SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The IUPUI basketball team will make its first appearance in The Summit League Tournament semifinals since 2011 on Monday night (Mar. 6) after springing the upset over No. 2 North Dakota State on Saturday night. The Jaguars will take on No. 3 Omaha (17-13) at 8:30 p.m. Central (9:30 Eastern) inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. Omaha outlasted Fort Wayne 84-80 on Sunday night to advance to the semis.
The Jaguars bounced North Dakota State, 76-57, thanks to an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double from
Aaron Brennan. Brennan's first career double-double helped the Jags outrebound the Bison 37-30 and shoot a solid 50 percent from the field while limiting NDSU to just 37.3 percent.
"When we play good defense, it really translates to our offense," Brennan said. "We got stops and that led to some easy buckets and that got our confidence going."
Brennan and the Jaguars dominated the second half, using a 19-4 run to turn a one-point lead into a 16-point laugher. From there, Brennan scored eight points in succession to fend off the Bison. Senior
Darell Combs tallied 11 points in his Summit Tourney debut and both
Evan Hall and
Matt O'Leary added 10 apiece.
"I thought we came out with energy from the beginning. I thought we were flying around for most of the game. I thought we did a good job of getting deflections and I thought we did an unbelievable job on the glass," Head Coach
Jason Gardner said. "From start to finish, I thought we did a very good job."
IUPUI split the regular season series with the Mavs with each team earning a win on the opponent's home floor. Sophomore
Evan Hall had 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead five Jags in double-digits in the first meeting, but Zach Jackson paced a balanced UNO attack in a 79-71 win in Indianapolis on Jan. 11. On Feb. 8,
Kellon Thomas erupted for 25 points, including a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line, to lead the Jags to an 89-78 win in Omaha. Combs added 18 in the win and O'Leary connected for 17 points in that contest.
The Jaguars are 3-7 all-time against Omaha and Gardner is 3-3 in his six matchups with the Mavs.
TOURNEY TIDBITS
AB ON DUBS
Junior
Aaron Brennan picked an opportune time to notch his first career double-double, finishing with 18 points and a career-high 11 rebounds against North Dakota State on Saturday night.
Brennan came in averaging just 3.2 rebounds per game, but grabbed 11 defensive caroms, helping IUPUI outrebound the Bison 37-30. IUPUI had been outrebounded in the previous five games by an average of 5.4 rebounds per contest before cleaning up on Saturday.
Brennan's 18 points also matched his career-high as he hit 6-of-12 field goals and 4-of-5 foul shots. He set the tone early, hitting back-to-back threes to give the Jaguars a quick 13-7 lead in the opening five minutes.
Brennan's 11 defensive boards tied for the most by an IUPUI player in The Summit League Tournament, matching the 11 grabbed by
Matt O'Leary against NDSU last season.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE NOTES
Brennan's double-double was just the fifth by an IUPUI player this year as both
Evan Hall and
Matt O'Leary had two each.
STREAKS SNAPPED
Saturday's win snapped the Jaguars' six-game Summit League Tournament losing streak, which dated back to the semifinals round of the 2010 event.
IUPUI had since lost five consecutive quarterfinals matchups before Saturday's victory.
MARGINS
IUPUI's 19-point winning margin (76-57) exceeded their winning margin in any of their seven Summit League regular season wins. The Jags defeated Western Illinois 89-71 to open league play, but then had just two other double-digit wins in league play.
BOMBS AWAY
IUPUI'S 25 three-point attempts on Saturday were the most-ever by an IUPUI squad in a Summit League Tournament game. The Jags connected on 9-of-25 attempts with six different Jags putting in at least one make.
COMBS DEBUTS
After missing last year's Summit League Tournament loss to North Dakota State, senior
Darell Combs had a solid debut in this year's tournament, finishing with 11 points, three assists and two steals in 31 minutes of work. Combs fired the final dagger at the Bison, sinking a corner three with under two minutes to play to finally bury NDSU.
Combs missed last year's quarterfinals round game due to a violation of team rules.
7UP
It's been a rarity that No. 7 seeds have advanced in The Summit League Tournament. In fact, IUPUI's win was the first by a No. 7 seed since 2009 when South Dakota State tipped No. 2 Oral Roberts in overtime.
Prior to that, No. 7 seeds had won in 2005 and 1993.
No. 7 Oakland WON the 2005 event in Tulsa and was the third time a No. 7 seeded team advanced to the league championship game.
