SAN ANTONIO, Texas - IUPUI will close out play at the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic with a game against VCU on Sunday (Nov. 25) at 1 p.m. The game against the Rams will be a battle between two 4-1 teams and both squads look to continue hot starts to the season.
IUPUI beat UTSA in its last outing, taking down the Roadrunners 58-50. The Jags jumped out to an early lead and led for over 38 minutes of the game. UTSA managed to get within four three times late in the fourth quarter but each time IUPUI had a response and closed out the game at the free throw line. Three Jags finished in double figures in the win, with
Macee Williams leading the squad with 20 points.
Katelyn O'Reilly and
Morgan Allen each added 10 points for the Jags in the win.
VCU comes in to the matchup having won their last two games, beating Wake Forest 53-40 and clobbering Weber State 64-36 in its first game of the Thanksgiving Classic on Friday (Nov. 23).
IUPUI and VCU played a home-and-home in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. IUPUI won 70-69 at home in 2015 and beat the Rams 71-62 in Richmond, Va., in 2016.
QUICK NOTES
Jags Speed Past Roadrunners
- IUPUI was led by
Macee Williams in scoring for the fourth-straight game as Williams scored 20 points. Williams also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, while also leading the team with three steals and tied for the team-high with two assists.
-
Katelyn O'Reilly's 10 points were the third time this season the redshirt sophomore has reached double figures and sophomore
Morgan Allen reached 10 points for the second time this year.
- The Jags shared the wealth, dishing out 11 assists in the win. Four Jaguars -
Agatha Beier,
Holly Hoopingarner, O'Reilly and Williams - led the team with two assists.
- IUPUI's 58 points in the win over UTSA were the lowest the Jaguars have scored all season. The previous low was 64 points scored in the overtime loss at Wisconsin.
- The Jaguars outscored UTSA 36-18 in points in the paint. This helped negate IUPUI's worst outside shooting performance of the season as the Jags went 2-for-18 from behind the three point line.
- IUPUI outrebounded UTSA 41-34 and held a 14-6 advantage on the offensive glass. IUPUI has now outrebounded its opponents in four-of-five games this year, all wins.
- IUPUI shot 20 free throws against the Roadrunners, making 10. The Jags have shot at least 20 free throws in every game this season.
Texas Two-Step
- IUPUI returns to Texas for the first time since 2015 when the Jags played in a tournament at North Texas. During the tournament, IUPUI earned an overtime win over Stephen F. Austin and lost by one point to the hosting Mean Green.
Close Encounters of the Basketball Kind
- IUPUI has played in one-point games in each of its last two contests (W vs. UT Martin, L/OT at Wisconsin). The last time IUPUI played in a one-point game the Jaguars beat North Dakota State 64-63 on Feb. 12 2016. The last occurrence of playing in back-to-back one-point games for IUPUI was Jan. 19 and Jan. 24 of 2013 when the Jaguars beat South Dakota State (57-56) and UMKC (47-46).
- Over the past five season, IUPUI is 3-2 in games decided by one point. The Jaguars are 10-7 in games decided by one possession, including a 3-2 record in games decided by three points or less last season.
- Under Parkinson, IUPUI has 14-13 in one possession games and 5-6 in one-point games.
Williams Domination
- Williams has scored in double-figures in all five games this season - 15-straight games going back to last season - and has scored more than 20 points in each of the last four games. The last time IUPUI has had a player score 20+ points in four-straight games
Danielle Lawrence did it from Jan. 28 - Feb. 12, 2016.
In the Rankings
- IUPUI was ranked No. 16 in the Collegeinsider.com poll in the latest release. The Jags have been in the poll every week this season, joining Green Bay as the only Horizon League team to be ranked this week.
