IUPUI (3-2) vs. Grambling State (3-2)
Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018 - 4 p.m.
Live Video:	Click Here
Live Stats:	Click Here
Series:	first-ever meeting
Last Meeting:	none
Game Notes:	Click Here

NIAGARA, N.Y. - The IUPUI basketball team will look to build on the program's best start since 2009 when the Jaguars (3-2) face Grambling State (3-2) in the championship game of the Niagara Regional of the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Friday night (Nov. 24) at 4:00 p.m. inside Niagara's Gallagher Center. IUPUI earned a spot in the championship game with an emphatic 68-48 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday night, keyed by 52 percent shooting from the floor. Junior Camron Justice scored a game-high 17 points and Evan Hall contributed 15 points and eight boards in the victory. Senior D.J. McCall added 12 points and three steals and sophomore Jaylen Minnett scored nine points, all in the first half. 

IUPUI dominated from wire-to-wire, surging out to a 10-2 lead in the opening few minutes and never looking back. The Jaguars' efficient offense and stiff defense limited St. Francis Brooklyn to just 34 percent shooting and outscored the Terriers 40-24 in the paint. Sophomore Elyjah Goss closed with five points and 11 rebounds, finishing one short of matching his career-high in that category. 

Grambling State earned a spot in the title game by tipping host Niagara, 74-68. Devante Jackson led five Grambling State players in double-digits with 17 points and Dallas Polk-Hilliard had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Point guard Ivy Smith Jr. closed with 12 points, nine assists and six rebounds in the victory. 

Saturday's game marks the first-ever meeting between the two schools. 

QUOTABLE: "Give credit to our guys. They were really good and really efficient offensively tonight. I thought Ev really gave them problems early in the game and that opened up some driving lanes for Cam, D.J. and Jaylen and helped us get some easier opportunities. I thought we did a good job of getting out in transition when we had the opportunities to get some easy buckets. Defensively, I thought we locked in pretty good and forced them into some tough shots and then we did a good job of limiting them to just one shot. I liked that we kept them off the offensive glass and closed down possessions by getting the boards," Gardner said after Friday's win over St. Francis Brooklyn. 

UP NEXT: IUPUI will return home to kickoff a five-game homestand when the Jaguars host Bradley at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 28 inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. That game will be Mascot Mania, featuring Boomer and the Pacers Power Pack. In addition, ROAR t-shirts will be distributed to IUPUI students while supplies last.

QUICK NOTES (click here to access the full notes for Saturday's game): 
    JAGS ROLL PAST ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN
    IUPUI took a step towards capturing the Niagara Regional of the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Friday night (Nov. 23) by rolling past St. Francis Brooklyn, 68-48. Junior Camron Justice led three Jaguars in double-digits with 17 points and Evan Hall chipped in 15 points and eight boards in the win. Senior D.J. McCall added 12 points and three steals and sophomore Elyjah Goss closed with five points and 11 boards - one shy of matching his career-high. 
    IUPUI led wire-to-wire, taking an early 10-2 lead and never looking back. St. Francis Brooklyn closed within four on a few occasions, but the Jaguars never relinquished the lead. IUPUI shot 52 percent from the field despite a 2-of-14 effort from deep, while limiting the Terriers to just 34 percent at the other end. 
    Here are some other notes from the Jaguars' win over St. Francis Brooklyn.
    -IUPUI's 20-point win was the Jaguars' largest over a Division I foe since winning at Southern Utah, 101-81 on Dec. 17, 2016. 
    -St. Francis Brooklyn's 48 points were the fewest by an IUPUI Division I foe since limiting UMKC to 48 points on Mar. 2, 2013 inside the Jungle. 
    -IUPUI matched its season-high by shooting 52 percent from the floor.
    -It marked the fourth straight game IUPUI outrebounded the opposition and the fifth straight game Goss was the team's top rebounder. Goss' 11 boards were the most by an IUPUI player this season. 
    -It marked the fourth straight game Justice was the team's top scorer. 
    -IUPUI scored a season-high 40 points in the paint, outscoring the Terriers 40-24 inside. 
    -The Jaguars collected a season-high 11 steals with McCall and Grant Weatherford gathering three each. IUPUI forced 19 turnovers and cashed in with 21 points. 

