INDIANAPOLIS - After a grueling three-game stretch, the IUPUI basketball team will return home to host IU Kokomo (6-9) on Friday (Dec. 22) inside the Jungle. The game will tip at noon and will mark the program's first game on campus since Feb. 22, 2014. IUPUI (2-8) comes in looking to snap a six-game slide, which includes losses at nationally ranked No. 21 Purdue and No. 12 Gonzaga. 

Friday's game will be broadcast on ESPN3 as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) will be on the call. Tickets are available by contacting Lauren Gronke at lgronke@iupui.edu or 317-278-2530. IUPUI staff and faculty can purchase tickets for just $5 to Friday's game. 

Three different Jaguars hit for career-highs in the past three contests, beginning with senior Maurice Kirby's 16-point night at Purdue. Senior Ron Patterson followed with 19 at Washington State and junior T.J. Henderson tossed in 18 in Monday's loss at Gonzaga. Henderson hit 5-of-9 shots and 7-of-8 free throws against the Zags and grabbed four boards off the bench. Senior Evan Hall also played well at Gonzaga, scoring all 12 of his points after intermission for his first double-digit scoring game since tallying 12 against SIUE on Dec. 6. 

For the season, senior Aaron Brennan (12.2 ppg), Patterson (11.2 ppg) and Henderson (10.6 ppg) lead the team in scoring with Henderson having a team-high eight double-digit scoring games. Freshman Jaylen Minnett is fourth on the squad at 7.4 points per game and Hall is fifth at 7.3 ppg. 

The Jags have struggled defensively of late as opponents are shooting 51.2 percent overall and 40.5 percent from three-point range for the season. Gonzaga, led by one of the nation's best front lines, shot 68 percent against the Jaguars on Monday night. IUPUI was within 11 with under eight minutes to play before the Bulldogs closed with a 25-6 run to cap a 30-point win. 

IUPUI is 2-1 at home this season although Friday marks the first-ever game in The Jungle under head coach Jason Gardner. Gardner's squad is eagerly anticipating a final chance to play at home before the Christmas holiday. 

"We've been on the road a lot and I think that's brought us together and tested us as a team. I like our basketball team and our guys are working hard to get better each and every day," Gardner said. "Our record isn't where we want it to be, but we know that it's a new season once we start league play. We start clean and have a fresh start at that point. I think we have a lot of positives going and I think we'll be fine going forward. We just haven't gotten a lot of bounces in the non-conference schedule and hopefully we start to see some things turn our way."

The Jags have taken good care of the basketball as the season nears the midpoint, sitting +2.2 turnovers per game. Patterson (1.54 assist/turnover ratio) and Nick Rogers (1.47 ast/to) are among the team's best in taking care of the basketball. 

SCOUTING IU KOKOMO
IU Kokomo is 6-9 on the season which includes recent losses at Calumet College of St. Joseph and IU Northwest earlier this week. The Cougars lost at Calumet College 89-82 and lost at IUN 94-83. 
    PROBABLE STARTERS:
    G- Antoin Clifton (6-4, Soph.) 11.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.5 apg, 44.0 FG%
    G- Trent Elliott (6-5, Sr.) 17.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.7 apg, 41.6 FG%
    G- Eddie Miles (6-3, Sr.) 12.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 4.9 apg, 45.8 FG%
    G- Trequan Spivey (6-1, Fr.) 7.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.1 apg, 42.1 FG%
    F- Durante Lee (6-6, Soph.) 12.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 0.8 apg, 64.8 FG%

INSIDE THE SERIES
IU Kokomo leads the all-time series 2-0, although the two sides haven't played since 1972. IUPUI's first-ever men's basketball contest came against IUK on Jan. 22, 1972 in a game that the Metros lost, 91-82. The two sides played a second time that season in a game that IUK won, 87-56. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will open Horizon League play on Thursday, Dec. 28 at reigning league champion Northern Kentucky at 7:30 p.m. in Highland Heights, Ky.

GAME NOTES (click here for PDF of the full games notes)
SERIES BREAKDOWN
    IUPUI is 0-2 all-time against IU Kokomo with both meetings occurring in the program's initial season of play. IUPUI lost to IU Kokomo in the program's first-ever contest, 91-82 on Jan. 22, 1972. The two teams met later that same season with IUK winning 87-56.  
    
NEW FIVES
    IUPUI head coach Jason Gardner has continued to tweak the Jaguars' starting five, having used six different quintets in the season's first 10 games. Senior Aaron Brennan is the lone Jag to have started all 10 games and Ron Patterson and Evan Hall have each started nine times. Eight different players have at least one start this season. 

HOT BENCH
    As a result of the shuffling lineups, the IUPUI bench has been especially strong, averaging nearly 25 points per game, including a season-high 42 at Purdue. In that game, IUPUI had three players in double-digits off the bench in Maurice Kirby (16 pts), Jaylen Minnett (12) & T.J. Henderson (10). 
    Since coming off the bench the last five games, Henderson is averaging 11.6 points per game. 

CAREER NIGHTS
    The past three games, a different IUPUI player has hit for a new career-high, beginning with Maurice Kirby's 16 (8-12 FG) at Purdue. Ron Patterson hit for 19 (5-13 3's) at Washington State and T.J. Henderson tallied 18 off the IUPUI bench at Gonzaga. 

NEW NIGHT, NEW SCORER
    It's seemingly been a new leading scorer every night for the Jaguars this season as five different players have been the team's top scorer and nobody has scored in double-digits in every game. Junior T.J. Henderson has a team-high eight double-digit scoring games while Ron Patterson is next in line with five. The team's top scorer, Aaron Brennan, has four double-digit scoring games. 

THE LAST SIX...
    IUPUI's last six foes have all shot at least 53 percent from the floor, all resulting in Jaguars' losses. For the year, IUPUI opponents are shooting 51.2 percent from the floor and 40.5 percent from three-point range.  

DEFENDING THE TREY
    The Jaguars have struggled to defend the three-point line in the season's early going, yielding 40.5 percent through 10 games. Below are some instances of the Jaguars' woes, both individually and collectively:
    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)
    vs. SIUE (68.8%)
    IUPUI is 0-7 this season when hitting fewer threes than opponents this year and 2-1 when making the same number or more treys than foes. 

TOUGH THREE
    IUPUI recently capped arguably the toughest three-game stretch in program history with road games at No. 21 Purdue (L, 61-86), at Washington State (L, 59-72) and at No. 12 Gonzaga (L, 71-101). The losses at Purdue and Gonzaga dropped IUPUI to 0-17 all-time against nationally ranked foes.    

MAKE SHOTS, WIN GAMES
    The most telling number of outcomes of games under head coach Jason Gardner has simply been field goal percentages. 
    IUPUI is 36-8 (.818) in games in which the Jaguars have shot a better percentage than opponents and just 3-58 (.049) when being outshot. 

FIVE KEY NUMBERS
    Below are five key numbers from the Jaguars' loss at Gonzaga.
    25-6: IUPUI was down 11 with under eight minutes to play, but yielded a 25-6 run down the stretch to set the final margin  
    40: Points scored by the Jaguars' bench, keyed by a career-high 18 from T.J. Henderson 
    1-11: Second half shooting from three-point range after hitting four first half treys
    68%: Shooting percentage from Gonzaga, marking the highest by an IUPUI foe this season
    50: Roughly the number of spots IUPUI climbed in the RPI, based on playing the nation's No. 12 team on the road