INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will open the final week of regular season play on Thursday night (Feb. 23) when the Jaguars host Fort Wayne at 7:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app 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 joined on the broadcast by Jake Query (analyst) and Derek Schultz (analyst).
Tickets are available at
TicketMaster outlets or at the Coliseum box office.
The game will be presented by Indiana Members Credit Union and will feature giveaways throughout the evening. In addition, the first 300 students in attendance will receive a FREE IUPUI Metros t-shirt, thanks to the IUPUI Undergraduate Student Government.
Between the lines, IUPUI (12-16, 6-8 Summit) used a big second half to roll past Denver on Sunday, 83-72 inside DU's Magness Arena. Senior
Darell Combs paced five Jaguars in double-digits with 18 points and both
Matt O'Leary and
Kellon Thomas added 12 apiece. The Jags trailed 35-31 at the break, but shot 57.1 percent from the floor after halftime and outscored the Pioneers 52-37 in the final 20 minutes. DU's Daniel Amigo led all players with 24 points and seven boards.
"A big key for us was just getting momentum and seeking good, quality shots in the second half," Head Coach
Jason Gardner said. "We came out with a lot of fight in the second half, especially at the defensive end. Then we did a good job of turning those (defensive) stops into points."
The win sealed a spot for the Jaguars in the upcoming Summit League Tournament and eliminated Oral Roberts from postseason contention.
Fort Wayne (18-10, 7-7 Summit) is among a packed crowd in the middle of the standings and is led by Indianapolis-native Mo Evans (17.7 ppg, 6.1 apg) and Purdue-transfer Bryson Scott (16.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg). Sophomore swingman John Konchar (14.8 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 3.8 apg) also ranks among the league's top players as the Mastodons come in averaging 87.9 points per game and shooting 40.8 percent from three-point range.
Fort Wayne dominated IUPUI in the previous matchup, 103-73 in Fort Wayne on Jan. 25.
Thursday's game will be the annual Favorite Professor Night as selected IUPUI faculty and staff members will be recognized on the court at halftime and 12 IUPUI ROTC cadets will take part in a commitment ceremony at halftime of the game.
JAGUAR TIDBITS
CHASING 1,000
Three Jags are chasing the 1,000-point mark as the season winds down.
Darell Combs - 1,241 collegiate pts (271 @ EMU / 970 @ IUPUI)
Combs would become the 23rd member of IUPUI's 1,000 Point Club
Kellon Thomas - 1,007 collegiate pts (738 @ Kent St. / 269 @ IUPUI)
Matt O'Leary - 969 collegiate pts (254 @ Loyola / 715 @ IUPUI)
TICKET PUNCHED
The Jaguars earned their spot in the upcoming Summit League Tournament by virtue of Sunday's win at Denver, topping the Pioneers 83-72. The Jags can still finish as high as No. 4 in the standings but could finish as low as No. 8 in the standings.
DO THE SPLITS
As the league schedule comes to a close, IUPUI has split the home-and-home series with six of its eight Summit League foes this year.
Should the Jags win both games this week (versus Fort Wayne and South Dakota), IUPUI will close the regular season having split with all eight Summit League opponents.
LOOK NO FURTHER
The one statistical category that is the easiest tell for IUPUI outcomes in shooting percentage. IUPUI is 12-2 this year and 6-0 in Summit League play when outshooting the opposition. On the flip side, the Jags are 0-14 and 0-8 in Summit League play when being outshot from the field.
Under Gardner, IUPUI is 33-7 when outshooting its opponent and just 2-49 when being outshot.
DENVER NOTES
Senior
Darell Combs led five Jags in double-digits with 18 points in Sunday's win at Denver... senior
Kellon Thomas surpassed 1,000 points in his collegiate career, having done the bulk of his damage at Kent State while upping his IUPUI total to 269 points... IUPUI matched its season-high with 21 free throws made on Sunday, paced by
D.J. McCall's 7-for-8 afternoon... no Jaguar played more than
Matt O'Leary's 28 minutes as Gardner made sure to spread around playing time in the altitude.
NEW FIVE
Out of necessity, Head Coach
Jason Gardner altered his starting five prior to the North Dakota State game and has gone 3-2 since then. Junior
Aaron Brennan replaced the injured
Evan Hall and has averaged 10.8 points and 4.4 rebounds in his lone four starts of the year.
TOP-30 NATIONALLY
IUPUI is 21st nationally in three-point percentage (39.6%) and 32nd in threes made (258). The Jaguars 258 treys are a new school record, eclipsing the mark of 246, set in 2007-08.
The Jaguars' current 39.6% clip is on pace to be the program's best since 2007-08 when IUPUI shot 42.3% from deep as a team.
40+
IUPUI has four regulars all hitting better than 40 percent from deep -
Aaron Brennan (23 3's, 48.9%),
Matt O'Leary (61 3's, 46.6%),
T.J. Henderson (29 3's, 42.6%) and
Ron Patterson (57 3's, 41.0%).
50-50-50 CLUB
The trio of
Darell Combs (53),
Matt O'Leary (61)
and
Ron Patterson (57)
have all made at least 50 treys this season. It marks the first time in school history IUPUI has had three players makes 50 treys in a season.
In 2007-08, IUPUI had three players make at least 40 treys that year as Gary Patterson (93), Austin Montgomery (72) and George Hill (49) all hit that mark.