    BEST START SINCE...
    IUPUI's 3-2 start may not jump off the page, but it's the best five-game start in head coach Jason Gardner's five seasons and best five-game start since the 2009-10 season. That squad started 5-1 overall and finished 25-11 overall and earned a spot in the CBI that season. Gardner has never had the Jaguars above .500 after five games at any point while at the helm of the program. 

    QUICK HITTERS
    -IUPUI has allowed just two second chance points in each of the past two games and is yielding just 6.8 second chance points per game. 
    -Evan Hall has made 12-of-16 (75 percent) field goal attempts the past two games combined and is at 62.2 percent for the season. 
    -Ahmed Ismail finally made a field goal in an IUPUI uniform, going 2-of-4 against St. Francis Brooklyn after playing the first four games (42 minutes total) without a make. 

    BLOW OUT THE CANDLES
    Head coach Jason Gardner celebrated his 38th birthday in style, collecting his 50th career head coaching win at Boston College on November 14.
    Gardner is third on the program's all-time wins list at 50, but is a far cry from the top two in program history. Current Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter (275) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (195) own the top two spots in program history. 

    SHARING THE WEALTH
    After five games, IUPUI has just one player who has scored in double-digits four times (Justice) and seven different players have hit for 10-or-more at least once. D.J. McCall became the most recent player to tally double-digits, joining a group that includes Elyjah Goss, Evan Hall, Jack Hansen, Camron Justice, Jaylen Minnett and Grant Weatherford.   

    SOPHOMORE LEAPS
    IUPUI's two returning sophomores - Elyjah Goss and Jaylen Minnett - have taken major leaps in their second years with the program. 
    Goss, who averaged 3.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as a redshirt freshman, has doubled his scoring (7.2 ppg) and has been elite off the glass (9.0 rpg) this season. Albeit in a small sample size, his 9.0 rpg would be the highest per game average by an IUPUI player since 1977 when Dale Taylor averaged 9.4 boards per game. 
    Minnett, who averaged 7.1 points per game as a true freshman, has upped his output to 10.0 points per game this season. 

    700 DAYS
    IUPUI junior guard Camron Justice was 700 days removed from his last competitive basketball game when the Jags took the floor against Xavier. Justice played just more than a season at Vanderbilt before joining the IUPUI program prior to last fall and sitting the full season as a transfer. Prior to Xavier, Justice last played in a game on Dec. 6, 2016 when the Commodores defeated High Point. 
    Justice and Evan Hall were high school teammates at Knott County Central (Ky.) High School, helping the Patriots to four straight state tournament appearances. Justice finished his high school career with 3,588 points and 393 treys before being named the 2015 Kentucky Mr. Basketball. 

    OTHER NEWBIES
    While Justice is nearly two full years removed from his last Division I game, others in the Jaguars' rotation are in similar spots. Junior guard Grant Weatherford entered the year having never appeared in a Division I game, despite graduating from Hamilton Heights High School in 2015. Weatherford redshirted at Purdue in 2015-16, played a full season at Midland (Texas) College in 2016-17 and sat out all of last season. 

    A LOOK BACK
    Last year's IUPUI team ranked among the nation's best in steals (6.8 spg) and turnovers forced (14.7 to/game). IUPUI ranked 53rd nationally in turnovers forced per game and were among the nation's best in steals percentage. 
    In addition, last year's squad was among the best in the country in hitting the offensive glass, grabbing 11.5 offensive caroms per game. Evan Hall ranked 102nd individually in offensive rebounding, grabbing 2.6 offensive boards per contest as a junior. 

    HOT BENCH
    A staple under head coach Jason Gardner has been his teams' bench scoring as the IUPUI leader likes to play 9-10 players and use his bench frequently. Gardner's teams have matched or outscored the opposition's bench in 96 of 130 games (73.8 percent), including the season's first five games. All total, the IUPUI bench is averaging nearly 23 points per game this season and outscoring opponents' benches by 13 points per game.