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INDIANAPOLIS - After a road-trip that took the IUPUI men's basketball team out to Washington, the Jaguars returned home to snap their six-game losing streak. The Jaguars played their first game in the Jungle since 2014, and defeated IU Kokomo, 87-76.

Junior T.J. Henderson led the way with a career-high 19 points and senior Ron Patterson tossed in 16. 
 
The Jaguars (3-8) suffered from another slow start out of the gate. Nick Rogers started the scoring with a fastbreak layup in the opening minute, but the Jaguars relinquished the lead and trailed at both of the first two media timeouts. After a Ron Patterson three gave the Jaguars a lead that was held throughout most of the first half, IU Kokomo got a jumper from Akil McClain in the closing minute to take a 36-35 lead into the locker room.
 
The Jaguars had a balanced scoring attack in the first half as all nine players scored at least two points. They hit 15-of-33 (45.5%) in the opening half, including 3-of-8 from behind the arc. The transition game was a big part of the Jaguars offense as they outscored the Cougars 9-4 on fastbreaks. Senior D.J. McCall was a key to starting the breaks with three steals in the half.
 
"We just didn't come ready to play. It was an early game for us and we've never been in this situation before and we let them come out and smack us in the mouth," Henderson said after the game.
 
However, the Jaguars struggled on the glass, which allowed IU Kokomo to lead at the break. The Cougars outrebounded the Jaguars 26-16 in the first half, and pulled down 10 of their rebounds on the offensive end.
 
"Early on I didn't think we came out focused," head coach Jason Gardner said, "IU Kokomo did a great job coming out with energy and attacking. They were hitting us really hard on the glass, and we needed to be more aggressive in the second half."
 
The defensive struggles continued as IU Kokomo came out firing from the locker room. The Cougars connected three times from behind the arc to open the half with a 51-42 lead. Back-to-back threes by Jaylen Minnett cut the Cougar lead to 51-48 at the under-16 timeout. After forcing turnovers on consecutive possessions, a fastbreak layup by Henderson gave the Jaguars a 52-51 lead.
 
"We were talking in the locker room and I got everybody together, and we discussed what we had to do in the second half," junior Evan Hall said. "We couldn't come out flat because winter break was coming up."
 
"We picked it up defensively after the first media timeout in the second half," Henderson said. "We went on a run and we wanted to be aggressive."
 
With the help of Henderson attacking the rim, the Jaguars stretched the lead out to 63-57 at the under-8 minute timeout. IUPUI was able to fend off any spurts by the Cougars, and kept the lead to at least six points for the remainder of the game. They stretched the lead out to double-digits in the final five minutes, and came away with the 87-76 victory.
 
Henderson, coming off a career-high 18 points at Gonzaga, scored 17 of his 19 in the second half. In addition to leading IUPUI in scoring, Henderson pulled down a team-high and career-high eight rebounds. He was joined in double-digits by Patterson and Evan Hall (13 points). Minnett and Aaron Brennan each had eight points and Maurice Kirby added seven points and seven rebounds off the bench.
 
"He does a really good job because he can score the ball and handle the ball," Gardner said of Henderson's performance, "for him to spark us with his energy and defense, it's great for us to have."
 
The Jaguars hit 19-of-35 shots in the second half, and won the rebounding battle as well. For the game, IUPUI outrebounded the Cougars 43-40, and had a staggering 54-28 margin with points in the paint.
 
"We wanted to take advantage of our size, and I think that was the main advantage for the game. Our guards did a good job passing the ball and our bigs did a good job of sealing and taking their time finishing."
 
IU Kokomo was led in scoring by Trequan Spivey who had 16 points. Trent Elliott had 14 points, while Durante Lee and Eddie Miles rounded out the Cougars in double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
 
Today's game was the last game before Christmas Break for the Jaguars. Gardner is sending the players home before practicing on Christmas night and twice on the 26th. 
 
"It's good to get away and decompress. We'll come back and start fresh, and it's a good time and it's going to be exciting. We're playing some new teams, and we don't know them and they don't know us."

IUPUI will now shift the focus to Horizon League play, beginning at Northern Kentucky on Thursday, Jan. 28 in Highland Heights. That game will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. and be broadcast on ESPN3 or IUPUIJags.com as Morgan Adcock (pxp) is on the call.