OMAHA, Neb. - The IUPUI basketball team will square off with a fellow Summit League unbeaten on Sunday (Jan. 3) when the Jaguars take on Omaha inside Baxter Arena (7,500) at 5:30 p.m. Eastern. The game will be heard in Central Indiana on 107.5 FM as Morgan Adcock (pxp) will call the action from courtside. 

IUPUI (5-11, 1-0 Summit) is coming off a convincing 77-66 road win at South Dakota while Omaha defeated Western Illinois in come-from-behind fashion, 82-80 on Friday. The Jaguars put forth one of their most complete efforts of the season as junior Darell Combs tossed in a game-high 19 points and freshman Evan Hall matched his career-high in points (14), rebounds (8) and assists (3) on 6-of-7 shooting. Junior Matt O'Leary was impressive with 15 points and four assists and senior Mason Archie was clutch down the stretch and finished with 10 points.

IUPUI led from nearly start to finish, leading by as many as 13 in the first half before settling for a 38-33 lead at the break. South Dakota opened the second half with an 8-2 burst to take a quick one-point lead, but IUPUI responded with an O'Leary three and never yielded the advantage over the final 17 minutes.

After battling one of the nation's toughest schedules in non-conference play, IUPUI looked immediately more comfortable against a Summit League foe on Friday, shooting 50 percent from the field and 6-of-15 (40 percent) from three-point range. IUPUI also outrebounded the Coyotes 41-34 and turned it over just 13 times.

IUPUI is just 1-5 all-time against Omaha as the two schools split the series last season. The Jaguars won in Omaha before the Mavs returned the favor, defeating IUPUI in double overtime on Senior Day.

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 42.8 points per game. Senior Marcellus Barksdale is the team's top returning scorer from a year ago and is scoring 7.0 points per game this year.

79 STRAIGHT
    Senior swingman Marcellus Barksdale has started 79 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 28 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 789 points, 516 boards, 250 assists and 136 steals. He also surpassed the 3,000 career minute mark against Butler on Dec. 28. He became the 15th player in school history to collect 500 career boards and is the 16th player to deliver 250 career assists.
    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.

ROADIES
    For the second straight season, IUPUI opened the conference season with an impressive road victory. Last year, the short-handed Jags collected a win at Fort Wayne while this season, IUPUI went into South Dakota and knocked off the Yotes 77-66 on Friday.

SEEKING 2-0
    IUPUI comes in seeking the program's first 2-0 start in Summit League play since the 2009-10 season. That season, the Jags opened with wins over South Dakota State and North Dakota State en route to a 15-3 league mark.

HALL CAN BALL
    Freshman Evan Hall is coming off a season-best performance, matching his season-high in points (14), rebounds (8) and assists (3) in Friday's win at South Dakota. The 6-foot-7 Hall bullied his way through the USD frontcourt, hitting 6-of-7 shots to move his season shooting percentage above 50%.

USD TAKEAWAYS
    Friday's win was the Jaguars' first-ever inside USD's DakotaDome.., IUPUI won by leading virtually start to finish - USD took an early 2-0 lead but IUPUI took the lead on the next possession and briefly gave it back early in the second half, before regaining it quickly... the starting five of Darell Combs, Mason Archie, Marcellus Barksdale, Evan Hall and Matt O'Leary was utilized for the second straight game and improved to 1-1 on the season... Combs matched his season-high with four made threes... O'Leary just missed tying his career-high, scoring 15 points... sophomore Aaron Brennan blocked a career-best three shots in just 12 minutes off the bench.

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.  

11 STRAIGHT
    Junior guard Darell Combs has scored in double-digits in 11 straight games and 14 of the 16 this season. Over the past 11 games, he's 63-of-144 (.438) from the floor and 24-of-52 (.462) from deep.

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 3-0 at home this season, IUPUI is averaging 82.0 points per game and shooting 51.2 percent from the floor (85-of-166) in wins over Kentucky State, Miami and Southern Utah.

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.

SECOND HALVES
    After playing the first halves of games virtually even this year, the IUPUI basketball team has been outscored 649-545 in the second halves and overtime periods this season - which equates to 6.5 points per contest.

5,400 MILES
    This year's non-conference slate saw the Jaguars log more than 5,400 travel miles, most coming through the air. Twelve of IUPUI's first 15 games were on the road, including trips to Milwaukee (Marquette), Raleigh, N.C. (NC State), Atlanta (3 games), Muncie (Ball State), Springfield, Mo. (Missouri State), Omaha (Creighton) and Memphis.

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 14-5 (5-0 this season) when shooting a higher percentage from the floor than their opposition while going 1-27 (0-11 this season) when being outshot by opponents.