CLEVELAND, Ohio - Amid a three-game winning streak, the IUPUI basketball team looks to keep the good times rolling on Thursday night (Jan. 18) when the Jaguars face Cleveland State (4-15, 1-5 HL) inside the Wolstein Center at 7:00 p.m.. With the Jaguars 81-66 victory over Detroit Mercy, IUPUI (7-11, 4-3 HL) climbed above .500 in league play for the first time since the end of the 2015-16 season. Senior Aaron Brennan paced the hot shooting Jaguars with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists in that victory and Ron Patterson tossed in 14 points. D.J. McCall closed with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and T.J. Henderson notched 11 points in 20 minutes off the bench.

The Jaguars shot a blistering 52 percent and hit 11-of-23 (47.8 percent) from three-point range, including nine first half treys. IUPUI built a 23-point lead in the opening stages of the second half, but had to hold on for dear life down the stretch as the Titans unleashed a 16-0 run to make it a five-point game with 4:22 left. However, IUPUI closed the game with a 14-4 run to race away with a 15-point win. Jermaine Jackson Jr. led all players with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting and 4-of-7 connections from three. 

IUPUI has tightened up defensively in Horizon League play, holding foes to just 30.6 percent from three-point range and just more than five makes per game. On the flip side, IUPUI is shooting 37.3 percent from three-point range and making 8.1 treys per contest. Patterson (13) and freshman Jaylen Minnett (13) are tied for team-high honors in makes during league play while McCall is shooting 50 percent from deep. McCall also continues to lead the league in steals, averaging 1.9 swipes per game. 

Head coach Jason Gardner's team has shown a penchant for winning close games with four of the past five games being decided by six points or less. The Jags have won three of those four outcomes. 

QUOTABLE
"Our chemistry is getting a lot better. What we're talking about in practice and in video sessions is getting a lot better. We just have to keep it up. Anytime you're winning, everybody is more excited and happy. The next days are a lot more fun, and the guys are starting to see it. When we move the ball and talk on both ends, it's a different kind of excitement," head coach Jason Gardner said after the Detroit Mercy victory.  

SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE
Cleveland State is 4-15 overall and 1-5 in Horizon League play. The Vikings are 4-4 at home this season with non-league victories over Coppin State, Arkansas State and Notre Dame (Ohio). The Vikings' lone Horizon League win was an 80-79 victory over Green Bay on Jan. 4.  
    PROBABLE STARTERS:
    G- Kenny Carpenter (6-5, Sr.) 12.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.3 apg, 47.2 FG%
    G- Tyree Appleby (6-1, Fr.) 11.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 3.5 apg, 43.6 FG%
    G- Bobby Word (6-4, Sr.) 11.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 0.4 apg, 42.7 FG%
    F- Stefan Kenic (6-9, Fr.) 8.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.8 apg, 38.4 FG%
    F- Jamarcus Hairston (6-8, Sr.) 4.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.6 apg, 47.8 FG%
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
IUPUI is 2-0 in the all-time series with Cleveland State, having swept a home-and-home series in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. The Jags won in Indianapolis, 82-65, on Nov. 16, 2001 and followed with a 90-74 victory at CSU the following season.  

UP NEXT
IUPUI will cap the two-game road trip at Youngstown State on Saturday night (Jan. 20) inside the Beeghly Center at 7:00 p.m.. The game will be the second of five consecutive road games in league play.  

GAME NOTES (click here for PDF of the full games notes)
LAST TIME OUT
    IUPUI scored a season-high 45 first half points and rolled to an 81-66 victory over Detroit Mercy, extending its season-best winning streak to three. The Jaguars connected on nine first half treys and finished 11-of-23 (47.8 percent) from deep, keyed by Aaron Brennan's 15-point (5-8 FG, 3-3 3's, 2-4 FT) effort. The Jags closed with four players in double-digits as Ron Patterson (14), D.J. McCall (13) and T.J. Henderson (11) all played well. 
    IUPUI commanded the glass by a 39-29 margin and shot 52 percent overall while holding Detroit Mercy to just 40.4 percent shooting. Jermaine Jackson Jr. led the Titans with 22 points, 13 of which came after halftime.   
    
