OMAHA, Neb. - The IUPUI basketball team will continue a cannon ball run non-conference slate on Saturday (Dec. 12) when the Jaguars face BIG EAST foe Creighton (6-3) inside CenturyLink Center Omaha at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Saturday's game will be nationally televised on FS1 as Aaron Goldsmith (pxp) and Nick Bahe (analyst) call the action.
Saturday's game marks the tenth road game among the Jaguars' opening 12 games and the second-ever meeting between IUPUI and Creighton. The Jaguars roared out to a strong start at Missouri State on Thursday night, leading by as many as 14 in the first half before settling for a 42-33 halftime advantage. However, the second half saw Missouri State explode for 55 points and a 23-point margin as the hosts ran away with an 88-74 victory, sending the Jags to defeat for the fifth time in six games. Junior
Darell Combs closed with a team-high 20 points and hit 4-of-7 three-point attempts, including a 60-footer at the first half horn that earned him a spot on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10. Classmate
Matt O'Leary added 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots while making 6-of-9 field goal attempts. Sophomore
Jordan Pickett rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points.
Combs has been hot of late, hitting for 20-or-more points in three of the past four games and stringing together six straight double-digit scoring nights. He currently leads the team in scoring (15.6 ppg), assists (27) and threes made (20), while ranking second on the team in steals (14). Pickett is second on the team in scoring at 10.5 points per game and has made 11 threes in his eight games. O'Leary has become a jack of all trades, ranking second on the team in assists (25), rebounds (60), threes made (13) and field goals made (38). The Terre Haute-native is third on the team at 9.4 points per game and is shooting 44 percent from the field.
Following Saturday's game at Creighton, the Jaguars will have a full week between games as IUPUI will next host Southern Utah inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 1:00 p.m..
JAGUAR TIDBITS
#SCTOP10
Junior guard
Darell Combs found himself on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 on Thursday night (Dec. 10) after burying a 60-footer at the end of the first half of the loss at Missouri State. Combs' play was the No. 3 play that night.
THE GOOD... AND THE BAD
IUPUI put together an impressive opening 20 minutes at Missouri State on Thursday night, leading the Bears 42-33 at the break. However, the second half saw the defensive levee break and MSU put up 55 points on way to an 88-74 win. The 88 points allowed were one shy of matching the most against an IUPUI team during Head Coach Jason Gardner's two seasons. Missouri State hit 17-of-29 (58.6 percent) second half shots and were a perfect 17-of-17 from the foul line after halftime.
BUT NOT ALL BAD
Everything wasn't all bad in Springfield though. IUPUI shot a season-high 47.6 percent (10-of-21) from three-point range, with the 10 treys matching a season-best.
Juniors
Darell Combs and
Matt O'Leary were especially good in the loss. Combs hit for 20 points (7-13 FG, 4-7 3's) for the third time in four games while O'Leary finished one point shy of tying his career high (16 pts, 6-9 FG, 8 reb, 4 ast) and tied his career-high with eight boards and two blocked shots.
SIX SHOOTER
Junior guard
Darell Combs has scored in double-digits in six straight games and nine of the 11 this season. Over the past six games, he's 36-of-78 (.462) from the floor and 15-of-34 (.441) from three-point range.
SECOND HALVES
After playing the first halves of games virtually even this year, the IUPUI basketball team has been outscored 447-380 in the second halves and overtime periods this season - which equates to more than six points per contest.
3,800 MILES
Coming into tonight's game, IUPUI has already logged more than 3,800 travel miles, most of which have been through the air. Nine of IUPUI's first 11 games have come on the road, including trips to Milwaukee (Marquette), Raleigh, N.C. (NC State), Atlanta (3 games), Muncie (Ball State), Springfield, Mo. (Missouri State) and Omaha (Creighton).
MAKE SHOTS - WIN GAMES
Simple math tells you that making more shots than your opponents will win games. Those numbers hold true for IUPUI in the two seasons Jason Gardner has been at the helm.