No. 7 Cleveland State lost the inaugural tournament to No. 5 Western Illinois in 1984 and No. 7 UIC fell to No. 1 Missouri State in the 1989 tournament.
SIOUX BLUES
Sioux Falls is the lone Summit League Tournament site that IUPUI has an all-time losing record, going 4-8 in South Dakota's largest city. IUPUI went 3-2 in Fort Wayne, 5-1 in Kansas City (including a championship) and 5-4 in Tulsa.
The win was IUPUI's first inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center as the first three wins in Sioux Falls came at Sioux Falls Arena.
STACKING QUARTERS
IUPUI improved to 11-6 all-time in The Summit League quarterfinals with Saturday's win. The Jags won their first round game eight straight times from 2001-08 and 10 of 11 times from 2001-11.
SEEKING A FIRST
Regardless of who IUPUI plays in the semis, the Jaguars will be seeking a first-ever postseason win against their foe.
IUPUI is 0-1 all-time against Fort Wayne, having lost to the Mastodons in the 2014 tournament. A meeting with Omaha would be the first-ever postseason game between the two schools.
PINE GUYS
Including a 23-13 margin on Saturday, IUPUI's bench has now outscored the opposition's subs in four of the past five games.
Ron Patterson,
Evan Hall and
T.J. Henderson continued to shoulder the bench scoring load, combining on all 23 of the Jaguars' bench points on Saturday. Hall led the charge with 10 points (4-5 FG, 2-2 FT) while Henderson had eight points, four rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes at the point. Patterson added five points, two steals and a team-high four assists in 22 minutes.
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 - 1,291 collegiate pts (271 @ EMU / 1,020 @ IUPUI)
Combs is the 23rd member of IUPUI's 1,000 Point Club and since moved to 22nd on the program's all-time scoring list
Kellon Thomas - 1,034 collegiate pts (738 @ Kent St. / 296 @ IUPUI)
Matt O'Leary - 1,011 collegiate pts (245 @ Loyola / 766 @ 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.
BUILDING UP
For the third straight year since taking over, Head Coach Jason Gardner has increased his single-season win total. After taking over a program that had won 12 games in the two years combined prior, Gardner won 10 games in his first year and upped that to 13 last season. With Saturday's victory, he and the Jags have 14 this season.
LOOK NO FURTHER
The one statistical category that is the easiest tell for IUPUI outcomes is shooting percentage. IUPUI is 13-2 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 34-7 when outshooting its opponent and just 3-50 when being outshot.
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 5-3 since then. Junior Aaron Brennan replaced the injured Evan Hall and has averaged 11 points in his seven 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 282 treys are a new school record, eclipsing the mark of 246, set in 2007-08.
The Jaguars' current 39.3% 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 (26 3's, 46.4%), Matt O'Leary (67 3's, 45.6%), T.J. Henderson (30 3's, 42.3%) and Ron Patterson (62 3's, 41.1%).
50-50-50 CLUB
The trio of Darell Combs (60), Matt O'Leary (67) and Ron Patterson (62) 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 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 hit for 20-or-more in a Summit League game. Two others were close as Ron Patterson had a 19-point game and Aaron Brennan had 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 (16.6 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 52 times in 62 career games and 26 of 31 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 and is currently 22nd on the program's all-time scoring list.
-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 26 of 31 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 1,011 collegiate points - 245 in his two years at Loyola and 766 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 62 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 averaged 11.6 points per game in Summit League play and had 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 1,034 points in his collegiate career - 738 at Kent State and 296 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 62-of-151 (41.1 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 42 steals and is second on the squad with 62 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.
MAJOR CONFERENCE FOES
IUPUI finished this season 0-4 against major conference foes with losses coming at Michigan, Marquette, Illinois and Northwestern. The Jags dropped those four games by an average margin of 16.8 points per game - the slimmest margin being an eight-point loss at Illinois.
CENTURY MARKS
Just before Christmas, the IUPUI offense exploded, scoring 100-or-more points in back-to-back games for the first time since January 1995. The 100 points games in the wins over Urbana and Southern Utah are the first 100-point games since Gardner took over three seasons ago and was the first 100-point game since scoring 112 against Judson on Jan. 2, 2014.
During that span, IUPUI hit 75-of-121 (62 percent) from the floor and 30-of-57 (52.6 percent) from beyond the arc. In addition, the Jags had 49 assists on 75 buckets.
SHOOTING 50
IUPUI is 17-1 (.944) when shooting 50 percent or better under Gardner and 34-7 (.829) when outshooting foes.
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