INDIANAPOLIS - After spending the first two games of the season on the road, IUPUI returned home to host the Indianapolis Subregional of the 2016 2K Classic. It was in fact "Home Sweet Home" for the Jaguars (1-2) as they picked up their first win of the season over the Howard Bison (0-3). The Jags jumped to a lead in the opening minute, and rode that momentum to a 77-55 victory. Junior Ron Patterson led the way in scoring with a career-high 15 points, while T.J. Henderson provided a spark off the bench with 14. The tandem combined to hit 7-of-14 from three.
 
"Anytime you get that first win and get it off your back (it's good)," Head Coach Jason Gardner said. "The guys had been stressing about it a little bit, but overall I thought they did a great job."

The Jaguars had their best offensive showing of the season and did most of the damage from beyond the arc. They converted 12-30 three-point shots and had four players hit at least two shots from downtown. Patterson had the hot hand and found his rhythm in the second half by knocking down four threes-in-a-row to all but seal the victory for the Jaguars.
 
"I said to myself all I need is to see it go in once and I'll be alright," Patterson said, "It felt really good because I hadn't been shooting the ball very well, so it felt good to get that off my chest."
 
"He's been stressing, and I think for him to make two in a game, it brings him more confidence, and I think it brings our team more confidence," Gardner said with a smile on his face.
 
The ball movement was on display throughout the entire game and the Jaguars had assists on 19 of their 25 made field goals. Seven players had multiple assists and the crisp passing allowed them to get open looks all game.

Senior Matt O'Leary had a team-high four assists and finished with his second collegiate double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.
 
"I thought we did a great job as far as moving the ball and not settling," Gardner said, "Howard runs a different zone that we won't see all season, so I thought the guys did a great job of moving the ball."
 
For as good as the offense was, the defense played an equal part. Howard struggled to find a rhythm all night, and were held to 35.6 percent shooting from the floor. The Jaguars locked down the arc, and didn't allow a single made three the entire game. The defense showed vast improvement from the first two games and Coach Gardner took notice.  
 
"I thought defensively we did a good job as far not giving up transition baskets. We tried to make sure when they got offensive rebounds to wall up and make it a contested shot. This was one game out of our three games that the guys were talking a lot more, so that definitely helped us."
 
The Jaguars received other solid contributions from Darell Combs, among others. Combs finished with 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting and dished out a pair of assists. Senior Kellon Thomas had seven points while sophomore Evan Hall had six.
 
The Jaguars will be back in action tomorrow at 1 p.m. for the championship game of the Subregional against Eastern Michigan (1-2), who defeated Gardner-Webb earlier in the day. Gardner-Webb will take on Howard in the consolation game on Saturday at 11:00 a.m..

The IUPUI/Eastern Michigan game will be broadcast on ESPN3 as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Carlos Knox (analyst) describe the action. The game will also be heard in Central Indiana on 97.5 Fox Sports Radio, 1260 WNDE and on the iHeartRadio app as Morgan Adcock (pxp) is on the call.