VERMILLION, S.D. - The IUPUI basketball team was in prime position to pick up a key road Summit League win on Saturday (Jan. 7), but faded late as the Jags fell at South Dakota, 85-74. 

IUPUI (7-10, 1-2 Summit) led 70-63 with 6:29 to play when Darell Combs got loose for a layup off an Aaron Brennan assist, capping a 7-0 Jaguar run. However, South Dakota (12-7, 3-1 Summit) fired back with a haymaker, closing the game with a 22-4 rally to remain undefeated inside the newly built Sanford Coyote Sports Center. The Jags missed their final four field goal attempts and turned it over five times down the stretch while South Dakota hit 6-of-7 field goal attempts and 9-of-12 free throws during that span. 

Combs led IUPUI with 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting and Matt O'Leary added 14 points and seven boards in the loss. Carlton Hurst led five USD players in double-digits with 19 points and eight boards and Trey Burch-Manning and Matt Mooney contributed 16 apiece. The Coyotes shot 57 percent from the floor, doing the majority of their damage inside the arc and at the free throw line. They outscored IUPUI 46-32 in the paint and 21-14 at the charity stripe while IUPUI was an efficient 8-of-16 from three-point range. 

"I'm disappointed in how we finished the game. We put ourselves in a position to win a tough road game today and then just kind of gave it away down the stretch. Their defense gave us some problems, but some of the mistakes we made were unforced too," Head Coach Jason Gardner said. "I think we got away from what had gotten us (the lead) and that came back to bite us. 

"Defensively, we reached and fouled too much and that allowed them to get to the free throw line for easy points."

After the game was tied at 60 all with 8:55 left, Combs scored 10 straight points in a 10-3 burst to give the Jags a seven-point lead. However, his basket with more than six minutes to play would be the Jaguars' final field goal of the night. 

USD went ahead on a Mooney triple with 3:58 left and the Jags turned it over on the ensuing possession, allowing USD to seize a 73-70 lead with 3:13 to play. Kellon Thomas pulled the Jags back within one when he stroked a pair of freebies, but USD scored the game's next six points, aided by a pair of IUPUI turnovers in a two minute span. 

IUPUI finished with 17 turnovers, leading to 31 USD points. 

"We had chances to beat two really good teams on the road on this trip and didn't get it done. I've said it before, but it's hard to get road wins in league play and these games proved that. Now, we have to focus on getting home and getting ready for another tough opponent on our floor."

After back-to-back slow starts, IUPUI raced out of the gates on Saturday, blowing out to a 10-2 lead on threes from O'Leary and Thomas and two interior buckets from Evan Hall. After an early timeout, USD answered with a 13-0 run to go ahead 15-10. The teams swapped the lead multiple times before USD took a 39-37 edge at the break. 

However, IUPUI opened the second half with a 7-0 burst and maintained the lead until USD's Trey Dickerson tied the score at 60 all with 8:55 to play. 

Hall finished with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting to round out the Jaguars' double-digit scorers. 

The Jags will then return home to host Omaha on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 7:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. That game will include a halftime performance from the always entertaining Indy Air Bears and tickets are available by clicking here or by visiting the Coliseum box office. Wednesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN3 as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) are on the call. In addition, the game can be heard on 97.5 Fox Sports FM, 1260 WNDE and the iHeartRadio app as Morgan Adcock (pxp) is on the call.