INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will cap a quick two-game homestand when the Jaguars host Purdue Fort Wayne (7-6) on Saturday (Dec. 14) at noon on Holiday Hoops Day at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Tickets are available via TicketMaster or at the Coliseum box office during normal business hours. Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) will be on the call. 

IUPUI (3-8) built some positive momentum earlier this week by defeating IU South Bend, 80-60, on Tuesday night (Dec. 10). Marcus Burk led five Jags in double-digits with 21 points and was joined by Elyjah Goss (17), Jaylen Minnett (15), Jamil Jackson Jr. (11) and Isaiah Williams (10). However, Goss' performance was beyond special as he grabbed a school record 21 rebounds and had a double-double in the books in the opening 10 minutes. He also matched his career-high with four blocked shots and hit 7-of-10 field goal attempts. 

The win snapped a six-game skid for the Jaguars, with five of those six losses coming away from home. 

Goss has emerged as one of the top big men in the Horizon League of late, leading the league in rebounding (9.5 rpg) and double-doubles (3), while ranking second in the league in blocked shots (1.09 bpg). The Jags continue to boast one of the top shooting backcourts as well, fueled by Burk and Minnett. The duo hit 10-of-20 three-point attempts against IUSB on Tuesday and rank Nos. 1-2 in the Horizon League in threes made per game at 3.45 and 3.00, respectively. Burk also tops the league in three-point percentage at 44.7 percent. 

ABOUT PURDUE FORT WAYNE
Purdue Fort Wayne is 7-6 on the year and 1-5 on the road with the lone road victory coming at Grand Canyon on Nov. 30, 71-60. Sophomore guard Jarred Godfrey leads the Mastodons in scoring (15.9 ppg) and assists (3.7 apg), while shooting 49 percent from the floor and 35.5 percent from three-point range. Kansas State-transfer Brian Patrick is their only other double-digit scorer at 12.9 points per game, while shooting 36.2 percent from three-point range. As a team, the Mastodons average nine treys per game at a 33.5 percent clip. 

PROBABLE STARTERS
G- Jaylen Minnett (6-1, Jr.) - 13.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.8 apg
G- Marcus Burk (6-3, Jr.) - 19.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 44.7 3FG%
G- Grant Weatherford (6-2, Jr.) - 5.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.5 apg
F- Isaiah Williams (6-8, Jr.) - 8.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg
F- Elyjah Goss (6-7, Jr.) - 8.1 ppg, 9.5 rpg

KEY RESERVES
G- Jamil Jackson Jr. (6-6, Jr.) - 3.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg
G- Mike DePersia (5-11, Fr.) - 2.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.9 apg
F- Zo Tyson (6-9, Gr.) - 3.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 57.1 FG%

SERIES NOTES: IUPUI is 31-18 all-time against Purdue Fort Wayne and 19-5 in the 24 meetings in Indianapolis. Purdue Fort Wayne won the most recent meeting between the two teams, defeating the Jaguars 87-77 in Fort Wayne on Dec. 18, 2018. 

PRESEASON PICKS: IUPUI was picked to finish ninth in the Horizon League Preseason Polls, just ahead of Cleveland State. Wright State was a near unanimous pick for the league title while Northern Kentucky was picked second. Detroit Mercy sophomore guard Antoine Davis was pegged the league's Preseason Player of the Year and joined on the first team by Jalen Tate (NKU), Xavier Hill-Mais (Oakland), Tarkus Ferguson (UIC) and Loudon Love (Wright State). 

    E'S RECORD BREAKING NIGHT
    Junior Elyjah Goss had a record breaking night against IU South Bend on Tuesday (Dec. 10), posting a school record 21 rebounds to go along with a career-high 17 points and four blocked shots in the Jaguars' 80-60 victory. Goss grabbed seven offensive boards and 14 defensive boards and hit 7-of-10 field goal attempts as he continues his torrid play of late.
    The prior record was 20 on two different occasions, the most recent coming by Michael Boles in 1993. Goss became the first player in IUPUI history to grab at least 20 boards in the Jaguars' Division I era.  

    MR. WINDEX
    Junior Elyjah Goss currently leads the Horizon League and ranks 45th nationally in rebounding at 9.5 per contest, more than a full rebound ahead of second place Naz Bohannon (YSU). He owns the two highest single-game totals in the Horizon League this season, grabbing 21 against IUSB (Dec. 10) and 17 at Morehead State (Dec. 4). His 21 boards against IUSB is the third-highest single-game total in NCAA Division I this season. 
    Since returning to the starting lineup six games ago, Goss is averaging 10.5 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. 
    Goss is currently tied atop the Horizon League in double-doubles (3) and second in the league in blocked shots (1.09 bpg). 

    CHASING 1,000
    Junior Marcus Burk needs just six points to hit the 1,000 milestone for his career, having tallied 776 in two seasons at Campbell and 218 this season. 

