INDIANAPOLIS - Two nights removed from a tough overtime loss to North Dakota State, IUPUI regrouped and put together one of its best defensive performances of the year to defeat South Dakota, 65-50, Saturday afternoon (Jan. 24) at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
IUPUI led wire-to-wire as it improved to 8-13 overall and 4-3 in the Summit League, while South Dakota fell to 10-11 overall and 4-3 in the conference. The Jaguars have now alternates wins and losses for 12 straight games.
Senior
DavRon Williams came off the bench to lead the team with 11 points and seven rebounds, while
Mason Archie, II joined Williams in double figures with 10 points. IUPUI shot a season-best 58.7 percent from the floor and limited South Dakota to just 35.2 percent overall and 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) from deep. The Jaguars' 15-point winning margin was easily the team's highest of the season as IUPUI improved to 4-3 at home this year.
"We really came out with a lot of energy today and that set the tone right away," IUPUI Head Coach
Jason Gardner said. "That energy turned into confidence for us at both ends. We've been on the wrong side of some of those runs to start a game, so it was nice for us to be the aggressors today and build an early lead. We talked about staying on them and not being happy just having the lead and I think the guys did that as well."
The first 12 minutes couldn't have been scripted better for the Jaguars as their defensive pressure forced nine USD turnovers and resulted in the Coyotes shooting 2-of-14 from the floor without recording an assist. Offensively, sophomore
Josh James was effective inside scoring six points on 3-of-3 shooting helping IUPUI start 8-of-14 from the floor as it seized a 20-5 cushion.
Just when South Dakota broke the early surge with a jumper at the 7:46 mark to make it 20-7,
Khufu Najee and
Aaron Brennan combined to score nine points over the next 7:30 during an 11-2 spurt to widen the Jaguars cushion to 31-9. Near the end of the half, an Archie feed from the left wing resulted in a thunderous throw down from
D.J. McCall, sending IUPUI into the half with a 36-15 lead. The 15 first-half points allowed marked the second fewest in a half this season after giving up just 13 in the first half to Denver on Jan. 10.
A little more than five minutes into the second half, an Archie floater in the lane upped IUPUI's lead to 22, 40-18, but a 7-0 run cut the lead to 15 forcing Gardner to use a timeout with 13:21 to play.
Redshirt freshman
Leo Svete broke the run with a three from the right wing, but the Coyotes continued to claw back and closed within 13 as late as the 7:16 mark. But every time South Dakota looked to inch within single digits, the Jags managed to string together multiple good offensive possessions that kept the lead at a comfortable margin.
Williams punctuated the win with a late two-handed dunk off a nifty slip pass from
Aaron Brennan in the final minutes. Brennan and McCall tallied eight points each while
Marcellus Barksdale had seven points, six boards and two steals.
"I liked that we got contributions from so many different players today," Gardner said. "It was a total team effort from the opening tip. The guys did a good job of preparing after Thursday's game and knew the personnel and matchups and really executed."
USD's top scorer, rebounder and assist man Tyler Larson finished with 10 points and four boards and was the lone Coyote to reach double-digits. Eric Robertson contributed eight points and two boards off the USD bench.
The only blemish on the Jaguars' side on Saturday was 23 turnovers, however USD converted them into just 15 points.
"We were a little careless with the basketball, especially against their zone," Gardner said. "We're going to continue to work on that because 23 turnovers is way too many, but we're happy to get the win."
Up next for the Jags is a trip to Macomb, Ill., to take on Western Illinois on Friday, Jan. 30. Friday night's tip is set for 8 p.m. ET. That game will be heard on WNDE 1260 AM and the free iHeartRadio app as Will Flemming (pxp) is on the call.
