INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will open Horizon League play on Saturday (Dec. 28) when the Jaguars host Youngstown State (7-6, 0-0 HL) inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum at noon. Tickets are available via TicketMaster or at the Coliseum box office during regular business hours. In addition, IUPUI students can bring two FREE guests with a valid Crimson Card and IUPUI faculty and staff members can purchase $5 tickets by showing valid ID. 

IUPUI (4-9, 0-0 HL) had a two-game winning streak snapped at Fresno State before the Christmas holiday, 95-64 on Dec. 20 inside Fresno State's Save Mart Center. Junior Grant Weatherford led the Jags with 16 points, including hitting 5-of-5 from three-point range for the second most makes in a game by an IUPUI player without a miss. Jaylen Minnett chipped in 13 points and both Isaiah Williams and Jamil Jackson Jr. added 10 each. Sophomore Brandon Kenyon contributed seven points and two boards in just six minutes off the IUPUI bench. 

IUPUI is 3-1 at home this season, including a 74-65 win over Purdue Fort Wayne in its most recent home contest. Junior Marcus Burk (18.6 ppg) and Minnett (13.5 ppg) have been the Jags' top offensive threats all season long while Elyjah Goss has emerged as one of the Horizon League's top big men. Goss comes in averaging a league-best 9.4 rebounds per game, while also averaging 7.9 points per game and sitting tied atop in the league in double-digit rebound games (5), double-doubles (3) and blocked shots (1.00 bpg). 

As a team, IUPUI is shooting an impressive 35.1 percent from three-point range, fueled by Burk and Minnett, who have combined to hit 79 threes this season. 

IUPUI is just 1-12 all-time against Youngstown State and has lost the last six meetings in the series. 

ABOUT YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Youngstown State checks in at 7-6 after non-conference play, including wins over NC Central and USC Upstate in the Global Sports Shootout. The Penguins are 6-1 at home this season and 1-5 on the road with the lone victory coming at USC Upstate. Darius Quisenberry (15.2 ppg, 3.2 apg) is YSU's lone double-digit scorer while Carmel-native Garrett Covington is next in line at 8.5 points per game. Michael Akuckie averages 8.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and Naz Bohannon averages 8.0 points and 8.6 rebounds per game on the inside. Four other YSU players, Donel Cathcart (5.8 ppg), Jelani Simmons (5.6 ppg), Devin Morgan (5.3 ppg) and Jamir Thomas (5.0 ppg), all average better than five points per game. As a team, YSU outrebounds opponents by more than four boards per game and commits just 11.9 turnovers per game. 

PROBABLE STARTERS
G- Jaylen Minnett (6-1, Jr.) - 13.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.8 apg
G- Marcus Burk (6-3, Jr.) - 18.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 43.2 3FG%
G- Grant Weatherford (6-2, Jr.) - 7.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.6 apg
F- Isaiah Williams (6-8, Jr.) - 8.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg
F- Elyjah Goss (6-7, Jr.) - 7.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 1.0 bpg

KEY RESERVES
G- Jamil Jackson Jr. (6-6, Jr.) - 4.5 ppg, 1.2 rpg
G- Mike DePersia (5-11, Fr.) - 2.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.8 apg
F- Zo Tyson (6-9, Gr.) - 2.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 57.1 FG%

SERIES NOTES: IUPUI is 1-12 all-time against YSU and has dropped the last six meetings in the series. The series dates back to December 1975, followed by meetings in the 1976-77 and 1977-78 seasons. The two teams were Mid-Continent Conference foes from 1999-2001 and returned as Horizon League foes, beginning with the 2017-18 season. IUPUI is just 1-9 against YSU during the program's Division I era.   

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). 

    FRESNO TAKEAWAYS
    IUPUI closed the non-conference slate with a 95-64 defeat at Fresno State on Dec. 20... both Marcus Burk and Isaiah Williams left the game to injuries, as Grant Weatherford (16 pts, 5-5 3's, 3 reb, 2 stl) and Jaylen Minnett (13 pts, 2-7 3's, 2 ast) led the team in scoring... Weatherford's five treys without a miss is the second most in IUPUI history... sophomore Brandon Kenyon had seven points (2-2 FG, 3-3 FT) and two rebounds in just six minutes off the bench... IUPUI yielded 52 first half points, the most by an IUPUI opponent this season... the Jags were also bullied on the glass as the Bulldogs grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and 29 second chance points, both season-high efforts by IUPUI opponents this season... New Williams paced four Fresno players in double-digits with 24 points (9-15 FG, 6-11 3's) and five steals. 

