INDIANAPOLIS - Sophomore Jordan Pickett drained a left-wing three with 1.2 seconds left to cap a come-from-behind 73-72 victory over North Dakota State inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 31). The win was the Jaguars' fourth straight and kept IUPUI tied atop The Summit League standings at 7-2 in league play. Pickett finished with a career-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including the game-winner. 

"It felt good when I let go of it. At first I thought about driving it and going for the tie, but Marcellus did a good job of finding me and setting me up," Pickett said. "This was big for all of us though as a team. We needed this win to continue to take care of our home court."

After NDSU's Dexter Werner split a pair of free throws with 11 seconds to give the Bison (14-8, 4-4 Summit) a 72-70 lead, the Jaguars opted against calling timeout, instead allowing Pickett to bring the ball into the frontcourt. Pickett handed the ball off to Darell Combs, who then handed to Marcellus Barksdale weaving right. Barksdale dribbled into the teeth of the defense before kicking out to Pickett, who made the catch, dribbled once and slid to his left before splashing the game-winner. 

"I give our guys the credit. We've got guys that know how to make plays," IUPUI Head Coach Jason Gardner said. "I thought Marcellus did a good job of driving it and drawing the defense and finding the open man. And that was a big time shot by Jordan. He got in rhythm and made a really, just big time shot."

IUPUI (11-13, 7-2 Summit) was all but dead with 8:38 remaining, trailing 63-53 after Paul Miller drilled a triple, prompting Gardner to call timeout. 

His troops responded, reeling off a 12-0 run, seven coming from Pickett during the burst. Pickett started the run with a three-point play and then collected a steal to score in transition to get the Jags going. Combs followed by splashing a long trey, coming on the heels of NDSU missing a pair of free throws. Barksdale then tied the game at 63 all and Pickett put the Jags in front with a midrange jumper. Even after rallying from behind, IUPUI benefited from some shoddy NDSU free throw shooting down the stretch to steal the win. 

Barksdale put the Jags ahead 68-67 with 1:17 to play with two foul shots, but NDSU answered with a Werner putback with 54 ticks remaining. The Jags went empty on their next trip when A.J. Jacobson blocked a Matt O'Leary attempt and IUPUI opted to defend, as opposed to fouling. However, Kory Brown made the Jags pay by rattling in a 15-footer with 20 seconds left, extending to a 70-67 advantage. The Jags attacked the rim in a hurry, leading to Mason Archie tipping in a Pickett miss to keep the hosts within striking distance. 

IUPUI immediately fouled Werner, who proceeded to miss the first and hit the second before Pickett's game-winner. NDSU finished just 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) from the free throw line and 3-of-9 in the second half, aiding IUPUI's effort. 

Pickett scored 16 of his 20 in the second half, helping the IUPUI bench outscore NDSU's reserves, 24-15. Combs tossed in 17 points and O'Leary finished with 12 points and seven boards. Barksdale chipped in 10 points and five rebounds while Archie finished with a career-high nine boards. Sophomore Aaron Brennan scored eight points, all before halftime. 

"Everyone stepped up and contributed today," Gardner said. "We got some good minutes from a lot of different guys. Down the stretch, we kind of tightened up the rotations and stuck with the guys on the floor, but I was happy with what a lot of kids did out there today."

Miller led three Bison in double-digits with 21 points, including hitting 5-of-10 from three-point range. Freshman Khy Kabellis had 12 points and Jacobson scored 11. Brown added nine points and six rebounds, but was plagued by foul trouble throughout and was limited to just 20 minutes. Werner finished with eight points and nine rebounds off the bench in the loss. 

NDSU shot a blistering 65 percent from the field in the first half and finished the game at 52 percent overall and 8-of-16 (50 percent) from three. IUPUI made just 11-of-31 (35.5 percent) second half attempts and ended the day at 46 percent overall. 

Sunday's win snapped a six-game losing streak against the Bison as IUPUI improved to 8-9 in 17 meetings with North Dakota State. IUPUI also improved to 7-1 at home this season and has won six of its past seven contests. 

Still locked in a four-way tie atop The Summit League standings with Fort Wayne, Omaha and South Dakota State, IUPUI will play their next three games on the road, beginning with a meeting with Denver on Thursday (Feb. 4) at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. The Jags will then continue the two-game trip at South Dakota State on Saturday. Both games will be heard on 107.5 FM as Morgan Adcock (pxp) will call the action.