SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The IUPUI basketball team will open Summit League Tournament play on Saturday night (Mar. 4) when the Jaguars take on No. 2 seeded North Dakota State (19-10) at 8:30 p.m. Central inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.. The Jaguars will look to break a five-year winless streak in conference tournament play after splitting the regular season series with the Bison. The game will be broadcast on MidcoSN and ESPN3 and can be heard on 97.5 Fox Sports FM, 1260 WNDE and the iHeartRadio app as Morgan Adcock (pxp) is on the call. The winner will advance to Monday's second semifinal to play the winner of No. 3 Omaha and No. 6 Fort Wayne. 

"It's a new season once the regular season ends," IUPUI Head Coach Jason Gardner said. "Now it's one-and-done. I don't think our upperclassmen are ready for this thing to be over yet. 

"We split (the series) with almost everyone in the league this year, so we've shown that we can play with just about anybody. Now it's a matter of going out and doing it and putting it together for an extended period of time. I like where we're at and I like the direction we're headed."

IUPUI (13-17) dropped a 93-89 decision to NDSU in Fargo on Jan. 5 before rebounding to beat the Bison in Indianapolis, 86-81 in overtime on Feb. 1. Senior Kellon Thomas led the Jaguars with a season-high 21 points in the first meeting and Matt O'Leary chimed in with 16 in the loss. O'Leary led five Jags in double-digits in the Feb. 1 victory with 24 points and nine boards while Aaron Brennan tallied 18 points and eight boards. 

O'Leary and fellow senior Darell Combs recently collected honorable mention All-Summit League accolades at the close of the regular season. Combs ranks eighth in the league in scoring (16.8 ppg) and tenth in assists (2.9 apg) while O'Leary ranked among the league's leaders in eight different categories. The 6-foot-8 O'Leary leads the Jaguars in rebounds (6.2 rpg), threes made (65) and ranks second on the squad in scoring (14.2 ppg), blocked shots (14) and steals (40). 

North Dakota State led The Summit League standings for the bulk of the season, but squandered a chance to win a share of the regular season title by dropping the regular season finale at Omaha, 96-92. NDSU is paced by All-Summit League performers Paul Miller (16.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 70 3's) and Dexter Werner (12.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 61.4 FG%). Head Coach David Richman's team was 11-2 at home this year and 8-8 in games outside of Fargo. Sophomore Khy Kabellis (11.3 ppg) and junior A.J. Jacobson (10.9 ppg) round out the Bison's double-digit scorers. 

IUPUI is 9-12 all-time against North Dakota State while Gardner is 2-5 in the seven meetings. NDSU bounced the Jaguars from the postseason a year ago, 60-45 in the #4/5 quarterfinals matchup. 

JAGUAR TIDBITS
POSTSEASON AWARDS
    -Darell Combs
    Honorable Mention All-Summit League (coaches & media)
    -Matt O'Leary
    CoSIDA Academic All-America (3rd team) / 1st in IUPUI history
    Honorable Mention All-Summit League (coaches & media)

1,000 X 3
    Three Jags recently surpassed the 1,000 point mark for their collegiate careers, including Darell Combs, who became the 23rd member of IUPUI's 1,000 Point Club.  
    Darell Combs - 1,280 collegiate pts (271 @ EMU / 1,009 @ IUPUI)
    Combs is the 23rd member of IUPUI's 1,000 Point Club
    Kellon Thomas - 1,026 collegiate pts (738 @ Kent St. / 288 @ IUPUI)
    Matt O'Leary - 1,001 collegiate pts (245 @ Loyola / 756 @ IUPUI)

DO THE SPLITS
    IUPUI closed the Summit League schedule having split the regular season series with seven of eight foes. The only team to sweep the Jaguars this season was league champion South Dakota. 

LOOK NO FURTHER    
    The one statistical category that is the easiest tell for IUPUI outcomes is 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 1-15 and 1-9 in Summit League play when being outshot from the field.
    Under Gardner, IUPUI is 33-7 when outshooting its opponent and just 3-50 when being outshot.  

