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MUNCIE, Ind. - The IUPUI basketball team stepped out of character on Saturday (Dec. 1) as the Jaguars dropped a home tilt to in-state foe Ball State, 85-75, inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. IUPUI (5-3), coming in on a three-game winning streak, was uncharacteristically bullied on the glass and rattled into some quick shots that saw IUPUI hit just 45 percent from the floor for the game. Conversely, the Jaguars' defense allowed Ball State (5-3) to shoot 56 percent from the floor as the Cardinals won for the fourth straight time. 

Junior Camron Justice led all players with 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting and sophomore Jaylen Minnett chimed in with 15 points off the Jags' bench. Indianapolis-native Tahjai Teague had 19 points and nine boards to lead five Ball State players in double-figures and Tayler Persons closed with 16 points, nine boards and five assists. 

"I thought today we got away from some of the things that have helped us be successful so far this season. Ball State is a really good team and you don't beat good teams when you put them on the foul line and you commit as many turnovers as we did. I didn't think our shot selection was that great in the second half and we kind of panicked once we got behind," head coach Jason Gardner said. "It was a good college basketball game with a lot of kids from the state of Indiana on the floor. From that aspect, it was a really good day. 

"We're going to get back to work, learn from this and get back to what we do well."

IUPUI went down eight in the game's early going before a 9-0 run gave the Jaguars a brief 14-13 lead. Justice capped the run with back-to-back transition buckets as part of his 8-for-8 shooting to start the game. Despite Justice's hot start, IUPUIs biggest lead was a 30-27 advantage at the 7:06 mark when the Vanderbilt-transfer rattled in a pull-up jumper. Ball State closed the half with a 44-40 lead behind Persons' 10 points before the break. 

Like the first half, Ball State extended out to an eight-point lead early in the second half, capped by a Brachen Hazen jumper. IUPUI responded with a 6-0 burst on layups from Justice and Minnett before Evan Hall collected a steal near midcourt and raced the other way for a third straight IUPUI bucket. As was the case throughout the second half, each time IUPUI got close, Ball State answered. 

Minnett cut the Ball State lead to 72-67 with 4:54 left, but Ball State followed with four straight points to seemingly put the Jaguars away. 

IUPUI made just 35.1 percent from the floor after halftime after shooting 59 percent in the first half. Both Ahmed Ismail and Justice had their games cut short due to fouls with the former collecting a technical foul for slamming the ball to the floor after being called for a traveling violation early in the second half. With both Hall and Ismail sidelined due to foul trouble, Gardner was forced to play small for long stretches of the second half and Ball State's length took advantage. 

Teague made 7-of-12 shots, primarily in close, and Zach Gunn came off the Ball State bench to contribute 11 points in just eight minutes. Ismail finished with seven points in just 11 minutes for the Jaguars, but committed four turnovers during that span. Hall added six points and a career-high five assists and four steals. D.J. McCall also contributed four steals, four points and four boards on Saturday. 

The loss was the Jaguars' second straight to Ball State and first home loss of the 2018-19 season. 

Justice finished with 20-or-more for the fifth time this season, connecting on 11-of-20 field goal attempts, including three threes. Minnett's 15 points were his most since a season-opening 21 at Xavier. 

IUPUI will continue the five-game homestand next week when the Jaguars host IU Kokomo on Thursday night (Dec. 6) at 7:00 p.m. inside the Coliseum. That game will be televised on ESPN+ as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Bob Lovell (analyst) are on the call.