OMAHA, Neb. - The IUPUI basketball team scored a season-high 89 points and shot a season-best 57 percent from the floor as the Jaguars outgunned host Omaha inside Ralston Arena, 89-84 on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 18). Omaha's CJ Carter scored a career-best 45 points on 19-of-25 shooting, but eight Jaguars scored at least eight points to send the guests to their first-ever win over the Mavs. IUPUI came in at 0-4 all-time against Omaha prior to Sunday's game. 

Junior Mason Archie, II scored a career-high 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting and P.J. Boutte chipped in 12 in the win. 

"This is a really good win for our team," IUPUI Head Coach Jason Gardner said. "If you would've told me before the game we'd allow more than 80 points, I would've told you there was no way we could win. They're a high powered offensive team and we really wanted to muddy it up and slow it down. They sped us up, but I thought we did a good job of moving and sharing the basketball and taking high quality shots. 

"We were fortunate to get some of those open looks to go down today."

IUPUI (7-12, 3-2 Summit) led by as many as 15 late in the first half and was in front for the final 27-plus minutes after putting together a 12-0 run before the break. However, the waning minutes were filled with tenuous moments before the Jaguars improved to 6-2 in games decided by five points or less this season. 

Omaha (7-11, 1-5) closed within 74-69 with 3:18 to play when Devin Patterson split a pair of free throws, but IUPUI countered with a key answer when Archie swished a wing three after a deliberate offensive possession. Carter immediately matched the effort to keep it a two-possession game before Boutte extended the lead to seven with two foul shots. 

IUPUI dodged a bullet when Marcus Tyus came up short on a runner in the lane and freshman Aaron Brennan added some breathing room when he tipped-in a Marcellus Barksdale miss with under two minutes to play. Carter again answered with a layup and Tyus collected a steal on IUPUI's next trip, leading to a breakaway layup. 

Omaha got some additional life when Archie was called for an offensive foul with 52.8 seconds left, giving the ball back to the hosts. On the ensuing play, Carter had his lone three-point miss of the game and Boutte dug the rebound out of traffic, eventually leading to Archie splitting two free throws. Carter had another chance to make it a one-possession game when he drove down the left side and flipped in a layup while drawing a foul on DavRon Williams. The junior guard missed the free throw and a scramble for the loose ball resulted in a free throw trip for Boutte. The Jaguars ultimately made 7-of-8 freebies in the final 21.6 seconds to escape with their second road win in Summit League play. 

"It's never easy to win on the road," Gardner said. "We're fortunate to get the win today and now we focus on taking care of our home court."

IUPUI dominated the glass 37-20 as Williams corralled a game-high eight boards off the bench and no Omaha player grabbed more than three caroms. The Jaguars' superior depth led to a season-high 52 bench points while Omaha's reserves tallied just six points. Brennan was the only IUPUI starter to finish in double-digits, scoring 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting in just 15 minutes of action. 

The game was back-and-forth early as Carter staked Omaha to an early 10-5 lead by capping an 8-0 run with a 16-footer. With the score tied at 19 all, IUPUI rattled of 12 straight points, beginning with a Barksdale steal and layup at the 7:12 mark. Senior Khufu Najee followed by stroking a contested three and sophomore Elijah Ray added a three-point play to put IUPUI up by eight. Najee and Williams added back-to-back buckets to make it 31-19. UNO's Tre'Shawn Thurman stopped the burst with a spinning layup in the middle of the paint, but IUPUI's advantage grew to 14 as Williams scored on the Jaguars' next two offensive trips. IUPUI pushed the lead out to 15 on an Archie trey before Omaha finished the half with six straight points to make it 40-31 at the half. 

After scoring a season-high 40 first half points, the Jaguars were even better in the second half, shooting almost 74 percent from the floor after the break. Tyus finished with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting for the Mavs and Patterson contributed 11 points and five assists, primarily in the second half. 

IUPUI will now return home to host five of their next six Summit League games, including an 8:00 p.m. tip-off against North Dakota State on Thursday night (Jan. 22). That game will be broadcast on HTSN and ESPN3 as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) call the action from courtside. Additionally, the game can be heard on WNDE 1260 AM as Will Flemming (pxp) is on the call.