| IUPUI (12-9, 4-4) vs. Detroit Mercy (8-12. 5-3) |
| Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019 - 1:00 p.m. |
| Live Video: |
ESPN+ |
| Live Stats: |
Click Here |
| Series: |
tied at 1-1 |
| Last Meeting: |
Feb. 2, 2018 |
| Game Notes: |
Click Here |
INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will continue the current five-game homestand when the Jaguars host Detroit Mercy (8-12, 5-3 HL) on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 26) at 1:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. As part of the current 50th anniversary celebration, Saturday's game will be 'Cram the Coliseum' Day as alum and supporters are encouraged to attend the game as a winter homecoming event. Tickets are available at the box office or through TicketMaster. Fans attending Saturday's festivities are encouraged to allow plenty of extra time as it will be an incredibly busy day inside the State Fairgrounds.
Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) will be on the call on Saturday.
On the court, head coach
Jason Gardner's team won in come-from-behind fashion over Oakland on Thursday, 73-71. The Jags trailed by six at halftime, but opened the second half with an 8-0 run and later built out a 12-point lead behind
D.J. McCall and
Jaylen Minnett's strong play. Oakland whittled all but two points off the lead before the final horn.
Camron Justice and McCall finished with a team-high 18 points each and
Evan Hall posted his seventh career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore
Elyjah Goss added 10 boards and a career-high four blocked shots and Minnett scored all 13 of his points in the second half.
After a putrid first half, IUPUI found the range in the second half to ultimately capture the win. McCall continued his recent brilliance, adding nine boards and five assists in 34 minutes of action.
Saturday's game will see the Jaguars welcome high scoring freshman Antoine Davis, the son of former Indiana University head coach Mike Davis. The elder Davis is in his first season on the Titans' sidelines and has his squad tied for second in the league standings. IUPUI comes in among a four-way tie for fifth-place, although a win would pull the Jags even with Detroit Mercy.
QUOTABLE: "We started playing for one another at the start of the second half and it showed. We passed up some good looks for some great looks and really looked to make the extra pass. That kind of got us going," McCall said of the team's second half offensive performance on Thursday.
UP NEXT: IUPUI's five-game homestand will continue next Friday night (Feb. 1) when the Jaguars begin the second half of Horizon League play by hosting league leader Northern Kentucky inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum at 7:00 p.m..
QUICK NOTES (click here to access the full notes for Saturday's game):
JAGS RIGHT THE SHIP IN 73-71 WIN OVER OAKLAND
IUPUI rebounded from an ugly first half to pick off Oakland on Thursday morning, 73-71 in front of 2,000 third-graders inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
D.J. McCall and
Camron Justice tallied 18 points each and
Evan Hall posted his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 boards. Sophomore
Jaylen Minnett scored all 13 of his points in the second half, as IUPUI outscored Oakland 47-39 after the break.
OU freshman Tray Maddox Jr. scored a career-high 21 points in the loss and Jaevin Cumberland added 18 on just 7-of-20 shooting. IUPUI opened the second half with an 8-0 run and later built a 12-point lead with under five minutes to play before having to fend off the Golden Grizzlies in the closing minutes.
IUPUI outshot Oakland 43 percent to 40 percent and outrebounded the Golden Grizzlies by a 47-37 margin.
Here are some more tidbits from Thursday's win.
-McCall matched his season-highs with 18 points and five assists and just missed his first career double-double by grabbing nine boards.
-IUPUI matched its season-high with 18 offensive boards, led by McCall's five. The Jags converted them into a season-high 20 second chance points.
-Hall's double-double was the seventh of his career and second this season. His 11 boards matched his season-high.
-Sophomore
Elyjah Goss grabbed 10 caroms and blocked a career-high four shots.
-Justice missed his first two three-point attempts of the game, but rallied by making four of his next five attempts. He scored 10 of his 18 points in the game's opening seven minutes for his 20th consecutive double-digit scoring game.
MILESTONES
-Senior
Evan Hall became the 15th player in IUPUI history to grab 500 career rebounds at UIC (Jan. 4). Fellow senior
D.J. McCall is bearing down on that number with 489 in his career.
-Thursday's game at Green Bay was
Evan Hall's 100th career game played.
-
Nick Rogers dished out the 100th assist of his IUPUI career at Wright State.
-
Elyjah Goss grabbed his 250th career rebound at Milwaukee last Saturday.
-Fifth-year senior
D.J. McCall played his 2,500th career minute at NKU.
