MUNCIE, Ind. - The IUPUI basketball team will be back in action on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 2) when the Jaguars head up I-69 to take on Ball State (3-4) at 2:00 p.m. inside Worthen Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 or you can listen live on IUPUIJags.com as Morgan Adcock (pxp) describes the action. The Jaguars will look to get the sour taste out its mouth after a 90-77 loss at Western Illinois on Tuesday night. Junior D.J. McCall tallied a career-high 25 points in that loss while freshmen Jaylen Minnett (12 points) and Elyjah Goss (10 points) also finished in double-digits. 

The Jaguars (2-3) fell into a huge first half hole in Macomb on Tuesday, going without a field goal for more than eight minutes as the host Leathernecks blasted out to a 31-10 lead. Trailing 48-24 at the half, IUPUI never truly threatened, despite closing within 12 in the final minutes. Western Illinois sawed through the Jaguars' defense with ease, shooting 60 percent overall and 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) from three-point range. The former Summit League foe did little wrong, outrebounding the Jaguars 37-34 and limiting IUPUI to under 40 percent shooting. 

IUPUI's top scoring duo of Aaron Brennan and Ron Patterson was held to a combined 13 points on 5-of-20 shooting and T.J. Henderson had his streak of double-digit scoring games snapped at four as he was held to seven points on 2-of-9 shooting.

"I thought we got off to a really slow start and never really got going. Give them credit. They started making shots and really clamped down on us and took control of the game," head coach Jason Gardner said. "Even when we got good looks, we didn't knock them down in the first half and they made some contested shots during that run.

"I was proud of our guys in that we didn't stop fighting. Even in the final minute, we had some guys getting on the floor for loose balls and trying to make a play. I was proud of that sort of effort."

Both IUPUI and Ball State will look to get back to .500 on Saturday. Last season, IUPUI handled the Cardinals in Muncie, 73-62 as Darell Combs and Matt O'Leary combined to score 41 points and hit six treys. Evan Hall had 14 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes and McCall chipped in six points and a career-high 13 boards off the bench. The Jags trailed 36-29 at the half, but outscored Ball State 44-26 in the second half, holding the Cardinals to just 11-of-33 (33.3 percent) shooting. 

SCOUTING BALL STATE
Ball State is 3-4 to start the season, but 2-0 at home with wins over Stony Brook and Oakland City. The Cardinals' losses include defeats to national powers Dayton, Oklahoma and Oregon.  
    Ball State comes in scoring better than 80 points per game and shooting an exceptional 77.8 percent at the free throw line.    
    PROBABLE STARTERS:
    G- Jontrell Walker (6-1, Jr.) - 9.9 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 2.3 apg, 45.7 FG% 
    G- Tayler Persons (6-3, Jr.) - 15.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 4.4 apg, 53.2 FG%
    G- Sean Sellers (6-6, Sr.) - 8.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 0.7 apg, 43.9 FG%
    F- Kyle Mallers (6-7, Soph.) - 12.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 47.8FG%
    F- Tahjai Teague (6-8, Soph.) - 10.4 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 0.4 apg, 64.4 FG%

INSIDE THE SERIES
IUPUI is 5-7 all-time against Ball State, but has won four of the past five meetings between the two schools, including a 73-62 victory in Muncie last season. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will return home to host SIUE on Wednesday, Dec. 6 inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Fans who bring an unwrapped toy to benefit the Women's and Children Center at the Salvation Army to that game will receive a FREE ticket at the box office. 

GAME NOTES (click here for PDF of the full games notes)
SERIES BREAKDOWN
    After beating Ball State just one time in the first seven meetings from 2000-2011, IUPUI has since won four of the past five meetings between the schools, including a pair of wins in Muncie (2012 & 2016).    
    Today marks the fourth meeting since Gardner took over the IUPUI program with the Jags going 2-1 in the three previous meetings. 
    Gardner's first-ever home victory was a 71-69 overtime win over Ball State on Nov. 22, 2014 as P.J. Boutte scored on a runner as time expired to cap the thriller. Brennan had 14 points and four boards in that game as a true freshman. Hall (14 points, six boards) and McCall (six points, 13 rebounds) had monster efforts in last season's win.
    
INSIDE STATE LINES
    Today's game pits the two teams with the most in-state talent against one another as Ball State (10) and IUPUI (9) boast the most former Indiana high schoolers in the Division I ranks.  

THIS D.J.
    Junior D.J. McCall had a monster game at Western Illinois on Tuesday night, posting a career-high 25 points (9-20 FG, 3-7 3's, 4-6 FT) and eight boards in 35 minutes. McCall had scored just 11 points and taken just nine shots total in his season's first three games up until that point. 
    It was the second 20 point scoring performance of McCall's career as the Fort Wayne-native also went over 20 in a win at Oral Roberts last season. 

FRESH OFF THE BENCH
    The IUPUI bench scored a season-high 28 points at Western Illinois on Tuesday night, fueled by career-best performances from freshmen Jaylen Minnett and Elyjah Goss. 
    Minnett had a season-high 12 points (4-10 FG, 3-5 3's) and four offensive boards in just 23 minutes while Goss had a season-high 10 points (4-5 FG) and two steals in just 14 minutes. 
    Sophomore Nick Rogers also scored his first points in an IUPUI uniform with four points and four assists off the Jaguars' bench. 

