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INDIANAPOLIS - After three weeks away from home, the IUPUI basketball team will finally open the Summit League home slate on Saturday (Jan. 10) when the Jaguars host Denver (7-9, 1-2 Summit) inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Eastern and the game will be televised on RTV6, HTSN and ESPN3 as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Bob Lovell (analyst) call the action from courtside. In addition, the game can be heard in Central Indiana on WNDE 1260 AM as Will Flemming (pxp) is on the call. 

IUPUI (5-11, 1-1) is coming off a rugged stretch of five straight road games, culminating in two wins and three losses. The Jags opened league play with a 63-58 upset of Fort Wayne, followed by a heartbreaking 69-61 overtime loss at Oral Roberts on Wednesday. IUPUI led by five in the final minute, but saw an off-balanced right wing three at the horn send the game to overtime. From there, ORU opened the extra period with eight straight points en route to the victory. 

Junior Marcellus Barksdale has led the Jaguars in scoring since the start of league play at 14 points per game while eight players are scoring more than 4.0 points per game. Senior Khufu Najee checks in at 9.5 points per game while classmate DavRon Williams is contributing 8.0 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds and a block per game. The most telling stat is IUPUI is shooting better than 47 percent from the field and holding foes to just 37.7 percent in the first two games. The interior duo of Aaron Brennan and Justus Stanback are shooting a combined 75 percent (15-of-20) from the floor the past two games.  

Fans may also purchase Summit League mini plans on Saturday as the Jaguars begin the 'Road to the Summit'. In addition, commemorative posters will be distributed during Saturday's contest.  

QUICK HITTERS
- IUPUI will host Denver in its 2015 Summit League home opener on Saturday before heading on the road for two road games. All total, IUPUI will open with four of five league games on the road, but close with 7 of the final 11 at home.  
- IUPUI opened Summit League play with a win for the first time since 2010.
- In two league games, IUPUI is shooting better than 47 percent from the field, while holding foes to 37 percent. 
- This game is just the third-ever meeting between the two schools. Each team held serve at home a season ago. 
- Senior Khufu Najee became the 10th different Jaguar to lead the team in scoring this season with his 11 points at ORU on Wednesday. IUPUI has had 10 different players score in double-figures in a game and boasts eight players scoring between 4.9 and 9.1 points per game.
- Senior DavRon Williams has led IUPUI in rebounding in nine of 16 games, including the last four 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
Oral Roberts 69, IUPUI 61 (ot) - Jan. 7 - Tulsa, Okla. (Mabee Center)
MIRACLE FINISH
    IUPUI seemed primed for a second consecutive road upset, leading Oral Roberts 55-50 with :33 seconds to play. However, an ORU three-point play and a missed Marcellus Barksdale free throw left the door cracked in regulation and Bobby Word hit an off-balanced wing three to send the game to overtime. ORU scored the first eight points in overtime and never looked back from there. 

TWO MORE IN DUBS
    Senior Khufu Najee and sophomore Justus Stanback became the ninth and tenth different Jaguars to score in double-digits this season. Najee scored a team-high 11 points to become the tenth different Jaguar to lead the squad in scoring in a game this season. 

WILLIAMS ON THE GLASS
    Senior DavRon Williams led the Jaguars with seven boards at ORU, making it the fourth straight game he's paced the team. He's led the Jags in caroms in nine of 16 games this season. IUPUI won the glass 40-33, marking just the fourth time they've outrebounded a foe this year.

SEEMINGLY BURIED
    IUPUI was seemingly buried in each half of Wednesday's loss. The Jaguars went scoreless for more than six minutes in the first half as ORU built a nine-point lead. In the second half, IUPUI fell behind by 10 points after being tied at the break, but responded with a 24-9 run to take the lead. 

JUSTUS SERVED
    Sophomore Justus Stanback had just 20 points all season before catching fire in the second half on Wednesday. The West Lafayette-native hit five second half jumpers and finished 5-of-6 from the floor en route to a season-high 10 points.

UNCOMMON BALANCE
    Eight different IUPUI players are averaging between 4.9 and 9.1 points per game, led by Marcellus Barksdale's 9.1 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 nine players averaging at least 14 minutes per game and 10 in double-digits. 

LOW LEADER
    Barksdale's 9.1 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 2-11 when failing to reach that number. 

SLIM WINS 
    IUPUI is 4-2 in games decided by five points or less this season and have won their five games by a combined 17 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 two games, IUPUI is shooting better than 47 percent from the floor while yielding just 37 percent overall.

FIRST HALVES
    IUPUI is allowing just 24.0 points per game in the first halves of Summit League games, having allowed 25 at Fort Wayne and 23 at ORU.  

KNOCK DOWN
    IUPUI is 4-3 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. 

48 STRAIGHT
    Junior Marcellus Barksdale has now started 48 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 nearly 33 minutes per game (almost six more than his closest competitor), ranking among the league's top players. Barksdale leads the team in scoring (9.1 ppg), free throws made (48) and steals (31) and is second in rebounding (4.6 rpg) and assists (2.3 apg).

BENCH PRODUCTION
    Through 16 games, IUPUI's bench has scored 421 of the team's 955 points, equivalent to 44 percent of the team's scoring. The IUPUI bench has outscored the opposition in 13 of the season's 16 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 nine of 16 games, including the Jaguars' last four.   

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