INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will host Oral Roberts (9-9, 1-3 Summit) in Summit League action on Thursday night (Jan. 14) at 7:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Thursday's game is the second "IMCU Three for Thursday" promotion of the year as fans who purchase a ticket can receive three for free in advance of game day. In addition, the game is a campus-wide Deans' Night as top administrators from various schools will be in attendance and recognized throughout the evening. Thursday's game will be broadcast on HTSN and ESPN3 as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) call the action from courtside. In addition, the game can be heard on 107.5 FM as Morgan Adcock (pxp) calls the action with pregame coverage beginning at approximately 6:45 p.m..

Tickets can be purchased via Ticketmaster or at the Coliseum box office and IUPUI Athletics office prior to game day. Doors will open one-hour prior to tip-off on Thursday.

IUPUI (7-12, 3-1 Summit) has become a new team in Summit League play, opening with three wins in four games to match the program's best league start since the 2009-10 season. Two of the three wins have come on the road, most recently by way of a 67-60 victory at Western Illinois on Saturday. Junior Darell Combs matched his career-high with 22 points and classmate Nick Osborne provided a double-double off the bench with 16 points and 10 boards. The game was tied at 53 all with under four minutes to play, but the Jaguars responded with a 10-1 run to ultimately seal the win.

In Summit League play, Combs leads three Jaguars averaging double-digits at 16.8 points per game, followed by Osborne (10.3 ppg) and Matt O'Leary (10.0 ppg). Defensively, IUPUI has been stingy, allowing just 42 percent overall and 19.7 percent from three-point range. The Jaguars have also been dependable on the glass, outrebounding the opposition by 4.5 caroms per contest. Osborne leads the bunch at 6.3 rebounds per game and is one of four Jaguars pulling down more than four boards per game against league foes.

ORU has won eight straight over the Jaguars dating back to 2010 and is led by the league top scorer in senior Obi Emegano (22.8 ppg). With Emegano sidelined recently due to injury, the Golden Eagles opened league play with three straight losses before beating North Dakota State 66-65 in his return last Saturday. The Golden Eagles have been ranked among the nation's top 100 in RPI virtually all season long and check in at No. 105 this week.

IUPUI has been on a steady ascent and now sits at No. 165.

JAGUAR TIDBITS
TOP FOUR
IUPUI's top four scorers this season are all Division I transfers who sat out last season. The quartet of Darell Combs, Matt O'Leary, Jordan Pickett and Nick Osborne have teamed to score 43.4 points per game - more than 60 percent of the team's output. Senior Marcellus Barksdale is the team's top returning scorer from a year ago and is scoring 7.4 points per game this year.

ROAD WARRIORS
IUPUI's 14 true road games at this juncture are tied for the most in America. IUPUI trekked more than 5,400 miles in the non-conference schedule, playing 12 of 15 games away from home (includes one neutral site game). Since then, IUPUI has traveled another 3,000-plus miles to start Summit League play with games in Vermillion, S.D., Omaha and Macomb, Ill..

PERFECT AT HOME IN THE NON-CONFERENCE
IUPUI finished the home portion of the non-conference slate with a perfect mark this season, going 3-0 in those contests. It marks IUPUI's first perfect non-conference slate since the 2010-11 season when the Jaguars had just two non-conference home games (IU-Northwest & IU-East).

HOME COOKING
In going 4-0 at home this season, IUPUI is averaging 80.0 points per game and shooting 49.1 percent from the floor (109-of-222) in wins over Kentucky State, Miami, Southern Utah and South Dakota State.
IUPUI has won the four home games by an average of 9.8 points per game.

3-1 START
IUPUI has opened Summit League play at 3-1, marking the program's best open since the 2009-10 season when the Jaguars started 3-0 and 9-1 en route to a 15-3 league mark.

DEFENDING THE ARC
Thanks to length at virtually every position, IUPUI has done a good job of defending the three-point line all season long, allowing just 31.2 percent overall and 19.7 percent (15-of-76) in Summit League play.
IUPUI is 56th nationally in three-point defense and tops in The Summit.

82 STRAIGHT
Senior swingman Marcellus Barksdale has started 82 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 31 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 817 points, 531 boards, 258 assists and 142 steals. He also surpassed the 3,000 career minute mark against Butler on Dec. 28. He ranks among IUPUI's top 15 all-time in both rebounds and assists and it's not unreasonable to think Barksdale could finish as the 23rd member of IUPUI's 1,000 Point Club.

IN LEAGUE PLAY
Albeit in a modest sample size, IUPUI has been extremely balanced in the opening four Summit League games with seven players averaging better than 6.8 points per game. Combs leads the crew at 16.8 points per game, followed by Osborne (10.3 ppg), O'Leary (10.0), Pickett (9.0) and Barksdale (8.8).

WIU TAKEAWAYS
The win in Macomb was IUPUI's first since 2011... WIU's 60 points scored were the fewest by an IUPUI foe this season, as were the 25 first half points... Western Illinois came in as one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams, but made just 3-of-19 (15.8 percent) attempts and 37.5 percent overall... junior Darell Combs matched his career-high with 22 points, including hitting 4-of-5 from three... IUPUI had a season-low six offensive boards and a season-low nine turnovers... junior Nick Osborne contributed his first career double-double off the bench with 16 points and 10 rebounds... the game was tied at 53 all with 3:40 to play before the Jaguars unloaded a decisive 10-1 run to win it.

SERIES NUGGETS
IUPUI is 12-25 all-time against Oral Roberts and not beaten the Golden Eagles since 2010, losing eight straight since then. The Jaguars are just 7-8 at home all-time against ORU, losing the past three meetings in Indianapolis. IUPUI Head Coach Jason Gardner is 0-3 lifetime against the Golden Eagles.

SMART CATS
With fall semester grades recently posted, four Jaguars earned Academic Advisor's List with a 3.0 GPA or better - Marcellus Barksdale, Aaron Brennan, Matt O'Leary and Noah Thomas. O'Leary, a management major, topped the bunch with a 3.93 GPA during the fall.

HALL BOUND
It was recently announced the former basketball standout Odell Bradley will be inducted in the IUPUI Hall of Fame on Saturday, Jan. 16. The 2004 Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year and honorable mention All-American will later be recognized at halftime of that afternoon's game as the Jaguars host Denver at 1:00 p.m. at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

#SCTOP10
Junior guard Darell Combs found himself on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 on 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.

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 16-5 (7-0 this season) when shooting a higher percentage from the floor than their opposition while going 1-28 (0-12 this season) when being outshot by opponents.