IUPUI is 12-5 (3-0 this season) when shooting a higher percentage from the floor than their opposition while going 1-24 (0-8 this season) when being outshot by opponents.
BENCH PRODUCTION
IUPUI's bench checks in scoring 22 points per game this season and has outscored the opponents' bench in seven of 11 games this season. Sophomore
Jordan Pickett has played a large role in that output, scoring 13.5 points per game in the four games he came off the bench. Other key reserves have been
Aaron Brennan (4.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and
Evan Hall (4.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg).
SVETE SAYS ADIEU
Sophomore
Leo Svete left the program on Dec. 4 and intends on transferring. Svete, a 6-foot-5 guard, appeared in 37 games over two seasons and averaged 4.4 points per game as a freshman in 2014-15. The Granger, Ind.-native scored 14 against Purdue last season in his second collegiate game.
WORKING OVERTIME
In just 42 career games on the IUPUI sidelines, Head Coach Jason Gardner has already taken his team to overtime eight times (2-6 overall), including twice this season.
T.J. EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Freshman
T.J. Henderson was chosen to the Legends Classic Kennesaw State subregional's All-Tournament Team and was subsequently awarded his first career start against South Alabama last Tuesday (Nov. 24) in game two of that regional. The 6-foot guard averaged 12.0 points and shot 8-of-15 from the floor in the two games at Kennesaw State.
74 STRAIGHT
Senior swingman
Marcellus Barksdale has started 74 straight games for the Jaguars, dating back to the opener of the 2013-14 season. Classmate Mason Archie is second on the active roster, having made 26 career starts.
Barksdale is the program's lone four-year senior and has quietly stacked up some impressive numbers in his IUPUI career. Barksdale, in his fifth year with the program, has accumulated 753 points, 482 boards, 239 assists and 129 steals.
It's not unreasonable to think Barksdale could finish as the 23rd member of IUPUI's 1,000 Point Club, while also landing in the top 10 on the program's all-time list in rebounds and assists.
10 HAVE HIT
Head Coach Jason Gardner knew he'd have more weaponry this season as evidenced by the sheer number of shooters on the roster. In the season's first four games alone, IUPUI had had 10 different players make at least one three, coming off a season in which nine Jags made a trey a year ago.
9 IN DUBS
Sophomore
Aaron Brennan became the ninth different Jaguar to hit for double-digits in a game this season, tallying 10 points in the win over Miami (Dec. 5). He joins Barksdale, Combs, Archie, O'Leary, Pickett, Hall, Henderson and Osborne on that list.
O'L3ARY
After making just eight treys for the entire 2013-14 season at Loyola,
Matt O'Leary has shown he's a dependable three-point threat in an IUPUI uniform. The 6-foot-8 O'Leary has already hit 13 treys this season, including four in his career-high 17-point effort at NC State.
UPSET THWARTED
IUPUI had upset on the mind at Marquette (Nov. 16) before ultimately falling in overtime, 75-71. The Jaguars had a potential game-winning three blocked at the end of regulation and were outscored 6-2 in the extra frame.
Darell Combs scored 16 of his game-high 21 points after halftime, including 12 straight at one point. The Jaguars trailed by as many as 10 in the first half, but battled back to knot the score at 36 at the break.
CHARITABLE EFFORT
IUPUI was a perfect 10-of-10 at the foul line at Marquette (Nov. 16). The last time previously IUPUI had been perfect at the line was on Feb. 6, 2014 when the Jags made all 11 in a loss at North Dakota State.
FOR OPENERS
IUPUI's season-opening win at Indiana State was the first season-opening victory since 2012 when the Jaguars started with a home win over Utah Valley. It was the first season-opening road win since 2009 when the Jaguars opened with an 88-82 win at Drake that season.
SEEING RED
Sophomore guard
D.J. McCall and freshman forward
Noah Thomas are expected to redshirt the 2015-16 season. Two duo be joined by Syracuse-transfer
Ron Patterson in anchoring the practice squad this season.
