EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The IUPUI basketball team will continue to earn its road stripes on Saturday (Nov. 26) as the Jaguars take on SIUE (2-3) in non-conference play at 1:00 p.m. Central (2:00 p.m. Eastern) inside the Vadalabene Center. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Midwest as Scott Warmann (pxp) and Joe Pott (analyst) describe the action. The game will be heard in Central Indiana on 97.5 Fox Sports Radio, 1260 WNDE or the iHeartMedia app as Morgan Adcock (pxp) is on the call.
IUPUI (2-3) will look for a third win in four games after recent non-conference wins over Howard and Eastern Michigan. The Jaguars preceded the Thanksgiving holiday with a 104-79 loss at Marquette to cap the four-game 2016 2K Classic. The Jags defeated both Howard and EMU to win the Indianapolis Subregional of the event, but dropped true road games at Michigan and Marquette as part of the event.
Senior
Darell Combs leads the Jaguars in scoring at 17.0 points per game while Syracuse-transfer
Ron Patterson checks in at 12 points per game. Senior
Matt O'Leary averages 10.6 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds per contest.
Kellon Thomas (8.8 ppg) and
Aaron Brennan (8.4 ppg) are just shy of double-digits through the season's first five games.
As a team, IUPUI has been a strong three-point shooting team to start the year, hitting 38.5 percent from long range and averaging 8.4 makes per contest. Patterson leads the squad with 15 connections, while Combs has made eight. Among those with at least one make, Brennan is shooting a team-high 50 percent (3-of-6) from deep.
"I think we've made shots from the perimeter because we've been unselfish and looked to make the extra pass," IUPUI Head Coach Jason Gardner said. "That's led to getting better looks. We haven't settled for a lot of challenged jumpers, but the guys have done a good job of finding the open man. That's helped us from a confidence standpoint and we've done a good job of making the open shots when we've gotten them."
Saturday's game marks the first-ever meeting between IUPUI and SIUE since 1995. The Jaguars are just 4-15 all-time against SIUE and just 1-11 in the 12 meetings in Edwardsville.
JAGUAR TIDBITS
PRE-THANKSGIVING NAP
IUPUI's defense took a pre-Thanksgiving nap on Tuesday night (Nov. 22) as the Jaguars dropped a 104-79 decision at Marquette to cap the 2016 2K Classic. The 104 points allowed were the most by an IUPUI squad since yielding 105 in a double overtime win over Oral Roberts on Jan. 24, 2004. It was the most points allowed in regulation since Dec. 18, 1996.
2K CLASSIC
IUPUI capped the four-game 2K Classic with a 2-2 record, losing road games at Michigan and Marquette and winning the Indianapolis Subregional of the event. IUPUI captured home victories over Howard (77-55) and Eastern Michigan (83-71). Junior
Ron Patterson was named Subregional MVP after averaging 16 points and hitting 9-of-17 threes. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by senior forward
Matt O'Leary, who averaged 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 steals over two games.
EIGHTH IN DUBS
Through just five games, IUPUI has already had eight different players score in double-digits as
D.J. McCall had 10 at Marquette earlier this week. No IUPUI player has scored in double-digits in all five games as
Darell Combs,
Matt O'Leary and
Ron Patterson have tallied double-digits in four of five games.
BUSS FOR THREE
Not known as a three-point threat upon transferring from Syracuse, junior
Ron Patterson has been lethal from deep to start the season. The Indianapolis-native made just 15-of-71 (21.1 percent) attempts in his two years with the Orange, but is 15-of-34 (44.1 percent) in his first five games with the Jaguars. He's hit at least three threes in four of the Jaguars' five games, including a career-high 5-of-9 in the win over Eastern Michigan. Patterson posted new career-highs in each of the 2K Classic home games, scoring 15 against Howard and 17 against Eastern Michigan.
JAGS GET DEFENSIVE
The most important stat in the Jags' wins over Howard and Eastern Michigan was how stingy the Jaguars' defense was - specifically on the perimeter. Howard and Eastern Michigan combined to hit just 36.3 percent from the field and 3-of-26 (11.5 percent) from three-point range. Howard was 0-for-9 from three on Friday, marking the first time in IUPUI's Division I era (1998-present) that a foe hasn't hit at least one trey.
JAGS SIGN TWO
IUPUI inked two during the early signing period, signing 6-foot-8 forward Brandon Hau (Mukwonago, Wisc./Mukwonago) and 6-foot guard Jaylen Minnett (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South) to National Letters of Intent. Hau averaged 16.3 points and 7.5 boards per game as a junior and chose IUPUI over Air Force, Drake, Elon, Iowa, Navy, North Dakota State and South Dakota. Minnett averaged 21.6 points, 5.0 assists and 4.8 boards per game last season. Minnett chose IUPUI over interest from Ball State, Kent State and Xavier.
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