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FARGO, N.D. - The IUPUI basketball team will open the second half of this year's Summit League schedule on Thursday (Feb. 6) when the Jaguars take on North Dakota State (16-6, 5-2 Summit) at 8:00 p.m. Eastern inside Bison Sports Arena. Thursday's matchup will be televised on Fox College Sports Central (DirecTV 623) and MidcoSN and can be heard in Central Indiana on WNDE 1260 AM as Will Flemming (pxp) is on the call. That broadcast can be heard worldwide on the free iHeartRadio app on smartphones and mobile devices. 

IUPUI (5-19, 0-7) is hoping the second half of Summit League play is more promising than the opening seven games as the Jaguars still seek their first league win. The Jaguars dropped a 99-71 home decision to Omaha last Saturday, despite a game-high 19 points from redshirt freshman Elijah Ray. The 6-foot-6 Gary, Ind.-product had a breakout performance, hitting 7-of-11 shots to accompany five boards and three assists in 26 minutes off the bench. Ray came into play with just 15 career points, having struggled with injuries each of the past two seasons. Behind him, senior center Mitch Patton chipped in 14 points and six boards and freshman Josh James closed with seven points and four boards in just seven minutes as a reserve. 

With his 19-point effort, Ray became the eighth different IUPUI player to lead the team in scoring in a game this season. 

The three-point line continued to be problematic for the Jaguars as Omaha connected on 12-of-23 treys and held the Jaguars to just 2-of-14 from deep. In Summit League play, the Jaguars are at the bottom of the heap in both threes made (23) and threes allowed (57) through seven games. 

Patton has been among the bright spots, averaging 13.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in league play, while shooting 53.4 percent from the floor. Four other Jaguars are also averaging between nine and 11 points per game in Summit action, with Khufu Najee scoring 10.6 points per game. Senior Ja'Rob McCallum and Ian Chiles are both scoring 9.5 points per game in limited action, while sophomore Marcellus Barksdale averages 9.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game against league opponents. 

Another bright spot for the Jaguars has been IUPUI's ability to capitalize throughout the season. Coming into play, IUPUI is 16th nationally in free throw shooting, making more than 75 percent of their attempts. Najee (81.8 percent) leads the regulars in percentage, while Barksdale has made a team-high 83 freebies at a 75 percent clip. 

North Dakota State had its five-game winning streak snapped at Denver on Saturday, but will play five of its final seven Summit League games at home. Preseason Player of the Year Taylor Braun (18.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.1 apg) leads the balanced Bison and Marshall Bjorklund (14.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg) ranks among the nation's leaders in field goal percentage at 63.4 percent. Other NDSU players scoring in double-digits are senior forward TrayVonn Wright (11.4 ppg) and junior point guard Lawrence Alexander (11.0 ppg). 

IUPUI leads the all-time series with NDSU 7-6 and is 4-2 in the six meetings in Fargo. However, the Bison have won three straight over the Jaguars, including an 87-64 win in Indianapolis on Jan. 11 of this season. The Jaguars trailed 35-31 at the half in that game, but were outscored 52-33 after intermission. Wright led five Bison in double-digits with 24 points and Braun added 16 points, eight boards and four assists. Barksdale and Donovan Gibbs paced three Jaguars in double-digits with 14 points each and Patton chipped in 11 points and six caroms.