    HEALTH CHECK
    Saturday's game at Ball State was the first time all season that head coach Byron Rimm had his full roster as his disposal. Junior Jakoby Kemp missed the season's initial eight games due to injury and upon his return at Morehead State (Dec. 4), classmate Jamil Jackson was sidelined due to injury. Jackson missed two games before returning at Ball State. 

    BURK'S BEEN BALLIN'
    Junior Marcus Burk has undoubtedly been IUPUI's top offensive player all season, ranking No. 37 nationally in scoring (19.8 ppg) and No. 3 nationally in total threes made (38). 
    Here are some more notes on Burk to start the season:
    -Burk tallied a season-high 32 points (12-of-21 FG, 7-of-10 3's) against Loyola (Md.), falling one shy of his career-high 33 from his sophomore year at Campbell. Burk's 32 was the most by an IUPUI player since Darell Combs hit the same number against South Dakota on Feb. 25, 2016. 
    -While Burk is off to a hot start and averaging nearly 20 points per game to start the year, no IUPUI player has averaged 20 points per game for an entire season since Alex Young averaged 20.4 points per game in 2011-12. Only three players - Odell Bradley (23.1, 2003-04), George Hill (21.5, 2007-08) and Young (20.4, 2011-12) - have averaged better than 20 points per game during the Jaguars' Division I era. 
    -Burk enters tonight with 994 points in his collegiate career - 776 in two seasons at Campbell and 218 in an IUPUI uniform. 

    SPLASH BROTHERS
    IUPUI's version of the Splash Brothers - Marcus Burk and Jaylen Minnett - has been impressive to start the season, both ranking among the Horizon League's top three in both threes made and three-point percentage. 
    Burk leads the league in three per game (3.45) while Minnett is second in the league in the category (3.00). Burk leads in three-point percentage (44.7%) and Minnett is third at 36.7%. By hitting a combined 6.45 threes/game, the duo is easily tops in the league for a tandem as Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis and Brad Calipari are next in line at 4.89 threes/game.  

    TOP GUNS
    Burk and Minnett are accounting for the bulk of the Jaguars' offense through the season's first eight games, having taken 50 percent of the team's field goal attempts (327 of 655) and 76 percent of the team's three-point attempts (175 of 230). In addition, the duo has accounted for 51 percent (363 of 710) of the team's total points. 
    Burk (19.8 ppg) and Minnett (13.2 ppg) easily lead the team in scoring while Isaiah Williams is third at 8.3 ppg. 

    MINNETT NOTES
    Junior Jaylen Minnett, the 2019 Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year, is unlikely to be a repeat winner of the award as he's assumed a starting job this season. The 6-foot-1 Terre Haute-native, averaged 12.0 points per game and drilled 78 3's last season, while coming off the bench in all but the season finale. 
     Some other tidbits on Minnett include: 
    -He currently owns the nation's third-longest streak of consecutive games with at least one made three at 47 games... Minnett made at least one trey in all 33 games last season and the final three games of the 2017-18 season... the last time Minnett went without a three in a game was against Oakland on Feb. 19, 2018 when he was held without a triple in 14 minutes. 
    -Minnett enters play ranked eighth on IUPUI's all-time list with 162 made 3's in his career...he has some work to do to move up on the list as both Leroy Nobles and Akeem Clark are tied for the No. 6 spot with 186 makes each.
    -His 78 3's made last season was the 7th-highest single-season total in IUPUI history. 
    -His 7.1 ppg scoring average as a freshman in 2017-18 was the highest by an IUPUI rookie since Alex Young average 10.8 points per game in 2008-09.
    -His 51 made 3's in 2017-18 were the most by an IUPUI freshman in the program's Division I era (1998-present).  

    GRANT AIDS
    With the offense sputtering at Morehead State, junior Grant Weatherford poured in three threes in a span on six minutes, after entering the game without a three on the season. Weatherford had just 11 career treys coming into that contest, but oddly enough, he's made eight of his 14 triples in two games. 
    vs. Green Bay (2-24-19) / 21 pts, 6-12 FG, 5-6 3's, 4-4 FT
    at Morehead State (12-4-19) / 17 pts, 7-10 FG, 3-4 3's, 0-1
    Outside of those two games, Weatherford is a combined 6-of-22 from three-point range in 42 career games. 

    STORY TELLER
    In IUPUI's three wins this season, the Jags have held opponents to 36 percent shooting overall and 21 percent from three-point range. 
    In the Jaguars' eight losses, foes have shot 50.4 percent overall and 37.4 percent from beyond the arc. 
    Five of the eight opponents to have beaten the Jags have shot 50 percent or better from the floor. 

BASKETBALL CENTRAL: IUPUI will be a big part of the center of the college basketball universe this March as the 2020 Horizon League Championships will be played at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Mar. 9-10 and the department will later serve as institutional co-host of an NCAA Men's Basketball Regional at Lucas Oil Stadium on Mar. 26-28, alongside the Horizon League and Indiana Sports Corporation. Both the men's and women's Horizon League Semifinals (Mar. 9) and Championship games (Mar. 10) will be played at Indiana Farmers Coliseum as 2020 marks the first of a three-year rotation.