13) also scored in double-figures. 

Patton is continuing to make a case for an All-Summit League spot, ranking among the league's top 15 in five categories in league games. The 6-foot-9 lefty is tied for fourth in blocked shots (1.2 bpg), while also ranking among the league leaders in scoring (12.7 ppg), field goal percentage (.515), rebounding (5.1 rpg) and offensive rebounding (1.9 rpg).  

Western comes in having lost seven straight, including a 65-54 loss to Fort Wayne on Thursday night. WIU's freshman guard duo of Jabari Sandifer and Garret Covington combined on 27 points, but IPFW got 19 points and 11 boards from Luis Jacobo en route to the nine-point win. Covington leads WIU in scoring (14.4 ppg), threes made (63), free throws made (87) and minutes (32.6 mpg), having started 25 of his 27 appearances. Senior Adam Link chips in 9.4 points and 4.8 boards per game and Sandifer averages 8.6 points and a team-high 3.1 assists per game. 

As is typically the case under Head Coach Jim Molinari, WIU remains one of the league's top defensive squads, holding foes to just 62.1 points per game. WIU foes are shooting just 42 percent overall and 32.8 percent from three-point range this season. Western won the first meeting between the two schools 69-54 in Indianapolis on Jan. 30. 

Both Western and IUPUI already know their postseason seeding heading into Saturday's game, but neither know their first round opponent. IUPUI will be the No. 7 seed and play at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on Saturday (Mar. 8) inside Sioux Falls Arena and will face either IPFW or South Dakota State. IPFW will be the No. 2 seed with a win at Omaha on Saturday or if SDSU loses at South Dakota. SDSU would also be the No. 2 seed if both they and IPFW lose on Saturday and Denver wins at top-seeded North Dakota State.