WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The IUPUI basketball team will tip-off a grueling three-game stretch on Sunday night (Dec. 10) when the Jaguars take on No. 21/21 Purdue (9-2) inside Mackey Arena at 7:00 p.m.. The game will be broadcast on BTN and will mark the third meeting all-time between the two programs. 

The Jaguars (2-5) come in on a three-game slide, including having dropped an 82-81 heartbreaker inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum to SIUE on Wednesday night. Senior Aaron Brennan matched his career-high with 25 points and Evan Hall added 12 points in the loss. SIUE's Jaylen McCoy put the guests up for good with a trey with 2:12 to go as the Jags missed a couple of late opportunities to retake the lead. 

SIUE opened the game 10-of-11 from three-point range and closed at 11-of-16 (68.8 percent) from deep. On the flip side, IUPUI shot a season-low 26.1 percent from beyond the arc, making just 6-of-23 attempts. T.J. Henderson added 10 off the Jaguars' bench and D.J. McCall finished with eight points, nine boards and a career-high four steals in 30 minutes before fouling out. Ron Patterson also closed with eight points. 

Brennan is averaging a team-high 14.9 points per game while Patterson is contributing 11.6 points per game and has hit a team-high 15 treys. Henderson is checking in at 9.9 points per game and has scored in double-digits in six of the team's seven games. The Indianapolis-native also leads the Jaguars in assists (22) and free throws made (27). McCall leads the squad in rebounding (5.7 rpg), including having grabbed 21 offensive boards in six games. 

The Jags will open up a stretch of three straight road games against a trio of national powers, beginning with Sunday's regionally televised game with Purdue. After that, IUPUI will face Washington State (Dec. 16) and 2017 national runner-up Gonzaga (Dec. 18) before returning home to host IU Kokomo in the Jungle on Dec. 22. 

IUPUI comes in 0-15 all-time against nationally ranked foes with head coach Jason Gardner having lost two of those outcomes. He dropped the 2015 game at Purdue and a game at No. 9 Butler that same season. 

SCOUTING PURDUE
Purdue is ranked No. 21 in both the coaches and AP polls to start the year and is 9-2 overall and 6-0 at home thus far. The Boilers only losses came in back-to-back days at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas to Tennessee and Western Kentucky before rebounding to beat Arizona in the seventh-place game. Purdue also has early season wins over Marquette, Louisville, Maryland and Northwestern.   
    Purdue shoots better than 49 percent from the floor while holding foes under 38 percent overall and 31.3 percent from deep.   
    PROBABLE STARTERS:
    G- Carsen Edwards (6-1, Soph.) - 16.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.5 apg, 46.0 FG% 
    G- P.J. Thompson (5-10, Sr.) - 9.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.6 apg, 49.2 FG%
    G- Dakota Mathias (6-4, Sr.) - 14.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.7 apg, 54.5 FG%
    F- Vincent Edwards (6-8, Sr.) - 13.6 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.6 apg, 43.7 FG%
    C- Isaac Haas (7-2, Sr.) - 15.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 0.7 apg, 60.7 FG%

INSIDE THE SERIES
IUPUI is 0-2 all-time against Purdue, dropping games to the Boilermakers in 2014 (57-77) and in 205 (53-80), both at Mackey. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will trek west for a two-game trip, beginning at Washington State on Saturday, Dec. 16 in Pullman, Wash.. The game will be broadcast on the PAC-12 Network. 

GAME NOTES (click here for PDF of the full games notes)
SERIES BREAKDOWN
    IUPUI is 0-2 all-time against Purdue, having lost 77-57 at Mackey in 2014 and having lost 80-53 at Mackey in 2015. Purdue was ranked No. 11 nationally when the Boilers defeated the Jags in 2015. 
    
