CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The IUPUI basketball team will face the second of three Big Ten foes this season on Tuesday night (Dec. 6) when the Jaguars take on Illinois (6-3) inside the State Farm Center at 7:00 p.m. Central. It's the Jaguars' third of five trips to the Prairie State this season, having already trekked to SIUE and Illinois State.
Tuesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN3 as Jordan Bernfield (pxp) and Homer Drew (analyst) describe the action. In addition, the game will be heard on the iHeartRadio app as Morgan Adcock (pxp) is on the call.
IUPUI (3-5) snapped a three-game skid with a 73-62 victory at Ball State on Saturday, keyed by seniors
Darell Combs (21 pts) and
Matt O'Leary (20 pts). The Jaguars overcame an 11-point second half deficit and outscored BSU 32-10 over the latter stages of the game. Sophomore
Evan Hall matched his career-high with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. However, Head Coach
Jason Gardner credited his team's second half success to sophomore guard
D.J. McCall, who closed with six points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
"I thought (McCall) was the difference in the game today, especially in the second half," Gardner said. "He brought us a lot of energy and toughness and just dug in and did the dirty work that we needed to win. Sometimes you have to have guys step up like that in order to be successful."
The win was IUPUI's fourth in the past five meetings against Ball State and second win all-time in Muncie.
IUPUI is 0-1 all-time against Illinois, dropping the only meeting to the Fighting Illini exactly 10 years ago.
This year's Illini squad is led by 6-foot-6 senior Malcolm Hill (18.4 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and 6-foot-7 sophomore Leron Black (12.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg). Illinois has wins over NC State and VCU in its past two games and is 5-1 overall at the State Farm Center.
JAGUAR TIDBITS
COMBS NOTES (@KidDRell1)
-Senior Darell Combs leads the Jags in scoring (16.9 ppg) and was voted preseason First Team All-Summit this season. Combs was a 2nd Team selection following last season.
-The Chicago-native has scored in double-digits 33 times in 39 career games and seven of eight this season.
-Combs not only leads the Jags in scoring, but also leads the team in assists (28), free throws made (29) and minutes (32.6 mpg).
-Combs capped his junior year with back-to-back 30 scoring games, becoming the first IUPUI player to do so since George Hill achieved the feat in 2008.
MATT O'LEARY NOTES (@OLeary_15)
-Senior Matt O'Leary is riding a career-best seven straight games in double-digits, having hit for 10 or more in every game this season except the season-opener at Eastern Kentucky.
-O'Leary is three games removed from a career-high 22 points at SIUE and has made 65 percent of his field goal attempts in the past two games (26-of-40), scoring 59 points in losses at SIUE and Illinois State.
-O'Leary has one of the team's two double-doubles this season (Evan Hall has the other) and has two career double-doubles in an IUPUI uniform.
-O'Leary entered this week ranking among The Summit League leaders in eight different categories including rebounding (5th), assists (8th) and scoring (14th).
-After scoring just 20-or-more once last season, O'Leary has already done so twice this season.
PATTERSON NOTES (@Buss34)
-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 18-of-47 (38.3 percent) in his first eight games with the Jaguars.
-Patterson has hit at least three threes in five of the Jaguars' eight games, including a career-high 5-of-9 in the win over Eastern Michigan.
-Patterson leads the Jaguars with nine steals and four dunks this season. His stat line in a 15-point effort at Marquette earlier this season was three 3's and three dunks.
BALL STATE NOTES
IUPUI overcame an 11-point second half deficit to rally past Ball State on Saturday, 73-62. The Jags trailed 52- 41 with 14:37 left, but closed by outscoring the Cardinals 32-10 from that point forward. Both Darell Combs (21 pts, 4 ast) and Matt O'Leary (20 pts, 3 ast, 4 stl) led the way while Evan Hall matched his career-high with 14 points (5-7 FG, 6 reb). Sophomore D.J. McCall keyed the come-from-behind effort, grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds (six offensive) and locking up BSU guard Tayler Persons down the stretch.
EXACTLY 10 YEARS AGO
Exactly 10 years ago today, IUPUI faced Illinois for the first (and only) time. The Illini dominated that matchup, 87-59 in Champaign.
QUICK HIT IUPUI
Senior Advisor Andy Fagan coached Illinois sophomore guard Jalen Coleman-Lands prior to his attending LaLumiere Prep. Coleman-Lands originally attended Indianapolis Cathedral High School and played for Fagan.
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