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DAYTON, Ohio - The IUPUI basketball team battled back from a 13-point deficit in the second half to pull even late, only to see host Wright State close with an 15-7 run to win 72-64. Bill Wampler led Wright State with 22 points and Cole Gentry added 20, including a perfect 10-of-10 at the foul line. Junior Camron Justice paced three Jags in double-digits with 17 points and a career-high seven boards and Evan Hall chipped in 13 points. Senior center Ahmed Ismail turned in 10 points off the bench, mostly before halftime. 

IUPUI (8-7, 0-2 HL) dropped a fourth straight game and second straight to open Horizon League play. The Jaguars' 64 points were a season-low as IUPUI shot just 42 percent from the floor and 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) from three-point range. Defensively, Wright State (7-8, 1-1 HL) connected on 44 percent overall and 6-of-16 (37.5 percent) from beyond the arc. 

Even in defeat, the Jaguars showed signs of returning to the form that gained them eight non-conference wins, which included a road win at Boston College. 

"I thought we played really hard today and played really gutsy basketball," head coach Jason Gardner said. "We're not in the moral victory business, so I'm not happy about not getting a win on this road trip. However, I thought we got better today and played the reigning league champs really tough on their home floor. We had a lot of sick guys and some guys were asking to come out because they just didn't feel well out there, but we fought them right down to the final horn. 

"Things are going to change and we're getting really close to getting back to where we were earlier this season. We've got another really tough game ahead of us on the road, so it's not going to get any easier."

IUPUI was down 55-42 with 11:03 left and all appeared to be lost. Heads were hung and the Jaguars looked more perplexed than prepared in a tough road environment. 

D.J. McCall provided a spark by driving down the lane for a two-handed dunk and later Justice slashed through traffic for a layup. After a defensive stop, Nick Rogers stepped up and buried a 16-footer and yet another defensive stand led to a Grant Weatherford bucket. Then after Weatherford collected his third steal of the game, Justice again got loose for a layup to make it 55-53 with 7:08 to play. Hall then contributed a bucket and Justice tied the game on another drive with 5:41 remaining. 

However, Wampler came up with his biggest shot in the biggest spot and with the shot clock running down the Drake-transfer hit a corner three with Weatherford in his face to put the hosts back in front with 5:14 to play. IUPUI missed a pair of potential game-tying treys, but cut the lead back to two when Hall split a pair of free throws with 3:20 remaining. WSU's Mark Hughes pushed the lead back to two possessions on a drive with 2:55 to play. 

The game took its final twist in the closing minutes as IUPUI got a defensive stop and Rogers hit Weatherford with a long pass the other way. Weatherford went to the hole against 6-foot-11 Parker Ernsthausen, who contested the shot and gathered the rebound with no whistle. Then needing to foul, Weatherford bumped Gentry and was whistled for a technical for protesting the previous no-call. Gentry made all four free throws to ice the contest. 

IUPUI didn't rectify the recent offensive or defensive woes overnight, but rode toughness and grit to stay attached to the league's reigning champion. The Jaguars' 38-28 rebounding advantage helped offset the 42 percent shooting day. 

Gardner's team opened with four quick points down low from Hall, who was playing through a stomach ailment, only to see Wright State rip off the game's next nine points. Later in the half, WSU built a 27-20 lead with 7:28 remaining on five straight points from Wampler. However, IUPUI closed the half strong to cut the lead to 35-32 at the break, capped by a Weatherford corner trey on the Jaguars' final possession. Rogers drove the right side of the lane and delivered a strike to a wide open Weatherford in the corner, who promptly made it a one-possession game. 

Justice was held without a three for the first time in his IUPUI career, going 0-of-7 from deep. Weatherford and Jaylen Minnett both hit first half triples and Rogers arched in a wing three on the game's final possession to account for the team's only three connections. 

WSU's sophomore Loudon Love finished with 10 points and five boards and Hughes added 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting. Rogers finished with eight off the Jaguars' bench and Weatherford closed with seven. Wright State made their hay off the Jaguars' 14 turnovers, converting them into 20 points. 

The Jaguars changed up the game day routine out of necessity with a number of individuals battling illness. Gardner's squad skipped the scheduled early morning shootaround, opting to give his student-athletes extra rest in the hotel. Freshman Brandon Kenyon wasn't in uniform due to sickness and a handful of others were slowed by a stomach ailment. 

IUPUI will cap the current five-game stretch of road games next Friday night (Jan. 4) with a nationally televised showdown at UIC on ESPNU. That game is scheduled to tip-off at 7:00 p.m. inside UIC's Credit Union 1 Arena.