GETTING BACK TO .500
    The 2-2 start to the season has been a trend in head coach Jason Gardner's first four seasons on the job, as he's split the season's first four games in each of his four campaigns. 
    However, his teams have gone on to lose game Nos. 5, 6 and 7 in each of the past three years and never gotten back to .500 at any point going forward. Today's game gives him an opportunity to buck that trend and get his Jaguars back to .500 with a victory. 

'D' DOESN'T TRAVEL
    In the Jags' three losses this season (all on the road), IUPUI has struggled to defend the three-point line. In those three losses, opponents are shooting a combined 53.4 percent from three-point range, hitting 31-of-58 attempts. In all three instances, one opposing player has hit at least five threes as well:
    at Bradley (57.1%) - Nate Kennell (5-of-9)
    at EIU (45.0%) - Terrell Lewis (7-of-9)
    at WIU (58.8%) - Kobe Webster (5-of-7)

FIVE KEY NUMBERS
    Below are five key numbers from the Jaguars' loss at WIU.
    8:08: Span in the first half that the Jaguars went without a field goal, allowing WIU to rattle off a 23-2 run to take a 31-10 lead
    53: Second half points scored by the Jaguars in the loss
    25-8: Points and rebounds registered by D.J. McCall in a breakout performance for the junior guard
    20-3: Jags advantage in second chance points on Tuesday as IUPUI grabbed 18 offensive rebounds in the loss
    13: Combined points from Aaron Brennan and Ron Patterson on just 5-of-20 shooting
    
AT THE HORN
    Winning games at the horn has been a staple of head coach Jason Gardner's squads. So when IUPUI failed to get a shot off at the buzzer in Friday's 80-79 loss at Eastern Illinois, it was almost a surprise. Since Gardner took over, IUPUI has won four games in the closing seconds, including two as time expired:
    P.J. Boutte 15' floater at the horn vs. Ball State (71-69 / Nov. 22, 2014)
    Marcellus Barksdale layup at the horn at IPFW (84-82 / Jan. 23, 2016)
    Jordan Pickett wing 3 with :02 vs. NDSU (73-72 / Jan. 31, 2016)
    Darell Combs wing J with :01.5 vs. SDSU (85-83 / Jan. 18, 2017)
    
FRESH STARTS
    In the season opener at Bradley, true freshman Jaylen Minnett became the first IUPUI true rookie to start his debut since Alex Young did so against Northeastern in 2008.
    Minnett had five points, two boards and an assist in his IUPUI debut. 

JAGS GET DEFENSIVE
    While head coach Jason Gardner has preached defense in the preseason, the win over Anderson was especially impressive in that IUPUI held the Ravens to just 43 points. The 43 were the fewest by a foe since Gardner took over the program and just the second time an IUPUI opponent tallied less than 50 in the Gardner-era (49 vs. Denver on Jan. 10, 2015). 
    The 43 points allowed was the lowest total by an IUPUI opponent since holding Western Illinois to 42 on Feb. 6, 2010. 

CUPBOARD CHECK
    IUPUI brings back seven returners from last season, five of whom saw meaningful minutes. Below is a rundown of the Jaguars' top statistical returners, along with some key numbers.
    Stat (% Returning): Top Returners 
    Scoring (45.8%): Patterson (9.3), Brennan (8.4)
    Rebounding (56.9%): Hall (5.2), McCall (5.0)
    Assists (45.3%): Patterson (64), Henderson (52)
    Minutes (50.2%): Patterson (23.7), McCall (21.2)
    FGM (47.3%): Patterson (107), Brennan (102)
    3FGM (43.4%): Patterson (62), Henderson (30)
    FTM (34.3%): McCall (45), Brennan (39)
    Blocks (69.0%): Hall (24), Patterson (13)
    Steals (60.4%): Patterson (44), Henderson (32) 

9-TO-14
    Head Coach Jason Gardner insisted throughout the preseason that his team will likely be led by a group of players that'll average anywhere from 9-14 points per game, as opposed to a runaway leader like Combs was last season at 16.8 points per game.
    So far, he's been on point as IUPUI's top six scorers (Brennan-Patterson-Henderson-McCall-Hall-Minnett) are all averaging between 8-15 points per game.     

FULL STRENGTH
    The Morehead State game was the first time all season the Jags have been at full strength. Evan Hall, D.J. McCall and Nick Rogers all missed time in the season's first three games. 

GRADS
    The IUPUI roster boasts a pair of graduates this season as Maurice Kirby completed his degree at Loyola (Ill.) and is pursuing his master's in sports journalism. In addition, junior guard D.J. McCall completed his undergraduate work in three years and is now pursuing his master's degree at IUPUI. 

TOUGH SLATE
    The IUPUI squad has lined up a tough slate for the upcoming season, including facing a pair of preseason ranked teams on the road and two others that are receiving votes in the preseason polls. IUPUI will take on 2017 NCAA runner-up Gonzaga on Dec. 16, which comes in ranked No. 18/19 in the preseason polls. IUPUI will also play at Purdue on Dec. 10, which is ranked No. 20/21 in the preseason. 
    Other road tests include games at RV/-- Ball State on Dec. 2 and a Dec. 16 trip at Washington State. 
    IUPUI will take on three teams that earned preseason Mid-Major Top 25 rankings as Gonzaga tops the poll, Oakland checks in at No. 5 and Northern Kentucky is ranked No. 10 in the preseason poll.