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INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team put together a mammoth second half run to roll past IU Kokomo on Thursday night (Dec. 6), 95-64. Junior Camron Justice scored a game-high 18 points in just 21 minutes and senior Ahmed Ismail chipped in 14 points and eight boards in 13 minutes off the bench as the bigger, quicker Jaguars imposed their will on the NAIA opponent. IUPUI outrebounded IUK (8-2) 52-33 and shot 50 percent for the game to blow past the same team that gave them fits last season. 

Sophomore Elyjah Goss scored a career-high 13 points and classmate Jaylen Minnett added 10 off the Jags' bench. Akil McClain was the lone IUK player in double-digits with 10 points. 

"It was a little bit hard for the guys to get up early and I think it showed with some of our intensity early in the game, especially defensively," head coach Jason Gardner said. "Coming off emotional games against Bradley and Ball State and with finals coming up, we've been trying to give the guys some time to recover and focus on the books. I think that affected our pace and then [IUK] just came out and hit shots to stay in the game in the first half.

"We knew they'd play us tough, but we stuck with what we do and I thought we did a good job of getting some stops defensively and getting out in transition in the second half. It was nice to give the starters some rest and give some guys some minutes that haven't gotten a lot of run early in the season."

IUPUI (6-3) was down three with seven minutes left before halftime but closed the first half with a 12-1 run, including scoring the final seven before the break. IUPUI finished the half with a 49-35 lead as D.J. McCall capped the scoring with a two-handed dunk from the right side off a slick feed from Grant Weatherford. IUK scored the opening five points of the second half before the Jaguars threw a haymaker to put the Cougars away. 

IUK went more than seven minutes without a point as the Jags put together a 17-0 run to turn a 14-point margin into a 31-point rout. Goss opened the run with a two-handed dunk and later Ismail scored seven points in just more than two minutes, sandwiched around a Weatherford bucket. The lead swelled to 73-42 with 11 minutes left before McClain finally stopped the run with 9:28 to play with a corner trey. 

Gardner was able to start emptying the bench with 11 minutes to play as no IUPUI player played more than McCall's 23 minutes. The Fort Wayne-native put together a nine point, 10-rebound, five assist performance and the Jags outscored IUK by 31 during his time on the court. 

The reserves were equally effective as freshman Brandon Kenyon scored eight points in his 10 minutes and sophomore Jakoby Kemp tallied seven points in seven minutes. The IUPUI bench accounted for 46 points with five players contributing to the total. 

IUPUI improved to 3-1 at home on the season and continued the program's best start since the 2009 season. 

IUPUI will continue the homestand next Wednesday night (Dec. 12) when the Jaguars host IU Northwest at 7:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. That game will be IUPUI Faculty & Staff night as staff members will be eligible for discounted tickets by contacting the Jaguars' ticket office at 317-278-2530.