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MACOMB, Ill. - Having alternated wins and losses for the past 12 games, the IUPUI basketball team looks to start a winning streak when the Jaguars take on Western Illinois (7-11, 2-5 Summit) inside Western Hall on Friday night (Jan. 30) at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Friday's game will be heard on WNDE 1260 AM and the free iHeartRadio app as Will Flemming (pxp) will be on the call. 

IUPUI (8-13, 4-3) is coming off its most convincing win of the season, having deflated South Dakota 65-50 inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum last Saturday. Senior DavRon Williams chipped in a team-high 11 points and seven rebounds and Mason Archie, II added 10 points off the bench. The Jaguars shot a season-high 58.7 percent from the floor and limited to South Dakota to just 35.2 percent, marking the lowest by an IUPUI foe this season. 

IUPUI checks in at 28-13 all-time against Western Illinois, but have lost five straight to the Fighting Leathernecks dating back to January 2012. 

QUICK HITTERS
- IUPUI has alternated wins and losses for 12 games now, playing .500 basketball since losing six from Nov. 25-Dec. 15.
- IUPUI is 6-1 this season when leading at the half, including going 4-0 in Summit League games.  
- IUPUI has now played overtime in four of eight home games and five games overall this season. 
- IUPUI has already surpassed last year's win total (6) and the program's league win total from the last two years combined (2).
- In seven league games, IUPUI is outshooting and outrebounding opponents, although the Jags are -2.1 turnovers per game in Summit League play. 
- Senior Khufu Najee became the 10th different Jaguar to lead the team in scoring this season with his 11 points at ORU. IUPUI has had 10 different players score in double-figures in a game and boasts nine players scoring between 4.0 and 8.7 points per game. No IUPUI player has scored in double-digits in more than eight of the team's 21 games.
- Senior DavRon Williams has led IUPUI in rebounding in 13 of 21 games.
- More than 46% of IUPUI's points have come from the bench this year as Jags' reserves average 28.3 points per game.    
- 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 65, South Dakota 50 - Jan. 24 - Indianapolis, Ind. (Indiana Farmers Coliseum)
SEASON-HIGH
    Offensively, IUPUI shot a season-high 58.7 percent from the floor, including 4-of-9 from three-point range. The only blemish against IUPUI's offense was 23 turnovers as 10 different Jags had at least one miscue. 

LARGEST MARGIN
    IUPUI blew out to a 23-point first half lead and ended up rolling to a season-best 15-point margin of victory. It was the first double-digit win of the season for Head Coach Jason Gardner's squad. 

BENCH PRODUCTION
    While IUPUI's bench has been rock solid all year long, on Saturday, it was extraordinary in the win over the Coyotes. The IUPUI reserves combined to hit 14-of-18 (77.8 percent) shots and score 35 of the team's 65 points in the win. Senior DavRon Williams had a game-high 11 points and seven boards and Mason Archie added 10 points. Williams and Josh James teamed to hit all seven of their first goal attempts inside. 

IN CLOSE
    IUPUI scored a season-high 44 points in the paint as virtually every Jaguar scored in close. IUPUI finished the game with a 44-22 scoring advantage in the paint. 

DE-DE-DE-DEFENSE
    While IUPUI's offense was definitely clicking, it was the Jaguars' defense that ultimately won the game. The Jaguars limited South Dakota to just 35.2 percent from the floor and 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) from three-point range, while forcing 18 turnovers and yielding just five assists. The 35 percent shooting and five assists were the lowest postings by an IUPUI foe this season.  

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PERSPECTIVE
    IUPUI has already surpassed 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). Bear in mind, three of IUPUI's six wins a season ago came against non-Division I competition. 

RPI CLIMBING
    As of Monday, IUPUI's RPI had climbed to 219 and has been on a steady ascent over the past month. The Jaguars' RPI was north of 300 for much of the non-conference schedule and IUPUI's final RPI was 322 a year ago. 

FOURTH GRAD
    IUPUI gained national publicity earlier this season, entering the season with three players having already completed their degree requirements (Marcellus Barksdale, Khufu Najee and DavRon Williams). That group grew to four at the end of December as fourth-year junior Mason Archie, II finished his undergraduate course work as the Indianapolis-product is now pursuing his Master's degree. 

CLASS ACT
    Senior Khufu Najee learned just prior to the game against South Dakota that he's among 30 national finalists for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award. The California-native is the second player in school history to be among the 30 finalists, joining John Ashworth (2011). 

UNCOMMON BALANCE
    Nine different IUPUI players are averaging between 4.0 and 8.7 points per game, led by Marcellus Barksdale's 8.7 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 8.7 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 4-0 this season when scoring at least 70 points and 4-13 when failing to reach that number. 

SLIM WINS 
    IUPUI is 6-2 in games decided by five points or less this season and have won their eight games by a combined 40 points. IUPUI is coming off its largest margin of victory this season, having defeated South Dakota by 15 points last Saturday. 

PLUS-FOUR
    After being clobbered on the glass for much of the non-conference season, IUPUI is +3.7 rebounds/game near the midpoint of the conference season. It's been a collective effort as DavRon Williams leads the squad at 6.3 boards/game in Summit League play and eight Jags are grabbing at least two boards per contest. 

FIRST HALVES
    IUPUI is allowing just 23.1 points per game in the first halves of Summit League games, and foes have shot just 34.7 percent (59-of-170) overall against the Jags in the first halves of Summit League games.   

KNOCK DOWN
    IUPUI is 8-3 this season when shooting a higher field goal percentage than its opponent and 0-10 when being outshot. 

FIELD WORK
    IUPUI has the top two in The Summit in field goal shooting in league play in Aaron Brennan (60 percent) and DavRon Williams (59.5 percent). Oral Roberts' Denell Henderson is third at 58.7 percent. 
    Williams is also tops in The Summit in field goal shooting overall at 57.5 percent. 

53 STRAIGHT
    Junior Marcellus Barksdale has now started 53 straight games, dating back to the 2012-13 season opener. 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. 
    He hit two more against South Dakota as delivered his 200th assist and gathered his 100th career steal. 

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 32.3 minutes per game (7.7 more than his closest competitor), ranking among the league's top players. Barksdale leads the team in scoring (8.7 ppg), free throws made (58) and steals (42) and is second in rebounding (4.5 rpg) and assists (2.4 apg). His 42 thefts are tops in the league. 

BENCH PRODUCTION
    Through 21 games, IUPUI's bench has scored 594 of the team's 1,275 points, equivalent to 46.5 percent of the team's scoring. The IUPUI bench has outscored the opposition in 18 of the season's 21 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 13 of 21 games.

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