OMAHA, Neb. - Junior Marcus Burk scored a game-high 27 points and Isaiah Williams added a season-high 13 points and six boards off the IUPUI bench, but the Jags ultimately fell to Southern University, 83-77, inside Baxter Arena as part of The Mainland Tournament at Omaha of the Cayman Islands Classic. Junior Elyjah Goss rounded out the Jaguars' double-digit scorers with 10 points and five boards in the loss. 

Lamarcus Lee and Montese Blake led Southern (3-4) with 17 points each and Brendon Brook added 14 points for the victors. Blake stuck a pair of contested jumpers in the final 90 seconds to help bury IUPUI and quash their hopes of a come-from-behind win. 

Mired in one of worst shooting games of his career, junior Jaylen Minnett came up with a key connection with 3:25 remaining as he splashed a three in front of his own bench, while drawing a foul on the play. The Terre Haute-native hit the ensuing free throws for a four-point play to tie the score at 75 all. However, that would be the final field goal for the Jaguars as they missed their final four attempts of the game, coupled with a costly turnover. 

Freshman Mike DePersia put the Jags ahead briefly with 1:35 left when he split a pair of free throws, but Blake fired back with a tough 15-footer from the elbow to give Southern the lead. After Minnett missed a potential go-ahead trey with 1:09 left, Blake hit a contested 17-footer from the left wing to give Southern a 79-76 lead. The Jags committed a turnover on their next possession and then were forced to foul in the game's final minute. Lee swished a pair of freebies with 19 seconds left and the Jags misfired on a pair of drives in the closing seconds. 

IUPUI (2-5) fell behind 6-0 in the opening minutes before firing back with a 17-2 run to take a nine-point lead near the midpoint of the opening half. Burk fueled the run with a pair of threes while Williams provided an instant spark off the bench, scoring six points during the run. The lead grew as large as 10 on a number of occasions in the first half before Southern retaliated to tie the score at 36 all just before halftime. IUPUI ended up taking a 42-38 advantage into halftime as Zo Tyson scored four points in the final 1:05 of the half. 

The Jags maintained the lead for the opening six-plus minutes of the second half until Brook splashed a go-ahead three with 13:45 remaining. Southern maintained the lead, largely via hot shooting, until Minnett pumped in the four-point play in the closing minutes. It was Minnett's lone triple of the game as he extended the nation's fourth-longest streak of games with at least one made three to 43 straight. 

Burk played much of the game through foul trouble, hitting 10-of-21 shots and 6-of-14 from three-point range in his fifth straight game of 20 points or better. Williams was 4-of-7 off the bench while Goss hit 5-of-7 shots. Tyson added eight points, six boards and three blocked shots and DePersia added a season-high seven points. Both Minnett and Grant Weatherford scored six points apiece in the loss. IUPUI shot a respectable 48 percent from the field and 7-of-20 (35 percent) from deep and committed a season-low 10 turnovers. 

However, Southern hit 57 percent overall and 7-of-17 (41.2 percent) from beyond the arc. Southern also outrebounded IUPUI 36-30, keyed by Damiree Burns' 13 rebounds and nine points off the bench. 

IUPUI will return home to host Evansville on Saturday night (Nov. 30) at 7:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Tickets are available online via TicketMaster or at the Coliseum box office. That contest will also be broadcast on ESPN+ as Scott McCauley (pxp) and IUPUI Hall of Fame Bob Lovell (analyst) describe the action.