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BROOKINGS, S.D. - The IUPUI basketball team will make its first of three trips to South Dakota this season when the Jaguars open a two-game trip at South Dakota State (11-7, 2-2 Summit) on Wednesday night (Jan. 14). Tip-off is slated for 8:00 p.m. Eastern and the contest can be heard on WNDE 1260 AM as Will Flemming (pxp) is on the call from courtside inside Frost Arena. IUPUI (6-11, 2-1) is off to its best league start since the 2010-11 season following Saturday's 52-49 win over Denver inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. 

The two-game trip will conclude at Omaha on Sunday. 

The Jaguars have been elite defensively to start league play, holding foes to just 40 percent shooting in three games and a league-low 58.7 points per game. In the first half alone, IUPUI opponents are scoring just more than 20 points per game over the past three games.

Offensively, junior Marcellus Barksdale (12.7 ppg) and senior Khufu Najee (9.3 ppg) have shouldered the load, teaming to hit 51.1 percent from the field in three games. Collectively, IUPUI is shooting nearly 47 percent to start league play. 

IUPUI will head to the Upper Midwest looking to snap a nine-game losing skid to South Dakota State, including four straight losses inside Frost Arena. 

QUICK HITTERS
- IUPUI is above .500 in league play for the first time since the end of 2010-11 campaign when the Jaguars finished 12-6 under Ron Hunter. IUPUI was last .500 in league play at the start of the 2011-12 season when the Jags opened 2-2 before dropping seven straight. 
- IUPUI has already matched last year's win total (6) and the program's league win total from the last two years combined (2).
- IUPUI comes in having lost nine straight to SDSU, including 4-in-a-row in Brookings. 
- In three league games, IUPUI is shooting nearly 47 percent from the field, while holding foes to 40 percent. 
- Senior Khufu Najee became the 10th different Jaguar to lead the team in scoring this season with his 11 points at ORU last Wednesday. IUPUI has had 10 different players score in double-figures in a game and boasts eight players scoring between 4.8 and 9.2 points per game.
- Senior DavRon Williams has led IUPUI in rebounding in 10 of 17 games, including the last five outings. 
- More than 44% of IUPUI's points have come from the bench this season, including a season-high 44-points at Purdue.    
- 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
IUPUI 52, Denver 49 - Jan. 10 - Indianapolis (Indiana Farmers Coliseum)
DEFENSIVE EFFORT
    IUPUI continued to stonewall foes in Summit League play, holding Denver to just 49 points (13 in the first half) en route to a 52-49 win inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The Jaguars went ahead on a pair of Marcellus Barksdale free throws in the final minute and added to the lead on a D.J. McCall tip-in after a Barksdale steal with 19.9 seconds left. The Jaguars left the door open with two missed free throws in the final six seconds, but Denver's half-court attempt at the horn was well off the mark. The 49 points were the fewest by an IUPUI foe this season.  

ANOTHER CLOSE ONE
    IUPUI improved to 3-3 at home this year with those six games having been decided by a combined 36 points. Half of IUPUI's six home games have gone to overtime and three have been decided by a single possession. 

NO SECONDS
    The key to the Jaguars' win was a domination on the glass as IUPUI outrebounded the smaller Pioneers, 34-18. IUPUI limited Denver to just three offensive boards and no second chance points. 

WILLIAMS ON THE GLASS
    Senior DavRon Williams led the Jaguars with seven boards against Denver, making it the fifth straight game he's paced the team. He's led the Jags in caroms in 10 of 17 games this season. IUPUI won the glass 34-18, marking just the fifth time they've outrebounded a foe this year.  

BALANCING ACT
    Head Coach Jason Gardner's team stuffed the stat sheet on Saturday with 10 different players scoring (none more than 10), 11 Jaguars grabbed at least one board and nine played double-digit minutes (none more than Barksdale's 29). Even seven different Jags had at least one steal. 

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HOT STARTS
    IUPUI is above .500 in league play for the first time since the close of the 2010-11 season when the Jaguars went 12-6 in The Summit. 

PERSPECTIVE
    IUPUI has already matched the program's win total from each of the past two years (6) and the program's league win total from the last two seasons combined (2 - 1 each in 2013 & 2014). 

UNCOMMON BALANCE
    Eight different IUPUI players are averaging between 4.8 and 9.2 points per game, led by Marcellus Barksdale's 9.2 scoring average. IUPUI has had 10 different leading scorers (including ties) with P.J. Boutte, Marcellus Barksdale, Leo Svete, D.J. McCall, Khufu Najee, DavRon Williams, Jalen McCallum, Elijah Ray, Mason Archie, II and Aaron Brennan have each led the squad at least once. 
    IUPUI has 10 players averaging double-digit minutes. 

LOW LEADER
    Barksdale's 9.2 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 3-0 this season when scoring at least 70 points and 3-11 when failing to reach that number. 

SLIM WINS 
    IUPUI is 5-2 in games decided by five points or less this season and have won their six games by a combined 20 points. The Jaguars' largest margin of victory this season was the 71-65 victory over South Alabama on Dec. 20. 

SECOND SEASON
    Since the start of Summit League play, IUPUI has been better defensively and more efficient offensively. In three games, IUPUI is shooting nearly 47 percent from the floor while yielding just 40.3 percent overall.

FIRST HALVES
    IUPUI is allowing just 20.3 points per game in the first halves of Summit League games, having allowed 25 at Fort Wayne, 23 at ORU and 13 to Denver. Opponents have shot just 35.8 percent overall against the Jags in the first halves of Summit League games.   

KNOCK DOWN
    IUPUI is 6-3 this season when shooting a higher field goal percentage than its opponent and 0-8 when being outshot. The Jaguars have yet to hit 50 percent or better from the field in a game this season. 

AB LEADS THE WAY
    Since the start of league play, freshman Aaron Brennan is shooting a league-best 76.9 percent (10-of-13) from the floor. He's 14 percent higher than his closest competition (Olson-Denver). 

49 STRAIGHT
    Junior Marcellus Barksdale has now started 49 straight games, dating back to the 2012-13 season opener. No other IUPUI player has started more than 14 straight games (Aaron Brennan). Barksdale is the only Jag to start every game this season. 

BENCHMARKS
    Marcellus Barksdale hit some career milestones at N.C. Central on Dec. 29, scoring his 500th career point and grabbing his 350th career rebound. 

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 32.6 minutes per game (6.0 more than his closest competitor), ranking among the league's top players. Barksdale leads the team in scoring (9.2 ppg), free throws made (52) and steals (32) and is second in rebounding (4.6 rpg) and assists (2.4 apg).

BENCH PRODUCTION
    Through 17 games, IUPUI's bench has scored 445 of the team's 1,007 points, equivalent to 44 percent of the team's scoring. The IUPUI bench has outscored the opposition in 14 of the season's 17 games.

MR. REBOUND
    Senior DavRon Williams has earned his stripes on the glass this season, accounting for IUPUI's top six rebounding games of the year. Included among those six are three double-digit rebounding efforts, including a career-best 13 at N.C. Central.
    Williams has led IUPUI in rebounding in 10 of 17 games, including the Jaguars' last five.   

GRADE CHECK
    Seven members of the team posted a 3.0 GPA or better during the fall semester. Included in that group were Aaron Brennan, Josh James, D.J. McCall, Khufu Najee, Matt O'Leary, Nick Osborne and Justus Stanback. 

 
The full IUPUI Game Notes can be seen by clicking here