FRESNO, Calif. - The IUPUI basketball team couldn't get away from Fresno State's Save Mart Center quickly enough as the Jaguars closed the non-conference schedule with a 95-64 loss to the host Bulldogs on Friday night (Dec. 20). The Jaguars saw the hosts drain a season-high 15 threes at a 39 percent clip and were outrebounded 46-27 as Fresno State (4-7) guard New Williams closed with 24 points and 6-of-11 from deep. 

Junior Grant Weatherford paced four IUPUI (4-9) players in double-digits with 16 points and a perfect 5-of-5 from three-point range, while Jaylen Minnett chimed in with 13 points in 38 minutes. Isaiah Williams finished with 10 points and five rebounds, but was forced to leave the game early in the second half due to an injury. Jamil Jackson Jr. also closed with 10 points while the Jaguars' top scorer, Marcus Burk, was limited to just two points on 1-of-10 shooting before suffering an injury late in the first half. 

Things went ugly early for the Jaguars after Williams put IUPUI ahead 12-11 with 14:25 left before intermission. Fresno State fired back with a 23-3 run over the game's next eight-plus minutes before Elyjah Goss slammed home a Burk miss to stop the rally. Nate Grimes opened the run with a layup and followed with a trey before Niven Hart scored in close. Williams and Mustafa Lawrence then nailed back-to-back threes to extend the lead to double-digits. 

Jackson made a three to pull IUPUI back within nine, but Fresno State scored eight of the game's next 10 points at the free throw line as fouls piled up on the Jags before the break. 

The first half ended with Hart draining a 35-footer as time expired to give the Bulldogs a 52-25 lead. Fresno State's first six made field goals of the second half all came from behind the three-point line, including a flurry of makes from Grimes, Hart and Williams that fueled a 12-0 run to push the lead beyond 30. 

Weatherford made all five of his triples in the second half and finished with the second most three-point makes in a game without a miss by an IUPUI player in school history. Todd Schabel holds the single-game record, having gone 6-of-6 against Wright State on Feb. 2, 1987. 

Sophomore Brandon Kenyon added a season-high seven points off the Jaguars' bench and Goss closed with six points and seven rebounds. 

IUPUI will return home to open Horizon League play next Saturday (Dec. 28) at 12:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. IUPUI students can bring two guests for FREE with a valid Crimson Card while IUPUI faculty and staff members can purchase a $5 ticket with their campus ID. Tickets are available via TicketMaster or by visiting the Coliseum box office during regular business hours. 

That game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Scott McCauley (pxp) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) describe the action.