ONLY ONE CURRENT JAGUAR...
    ...has scored in double-digits in a Summit League Tournament game. The answer may surprise though - sophomore T.J. Henderson tallied 11 points in last season's loss to North Dakota State and is the sole Jag to have hit for 10-or-more in a league tournament contest.  

MARCH SADNESS
    IUPUI hasn't won a game in March since Mar. 6, 2011 when the Jaguars tipped UMKC 79-55 in Summit League Tournament play. Since then, IUPUI has lost six straight Summit League Tournament games, including five consecutive losses in the league quarterfinals. 

0-1's
    IUPUI is 0-1 all-time against NDSU in league tournament play, having lost to the Bison in the #4/5 game last season, 60-45. The Jags are also 0-1 all-time as the No. 7 seed, having lost to No. 2 South Dakota State in 2012, 77-56. 

NEW FIVE
    Out of necessity, Head Coach Jason Gardner altered his starting five prior to the Feb. 1 North Dakota State game and has gone 4-3 since then. Junior Aaron Brennan replaced the injured Evan Hall and has averaged 9.8 points in his six starts.
    Seniors Darell Combs, Matt O'Leary and Kellon Thomas are the lone Jags to have started every game this season as Gardner has utilized just three different starting units all season. 

TOP-30 NATIONALLY
    IUPUI is 23rd nationally in three-point percentage (39.5%) and 38th in threes made (9.1/game). The Jaguars 273 treys are a new school record, eclipsing the mark of 246, set in 2007-08.
    The Jaguars' current 39.5% 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 (24 3's, 48%), Matt O'Leary (65 3's, 46.1%), T.J. Henderson (29 3's, 42%) and Ron Patterson (61 3's, 41.2%).

50-50-50 CLUB
    The trio of  Darell Combs (58), Matt O'Leary (65) and Ron Patterson (61) 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 ON THE LINE
    Senior Kellon Thomas capped the regular season ranked 11th in the country and tops in the Summit in free throw shooting at 90.4%.
    He had a streak of 33 consecutive makes snapped at South Dakota earlier this season.  
    The Indianapolis-native enters tonight chasing the school record mark of 91.4%, 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 horn vs. Ball State (71-69 / Nov. 22, 2014)
    Marcellus Barksdale layup at 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)

IN 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 17-6 (.739) at home the past two seasons and 22-14 (.611) 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 occurred in league play. 

HOT AT HOME
    IUPUI shot 43.1% from three-point range at home this season and averaged 9.9 makes per game. 

COMBS NOTES (@KidDRell1)
    -Senior Darell Combs leads the Jags in scoring (16.8 ppg) and was voted honorable mention All-Summit this season. He was a 2nd Team selection last season.
    -The Chicago-native has scored in double-digits 51 times in 61 career games and 25 of 30 this season. He's hit for 20-or-more nine times this season and 18 times in his career.
    -He became the 23rd member of IUPUI's 1,000 Point Club on Feb. 25 against South Dakota.
    -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 1,280 career points (1,009 at IUPUI) entering tonight's game.
    -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 25 of 30 games this season.
    -Owning a 3.81 GPA, O'Leary became the program's first-ever CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2017, collecting third team plaudits.
    -Tallied his 1,000th collegiate point on Feb. 25 against South Dakota. He has 1,001 collegiate points - 245 in his two years at Loyola and 756 at IUPUI.
    -O'Leary ranks among The Summit League leaders in eight different categories: 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 61 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.  

K. THOMAS NOTES (@KellonCash5)
    -Thomas is averaging 11.6 points per game in Summit League play and has 39 assists against just 18 turnovers.
    -After scoring in double-digits just four times in non-conference play, he hit for dubs in 10 Summit League games.
    -Has 1,026 points in his collegiate career - 738 at Kent State and 288 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 61-of-148 (41.2 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 40 steals and is second on the squad with 61 threes made.
    -His stat line in a 15-point effort at Marquette earlier this season was three 3's and three dunks.

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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