Box Score (.html) I Box Score (.pdf) I Photo Gallery I Postgame Press Conference I Highlights

DETROIT - It came down to whichever team would make the last run. Unfortunately for the IUPUI basketball team, it was No. 4 seeded Oakland that landed the final blow of the final quarterfinals game of Motor City Madness, closing with a 9-2 burst to slip past the Jaguars, 62-55. Horizon League Player of the Year Kendrick Nunn closed with a game-high 18 points on 20 shot attempts and fellow first teamer Jalen Hayes turned in 13 points and seven boards for the victors. 

Senior Aaron Brennan had a team-high 14 points and nine boards in his final collegiate game while D.J. McCall closed with 12 points, while harassing Nunn into a tough shooting night. 

Brennan tied the game at 53 all with 4:21 to play when he rattled in a left wing triple for the eighth tie of the night. Oakland (19-13) scored the game's next three points before McCall pulled the Jags back within one on a McCall drive with 1:24 left. On the ensuing Oakland possession, Nunn misfired on a midrange jumper, but Isaiah Brock tipped in the miss to push the score to 58-55. 

The Jags came up empty on a pair of attempts on their next trip, the second of which was courtesy of a Brock rejection with 35 seconds left. Forced to foul, Oakland made four free throws in the closing seconds to set the final margin. 

"Give Oakland credit, they made the plays down the stretch. I thought it was a hard fought game and our guys did a good job of fighting back, but give [Oakland] credit," head coach Jason Gardner said. "We didn't get off to a very good start, but I think our guys played really hard and really well to get us back into it."

IUPUI (11-19) got off to a shoddy start as Oakland carved up the Jaguars' defense in the opening 10 minutes. The Golden Grizzlies surged out to a 22-9 lead, thanks to a 9-0 run that was capped by a James Beck putback. However, IUPUI finally found some rhythm and outscored OU 19-6 to close the half. The Jags benefited from Hayes collecting his second and third fouls in a 52 second span, sending him to the bench with more than four minutes left in the half. 

Freshman Jaylen Minnett hit a contested trey on the Jaguars' final possession of the half to knot the score at 28 all at the break. 

As expected with a 4/5 game featuring teams that split the regular season series, there were eight ties and 10 lead changes. IUPUI's largest lead came in the opening moments of the second half as McCall and Evan Hall scored on the Jaguars' first two offensive trips, building a 32-29 edge. The Jags' last lead of the night came with 6:20 to play when Hall scored in close off a T.J. Henderson assist before Oakland scored the game's next five points.  

Hayes and Nunn combined to score 18 of Oakland's final 21 points after Nick Daniels made his second three of the half with 14:15 to play. 

IUPUI shot just 37.7 percent from the floor and 35.7 percent from deep while Oakland made 44 percent of its field goal attempts. Nunn was 6-of-20 from the field, but Hayes and Brock combined to hit 10-of-16 shots in close and block eight shots. 

"I thought [Brock] did a good job of challenging some of our shots in close and then after that, our guys were thinking too much going [in the paint]," Gardner said.

Henderson keyed the Jaguars' bench to a 15-5 scoring advantage, closing with eight points, six boards and five assists in 26 minutes. Nick Rogers also tallied eight points and Hall contributed six points and eight rebounds. 

With the loss, IUPUI closes the 2017-18 campaign at 11-19 overall. Gardner's squad graduates the senior trio of Brennan, Maurice Kirby and Ron Patterson, but will boast a strong core of returners and three Division I-transfers who sat out this season.