INDIANAPOLIS - In the final game of the regular season, the Jaguars were unable to send their seniors out with a win on their Senior Night. IUPUI (13-17, 7-9) fell to South Dakota, 92-85, and finished conference play with a 7-9 record. The win for South Dakota (21-10, 12-4) finalized their conference record at 12-4, and gives them sole possession of the regular season title.

After a Matt O'Leary layup opened the scoring for the game, the Jags sputtered on offense. The Coyotes jumped out to an early 14-5 lead before the Jags found their rhythm. Fueled by strong interior play by Evan Hall and O'Leary, the Jags bounced back with a 14-2 run to take a 19-16 lead just over halfway through the first.

In similar fashion to the Jaguars, South Dakota answered with a run of their own late in the first half. The Coyotes took advantage of multiple trips to the free throw line, and were poised to take a 39-30 lead into the locker room. Just before the break, junior #Ron Patterson# came away with a steal, and converted a fastbreak layup plus the foul to cut the deficit to 39-33 at halftime.

"I thought there was times offensively that we played well, and defensively played well, but I definitely think we came out a bit slow to start," Head Coach Jason Gardner said after the game.

As the Jags returned to the court after the break, so did their offensive rhythm. Aaron Brennan added a pair of quick buckets and Darell Combs and Patterson each knocked in a trifecta to tie the game at 45. The two teams proceeded to trade baskets until a 9-0 run by South Dakota had the Jaguars facing a 60-53 deficit at the under-12 media timeout.

"We came came back and battled. But I think we didn't play a full game, and we were up and down all night," Gardner said, "We needed to be more consistent on both ends tonight."

The Jags were able to tread water until the nine-minute mark, keeping the margin to within seven before making yet another run. An 8-2 run for the Jags got them to within one, but as they did all night, the Coyotes had an answer. Following the Jags' run, South Dakota ripped off a 10-0 run of their own to stretch their lead to 76-65 with just under five minutes to play.

"I thought South Dakota did a great job executing their stuff. They played hard the whole game, and they really did a great job on the glass." Gardner said.

The Jaguars continued to battle, and were able to get within three points as a pair of free throws by T.J. Henderson cut the margin to 80-77 with under two minutes to go. However, that's as close as the Jags could get as South Dakota proceeded to ice the game at the free throw line. The most damaging play was a Carlton Hurst offensive rebound after the Jaguars forced Matt Mooney into a tough jumper as the shot clock was winding down with 1:08 to play. 

The Jags spent the final two minutes sending the Coyotes to the free throw line in hopes of extending the game, but South Dakota was able to convert enough at the line to maintain their lead.

"If we could have gotten that win tonight, we would have split with everyone in the league. It shows that we can play with anybody on any night," Gardner said.

The Jaguars were led in scoring by Combs and O'Leary on Senior Night. Combs had a team-high 19 points, including becoming the 23rd player in school history to amass 1,000 career points in the process. O'Leary added 18 and moved past 1,000 in his collegiate career, split between IUPUI and Loyola. Brennan delivered a strong performance on the inside with 14 and Patterson and Hall both reached double-figures off the bench with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

South Dakota was led in scoring by Matt Mooney, who had a game-high 27 points for the Coyotes. Triston Simpson had 14, all from the foul line, and Tyler Flack had 11. Tyler Hagedorn rounded out the Coyotes in double figures with 10.

"The mindset now is to rest up. It's a new season, so now it's a game-by-game basis. We need to come out like it's our last game of the season, and we need to bring it from the start," Gardner said.

The Jags will have a week off before traveling to Sioux Falls for the Summit League Tournament, which starts on March 4.