OVER .500
    IUPUI is over .500 in league play for the first time since the end of the 2015-16 season when the Jaguars closed Summit League play at 9-7. The Jaguars never got over .500 last season, despite opening 3-3 in league play. 

ROSTER CHANGES
    The IUPUI program had a few roster changes at the turn of the semester as one player departed the program and two others joined the Jaguars. Little used sophomore Noah Thomas left the program after having appeared in just two games in the first semester. Thomas, a 6-foot-9 center, totaled four points and four rebounds in eight total minutes.
    On the flip side, the Jaguars brought in a pair of transfers as Mike Sagay (Boston College) and Trevor Johnson (Mesa [Ariz.] C.C.) joined the program. Sagay, a 6-foot-7 forward, comes to IUPUI with two-and-a-half years of eligibility, after having played 15 games at Boston College last season. A 3-star recruit, Sagay was ranked among Connecticut's top players as a senior at St. Thomas More High School. 
    Johnson, a 6-foot-2 guard, comes to IUPUI with two years of eligibility remaining. Johnson was an All-State performer while at Flagstaff [Ariz.] High School before attending Mesa Community College. 
    Both are able to begin practice with the team immediately.   
    
STARTER NOTES
    In the early portion of the non-league slate, head coach Jason Gardner continued to tweak the Jaguars' starting five, using six different quintets. For the year, senior Aaron Brennan is the lone Jag to have started all 18 games and Ron Patterson and Evan Hall have each started 17 times. Eight different players have at least one start this season. 
    That said, the group of Brennan, Patterson, Hall, D.J. McCall and Nick Rogers have started IUPUI's last 11 games (5-6). 

BENCH NOTES
    As a result of the shuffling lineups, the IUPUI bench has been especially strong, averaging 24.3 points per game, including a season-high 42 on two different occasions. The past four years, the IUPUI bench has outscored opponents in 75 of 113 (66.4 percent) of its games.  

BENCH NOTES, PART II
    IUPUI's top scorer has been a reserve six times this season. Four different players have contributed to those six occasions. 
    Patterson (1): at Ball State (14 pts)
    Kirby (1): at Purdue (16 pts)
    Minnett (1): at Wright State (11 pts)
    Henderson (3): at Gonzaga (18 pts), IUK (19 pts), at GB (13 pts)

CHECK THE PERCENTAGES
    In IUPUI's seven wins, the Jags have shot 46.1 percent from the field and held foes to 39.6 percent overall and 28.4 percent from deep. 
    In the Jaguars' 11 losses, IUPUI has shot just 40.0 percent overall and allowed opponents to shoot a staggering 53.9 percent from the field and 43.1 percent from beyond the arc. 

IN LEAGUE PLAY...
    IUPUI has defended the three well in Horizon League play, yielding just 30.6 percent from deep in six games. On the flip side, IUPUI is shooting 37.3 percent from deep in league play, led by Ron Patterson and Jaylen Minnett's 13 makes. D.J. McCall is shooting a team-best 50 percent from three in league play.  
    IUPUI has made as many or more threes than their opponents in each of the seven league games thus far. 

EVAN ON THE GLASS 
    Junior Evan Hall is averaging 8.2 rpg over the past five games, including a pair of 10-rebound efforts during that span.   

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 40-8 (.833) in games in which the Jaguars have shot a better percentage than opponents and just 4-61 (.062) when being outshot. 
    The Jan. 10 Milwaukee win is the only time this season IUPUI has been outshot and won the game. 

GETTING LOOKS
    Two areas where IUPUI has excelled this season are offensive rebounding (64th nationally - 12.1 rpg) and forcing turnovers (62nd nationally - 15.4 to/g). 
    Because of those numbers, IUPUI has attempted 116 more shots than their foes for the year, good for 6.4 shot attempts per game. 

GRADE CHECK
    Ten members of the IUPUI basketball team earned at least a 3.0 grade point average during the fall semester - Evan Borgman, Aaron Brennan, Elyjah Goss, Evan Hall, T.J. Henderson, Chad Hudson, Ahmed Ismail, Maurice Kirby, D.J. McCall and Noah Thomas.