STREAKS
Justice has scored in double-digits in 20 straight games.
Minnett has made a three in 24 straight games, dating back to last season.
McCall has started 48 straight games, dating back to last season.
INDICATORS
As the season wears on, two trends have become indicators as to how IUPUI will fare.
1.) IUPUI is 11-0 this season when shooting a higher percentage than their opponent. That number has been consistent under Gardner as IUPUI is 55-8 (.873) in his five seasons when shooting a higher percentage than their opponent.
2.) IUPUI is now 8-1 this season when holding opponents to 70 points or less. In IUPUI wins, IUPUI holds foes to 39.6 percent and an average of 67.8 points per game. In IUPUI losses, foes are shooting better than 49 percent and scoring an average of 80 points per game.
GLASS EATERS
IUPUI has been strong on the glass all year long, outrebounding foes by 4.8 rebounds per game to rank 57th in the country. However, the Jags have been particularly impressive on the glass to open league play with a league best +7.3 margin in league games.
IUPUI has outrebounded its opponent by 10 or more boards eight times this season, including five times in Horizon League play.
DO IT INSIDE
Bucking the national trend, IUPUI relies heavily on the interior for points this season. The Jags average nearly 35 points per game in the paint and also rank among the nation's leaders in free throws made and attempted.
In league play, IUPUI is hitting a league low 5.7 treys per game while the next lowest in the league is making 7.3 threes per game.
HEAVY HITTERS
IUPUI opened conference play with arguably the toughest opening schedule in Horizon League history, taking on the top three picks in the league's preseason polls, all on the road. The trio of Wright State, Northern Kentucky and UIC collected 39 of the 40 possible first-place votes and easily separated from the second tier of selections.
The Jaguars dropped the first two of the three-game stretch, losing at Northern Kentucky and Wright State, before rebounding to win at UIC last Friday (Jan. 4).
FREE MONEY
IUPUI enters play ranked among the nation's leaders in both free throws made (339) and free throws attempted (479). Junior
Camron Justice is 56th in free throw percentage (85.8%) and 43rd in free throws made (97).
Justice has done unprecedented damage at the free throw line already this season, boasting a pair of games with double-digit makes and no misses. He went 13-for-13 at Boston College, tying for the fourth most makes in a game in program history without a miss. He upped the ante against Bradley, hitting 15 without a miss, giving him the third highest total in school history without a miss (tops in the D1 era).
HE GO, WE GO - JUSTICE NOTES
In this instance, 'he' being
Camron Justice. IUPUI is 7-3 this season when Justice scores 20-or-better. Justice was the first IUPUI player to score 20-or-more in four straight games since Jan. 14-28, 2012 when Alex Young went for 27-27-26-22 in a four-game span.
-The Kentucky-native has led IUPUI in scoring in 15 of 21 games after being held to just nine points in the season opener. In that game, he had just nine points before he was ejected midway through the first half for tripping an opponent, which was called a flagrant 1 foul.
D.J. SPINNIN'
Senior
D.J. McCall is playing the best basketball of his career recently, having scored in double-digits in a career-best five straight games entering today's contest. During the five-game span, McCall is averaging 15.2 points per game and shooting 27-of-51 (52.9 percent) from the floor and 20-of-25 (80 percent) from the foul line.
TURN BACK THE CLOCK
IUPUI got a skosh younger over the holiday break in terms of years of eligibility remaining.
Grant Weatherford was awarded a clock extension from the NCAA in December, allowing him a sixth year in which to complete his four playing seasons - thus making him a sophomore eligibility-wise. IUPUI Associate AD for Compliance
Laura Hue took the lead on applying for the successful waiver.
CALL ME ISMAIL
After a slow start to his IUPUI career, senior center
Ahmed Ismail is a key contributor off the Jaguars' bench. Ismail scored just 10 points total in his first five IUPUI games, but is since averaging 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds since while shooting 49-of-82 (59.8%) from the floor.
CLASS ACTS
Nine Jaguars were named to the department's Academic Advisor's List for the fall semester for earning a 3.0 GPA or better -
Daniel Alston,
Elyjah Goss,
Jack Hansen, Jamil Jackson,
Trevor Johnson,
Jakoby Kemp,
Brandon Kenyon,
D.J. McCall and
Grant Weatherford. Hansen notched a perfect 4.0 GPA during the fall semester.
McCall and Weatherford were also named to the Horizon League's Academic Honor Roll.
