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FARGO, N.D. - The IUPUI basketball team will hit the road for one final time during the regular season when the Jaguars kickoff a two-game trip at North Dakota State on Thursday night (Feb. 19). Thursday's game will tip-off at 8:00 p.m. inside Scheels Arena as Will Flemming (pxp) will call the action from courtside on the Jaguars' broadcast. Thursday's game will be heard on WNDE 1260 AM and the free iHeartRadio app with pregame coverage beginning at approximately 7:50 p.m.. 

North Dakota State (18-8, 10-3 Summit) sits atop The Summit League standings while IUPUI (9-17, 5-7) recently climbed to sixth with last weekend's victory over Denver. 

The Jaguars overcame a 13-point hole to pick off the Pioneers, 54-53 in Denver last Saturday. Senior DavRon Williams led the way with 15 points and seven boards while Khufu Najee chipped in 10 points in the victory. IUPUI trailed 30-17 late in the first half, but captured momentum with a Mason Archie, II trey at the final horn. The Jaguars opened the second half with a quick 9-2 burst, but didn't take the lead until there were less than three minutes to play.

The last time IUPUI and North Dakota State connected, the Bison defeated the Jaguars 69-61 in overtime as neither team led by more than four points in regulation. Both teams missed potential game-tying attempts late in regulation, including an Archie wing three at the final horn that rang off the back rim. In overtime, NDSU surged out to a quick lead and never looked back as Lawrence Alexander fueled the win with 24 points and five rebounds.

Freshman Aaron Brennan and junior P.J. Boutte paced the Jaguars with 10 points apiece.

NDSU leads the series with the Jaguars 8-7, including having won the last five meetings between the two schools.    

QUICK HITTERS
- IUPUI is fresh off a 54-53 win over Denver and improved to 7-3 in games decided by five points or less this season. 
- IUPUI is 6-1 this season when leading at the half, including going 4-0 in Summit League games.
- IUPUI has surpassed last year's win total (6) and the program's league win total from the last two years combined (2).
- In 12 league games, IUPUI is and outrebounding opponents by almost four boards per game, but the Jags are -2.2 turnovers per game in Summit League play. 
- Sophomore Justus Stanback became the 11th different Jaguar to lead the team in scoring this season with his 10 points against South Dakota State on Feb. 7. IUPUI has had 10 different players score in double-figures in a game and boasts nine players scoring between 4.6 and 8.2 points per game. No IUPUI player has scored in double-digits in more than nine of the team's 26 games.
- DavRon Williams has led IUPUI in rebounding in 15 of 26 games and leads the league in FG percentage (59.6%)
- 46.7% of IUPUI's points have come from the bench this year as Jags' subs average 28.1 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.

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. 

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. 

COMEBACK CATS
    IUPUI earned its biggest come-from-behind win of the season at Denver last Saturday (Feb. 14), after trailing by 13 in the first half. The Jaguars outscored DU by 11 in the second half en route to the 54-53 victory. 

ROAD WARRIORS
    Following Saturday's win at Denver, IUPUI now has more road wins (5) than home wins (4) this season. 

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). 
    However, Najee is not being considered among the final 15 candidates as the list was pared on Feb. 10. 

UNCOMMON BALANCE
    Nine different IUPUI players are averaging between 4.6 and 8.2 points per game, led by Marcellus Barksdale and DavRon Williams' 8.2 scoring average. IUPUI has had 11 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, Justus Stanback and Aaron Brennan have each led the squad at least once. 
    IUPUI has 10 players averaging double-digit minutes and an 11th (Stanback) sits at 9.4 minutes per game. 

LOW LEADER
    Barksdale and Williams' 8.2 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. 
    The duos 8.2 scoring average is the lowest team-leader in the country this season. 

HITTING 70
    IUPUI is 4-0 this season when scoring at least 70 points and 5-17 when failing to reach that number. 

SLIM WINS
    IUPUI is 7-3 in games decided by five points or less this season and have won their nine games by a combined 41 points. IUPUI's largest margin of victory this season was over South Dakota by 15 points. 

GLASS EATERS
    After being clobbered on the glass for much of the non-conference season, IUPUI is +3.9 rebounds/game in Summit League play, ranking second in the league. It's been a collective effort as DavRon Williams leads the squad at 5.3 boards/game in Summit League play and 10 Jags are grabbing at least 1.5 boards per contest. 

MAKING HIS CASE
    Senior DavRon Williams is putting up a strong case for The Summit League's Sixth Man of the Year Award. The 6-foot-7 Williams is averaging 8.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and nearly a block per game, while having come off the bench in every contest. More impressive is his 62.7 field goal percentage in league play, as he attempts just more than six shots per contest. 

KNOCK DOWN
    IUPUI is 8-4 this season when shooting a higher field goal percentage than its opponent and 1-13 when being outshot. 

57 STRAIGHT
    Junior Marcellus Barksdale has now started 57 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 31.7 minutes per game (6.6 more than his closest competitor), ranking among the league's top players. Barksdale leads the team in scoring (8.2 ppg), free throws made (71) and steals (48) and is second in rebounding (4.5 rpg) and assists (2.4 apg). 

BENCH PRODUCTION
    Through 26 games, IUPUI's bench has scored 731 of the team's 1,566 points, equivalent to 46.7 percent of the team's scoring. The IUPUI bench has outscored the opposition in 23 of the season's 26 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 15 of 26 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