NEW FIVE
    IUPUI head coach Jason Gardner has continued to tweak the Jaguars' starting five, having used five different quintets in the season's first seven games. At Ball State, Gardner swapped his backcourt, giving a first career start to Nick Rogers alongside Jaylen Minnett while T.J. Henderson and Ron Patterson came off the bench. He reinserted Patterson for Minnett for Wednesday's game against SIUE. Senior Aaron Brennan is the lone Jag to have started all seven games. 

BRENNAN BOUNCES BACK
    After a three-game shooting slump in which he hit just 11-of-34 (32.4 percent), senior Aaron Brennan responded by matching his career-high with 25 points (8-16 FG, 3-5 3's, 6-8 FT) against SIUE on Wednesday night. Brennan has a pair of 25-point efforts this season, also hitting that total at Eastern Illinois on Nov. 17. 

TOUGH THREE
    IUPUI will begin on arguably the toughest three-game stretch in program history, beginning tonight. The Jags next three contests are at No. 21/21 Purdue (Dec. 10), at RV/RV Washington State (Dec. 6) and at last year's national runner-up, No. 12/13 Gonzaga (Dec. 18). As of tonight's game, the group has a combined record of 22-6.  

DEFENDING THE TREY
    In the Jags' five losses this season, IUPUI has struggled to defend the three-point line. In those three losses, opponents are shooting a combined 51 percent from three-point range, hitting 52-of-102 attempts. In 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)
    at Ball St. (35.7%)
    vs. SIUE (68.8%)

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 3-55 (.052) when being outshot. 

FIVE KEY NUMBERS
    Below are five key numbers from the Jaguars' loss to SIUE.
    10-of-11: SIUE made 10 of its first 11 three-point attempts and finished the game 11-of-16 (68.8 percent) from deep. 
    15-of-26: The free throw line betrayed the Jags in the loss as IUPUI made just 15-of-26 (57.7 percent), including hitting 8-of-15 in the second half.
    25-5-4-3-2: Points, rebounds, assists, blocked shots and steals for Aaron Brennan against SIUE on Wednesday night
    38: Points in the paint for the Jags in the loss, outscoring SIUE 38-22 inside
    0-of-9: Combined three-point shooting from Jaylen Minnett and T.J. Henderson off the Jaguars' bench, which included Minnett misfiring on a potential go-ahead three in the closing seconds
    
0-FOR-RANKED
    IUPUI has never defeated a ranked opponent, going 0-15 versus the ranked in the program's Division I era. Below is a listing of those 15 results, 10 of which were true road games.
    The Jaguars' average margin of defeat is 20.3 points per game in the 15 total losses:
    12/13/99 at #2 Arizona L, 41-70
    12/15/01 vs. #20 Ball State L, 81-103
    3/21/03 vs. #2 Kentucky L, 64-95 // NCAA - Nashville, TN
    12/13/03 at #25 Dayton L, 59-61
    12/18/04 at #18 Louisville L, 60-80
    11/10/07 at #11 Marquette L, 68-78
    12/14/08 vs. #20 Arizona St. L, 58-59 (ot) Phoenix, Ariz.
    11/14/10 at #12 Gonzaga L, 56-86
    11/21/10 vs. #25 San Diego State L, 46-61 Oxford, Ohio
    12/9/10 at #2 Ohio State L, 64-75
    12/22/10 vs. #7 San Diego State L, 54-56 Las Vegas, Nev.
    12/7/11 at #5 Louisville L, 60-90
    11/12/12 at #5 Michigan L, 54-91
    12/7/15 at #11 Purdue L, 53-80
    12/28/15 at #9 Butler L, 54-92
 
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 LOCK UP RAVENS
    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) 

REBOUNDING BY COMMITTEE
    IUPUI's top five rebounders average better than four boards per game, topped by D.J. McCall's 5.7 caroms per game. McCall does the bulk of his work off the offensive glass, grabbing 3.0 boards per game at the offensive end. 

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 7-15 points per game.     

FULL STRENGTH
    The Nov. 21 Morehead State game was the first time all season the Jags were at full strength. Evan Hall, D.J. McCall and Nick Rogers all missed time in the season's first three games.