    MR. 1,000
    Junior Marcus Burk netted his 1,000 collegiate point in the Dec. 14 win over Purdue Fort Wayne with a three-point play at the 12:57 mark of the first half. Burk, an Indianapolis-native, tallied 776 in two seasons at Campbell and now has 242 this season, giving him 1,018 in his collegiate career. 
    Here are some more tidbits on Burk from the first half of the season:
    -Burk has undoubtedly been IUPUI's top offensive player all season, ranking No. 2 in the Horizon League in scoring (18.6 ppg) and second in the league in threes made (3.15/gm).  
    -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 is currently second in the Horizon League with seven 20-point scoring games, trailing only Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis, who has nine 20+ scoring games. 

    MR. WINDEX
    Junior Elyjah Goss currently leads the Horizon League and ranks 40th nationally in rebounding at 9.4 per contest, nearly a full rebound ahead of second place Naz Bohannon (YSU). He owns the two of the three 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 set a new IUPUI single-game school record and is the third-highest single-game total in NCAA Division I this season. 
    All total, Goss has led the Jaguars in rebounds in 11 of the team's 13 games. 
    Since returning to the starting lineup eight games ago, Goss is averaging 9.6 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. 
    Not only does Goss lead the Horizon League in rebounding and defensive rebounding (6.3 rpg), he's tied atop the league lead in blocked shots (1.00 bpg), double-doubles (3) and double-digit rebound games (5).  

    E'S RECORD BREAKING NIGHT
    Junior Elyjah Goss had a record breaking night against IU South Bend on 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.
    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.  

    HEALTH CHECK
    The Dec. 7 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. 

    SPLASH BROTHERS
    IUPUI's version of the Splash Brothers - Marcus Burk and Jaylen Minnett - has been impressive, both ranking among the Horizon League's top three in threes made and three-point percentage. 
    Burk is second in the league in three per game (3.15) while Minnett is third in the league in the category (2.92). Burk leads in three-point percentage (43.2%) and Minnett is third at 35.2%. By hitting a combined 6.07 threes/game, the duo is tops in the league for a tandem as Northern Kentucky's Dantez Walton and Tyler Sharpe are next in line at 5.31 threes/game. 

    WARM WEATHERFORD
    Junior Grant Weatherford is making a claim to join Burk and Minnett as an elite three-point shooter. After starting the season 0-of-6 from deep in the season's first eight games, Weatherford is 9-of-14 (64.3%) from beyond the arc in the Jaguars' last five games, coinciding with his return to the starting lineup. 
    Since rejoining the starting unit five games ago, Weatherford has tallied in double-digits in four of those contests. During the five games, Weatherford is averaging 12.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 56.8 percent (21-of-37) from the field and 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) from three-point range. 

    TOP GUNS
    Burk and Minnett are accounting for the bulk of the Jaguars' offense, having taken 49 percent of the team's field goal attempts (377 of 763) and 74 percent of the team's three-point attempts (203 of 276). In addition, the duo has accounted for 49 percent (417 of 848) of the team's total points. 
    Burk (18.6 ppg) and Minnett (13.5 ppg) easily lead the team in scoring while Isaiah Williams is third at 8.2 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 49 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 167 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).  

    STORY TELLER
    In IUPUI's four wins this season, the Jags have held opponents to 37 percent shooting overall and 23.4 percent from three-point range. 
    In the Jaguars' nine losses, foes have shot 49.7 percent overall and 37.6 percent from beyond the arc. 
    Five of the nine opponents to have beaten the Jags have shot 50 percent or better from the floor. 

    FREEBIES
    IUPUI enters play ranked 340th of 350 teams in free throw percentage at 60.3 percent, which is well on pace to be the lowest mark in the program's Division I era. The current low mark was a 65.4 percentage for the 2008-09 season. The lowest single-season mark on record in program history was a 62.7 percentage in the 1976-77 campaign.
 
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.