THOMAS' STREAK SNAPPED
Senior
Kellon Thomas entered last Wednesday's game at South Dakota State ranked No. 2 nationally in free throw percentage at 93.5%, having hit 72-of-77 attempts, but went 1-of-3 in the loss to the Jackrabbits.
In doing so, he had his streak of 33 consecutive makes snapped.
The Indianapolis-native enters today's game at 91.7% and is on pace to top the school record mark of .914, set by Gary Patterson in 2007-08. Only two players, Patterson and Nick David, have single-season marks of 90 percent or better.
COMBS AT THE HORN
Senior
Darell Combs capped an 18-point performance against SDSU by knocking in the game-winner with 1.5 seconds left in overtime. The Chicago-native hit a pull-up 18-footer from the right wing to send the Jaguars to an 85-83 win.
Ironically, Combs had two other 'buzzer beaters' during the game, hitting a 25-footer from the right wing at the end of the first half and then hit a 30-footer from the top of the key as the shot clock was expiring with 3:25 to play.
FOUR GAME-WINNERS
Combs became the fourth Jaguar to connect for a game-winner since Gardner's hire three years ago. Here are the others:
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)
SINCE THE START OF LEAGUE PLAY...
...IUPUI has had five different players score 20 or more in a game;
Darell Combs,
Matt O'Leary,
Kellon Thomas,
D.J. McCall and
Evan Hall all have hit for 20-or-more in a Summit League game. Two others have been close as
Ron Patterson has a 19-point game and
Aaron Brennan has an 18-point game.
SUMMIT LEAGUE OPENERS
Following the win over Western Illinois, Head Coach
Jason Gardner is now 3-0 in Summit League openers. He previously won at Fort Wayne (63-58) on Jan. 4, 2014 and at South Dakota (77-66) last season.
INSIDE THE COLISEUM
IUPUI is 16-5 (.762) at home the past two seasons and 21-13 (.618) since Gardner took over the program.
10 TREYS
IUPUI has made at least 10 threes in a game 13 times this season, seven of which have occurred in Summit League play.
HOT AT HOME
IUPUI is shooting 44.3% from three-point range at home this season and averaging 10.4 makes per game.
COMBS NOTES (@KidDRell1)
-Senior
Darell Combs leads the Jags in scoring (16.6 ppg) and was voted preseason First Team All-Summit this season. Combs was a 2nd Team selection following last season.
-The Chicago-native has scored in double-digits 49 times in 59 career games and 23 of 28 this season. He's hit for 20-or-more eight times this season and 17 times in his career.
-Combs scored his 1,000th collegiate point in a 23-point effort in the win over Marian on Dec. 28. Including his 271 points scored at Eastern Michigan, Combs has 1,241 career points (970 at IUPUI) entering tonight's game. Combs needs to average 15 points over the final two regular season games to reach 1,000 in his IUPUI career.
-Combs hit his 100th career three against Denver on Jan. 21. He handed out his 100th career assist in the loss at Illinois.
-Combs capped his junior year with back-to-back 30+ scoring games, becoming the first IUPUI player to do so since
George Hill achieved the feat in 2008.
O'LEARY NOTES (@OLeary_15)
-Senior
Matt O'Leary had a streak of 19 straight games in double-digits snapped with a 9-point, 9-rebound effort against Denver on Jan. 21. He's scored in double-digits in 23 of 28 games this season.
-O'Leary entered this week ranking among The Summit League leaders in eight different categories including field goal percentage, defensive rebounding, three-point percentage, rebounding, blocked shots, assists, three-point field goals and scoring.
-After scoring just 20-or-more once last season, O'Leary has done it seven times this year, including a career-high 25 at Illinois.
-O'Leary led the Jags in scoring just three times last season, but has done so seven times this year.
-O'Leary has started all 59 games of his IUPUI career.
-Achieved a 4.0 GPA during the fall semester. He was voted Academic All-District for the second straight year this year.
-Has 969 collegiate points - 254 in his two years at Loyola and 715 at IUPUI.
K. THOMAS NOTES (@KellonCash5)
-Thomas is averaging 11.9 points per game in Summit League play and has 36 assists against just 13 turnovers.
-After scoring in double-digits just four times in non-conference play, has hit for dubs in nine Summit League games.
-Has 1,007 points in his collegiate career - 738 at Kent State and 269 this season. He scored his 1,000th collegiate point at Denver on Feb. 19.
PATTERSON NOTES (@Buss34)
-Not known as a three-point threat upon transferring from Syracuse, junior
Ron Patterson has been lethal from deep this season. The Indianapolis-native made just 15-of-71 (21.1 percent) attempts in his two years with the Orange, but is 57-of-139 (41 percent) this year.
-Patterson has hit at least three threes 11 times, including a career-high five on two different occasions.
-Patterson leads the Jaguars with 37 steals and is second on the squad with 57 threes made.
-His stat line in a 15-point effort at Marquette earlier this season was three 3's and three dunks.
LINEUP TWEAKS
IUPUI has used just three starting lineups this season with seniors
Matt O'Leary,
Darell Combs and
Kellon Thomas having started every game this year.
SMARTY CATS
The Jaguars posted an all-time best semester GPA of 3.09 during the fall. All total, 13 Jaguars posted a GPA of 3.0 or above, led by
Matt O'Leary's 4.0 mark.
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