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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The IUPUI basketball team was all decked in red for Thursday's Valentine's Day date with Youngstown State inside the Beeghly Center. Unfortunately for the Jaguars, it was the same old song and dance of late as the Jaguars fell into a big hole early and ultimately fell short, 75-73. YSU's Donel Cathcart knocked in a wing three with 5.5 seconds left after IUPUI senior Evan Hall had given the Jaguars a 73-72 lead on the previous trip with a layup. 

IUPUI (14-12, 6-7 HL) opted against calling a timeout and Nick Rogers raced up the sideline before having a running trey fall off the front of the rim as time expired.  

Jelani Simmons and Darius Quisenberry led Youngstown State (11-16, 7-7 HL) with 17 points apiece and Michael Akuchie chipped in 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting as the Penguins won for a fifth straight time. Senior D.J. McCall led four Jaguars in double-digits with 16 points and eight rebounds and classmate Ahmed Ismail added 15 points and eight caroms, starting in place of an injured Elyjah Goss. 

Junior Camron Justice closed with 14 points and six assists and Rogers finished with 11, all in the second half. 

"We just have to find energy early in the ballgame and not get into such a big hole. We fought and battled all night and really came up with some big plays, but they made the biggest play of the night on that last possession. I'm proud of our guys and proud of how they fought until the end. It just wasn't our night," head coach Jason Gardner said. "I thought we defended them pretty well in the second half and we executed and got the shots we wanted. Seventeen turnovers is too many to have on the road and expect to win."

The three-point line proved to be the tipping point as IUPUI shot just 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) while YSU canned 11-of-26 (42.3 percent). Both Simmons and Quisenberry hit three each for the Penguins and Cathcart and Akuchie each had two. 

IUPUI scored the game's first six points but YSU dominated from there, eventually building a 15-point lead late in the first half. The Jags scored the final four points of the half to make it 39-30 at the break. YSU rebuilt the 15-point lead in the second half as Cathcart's first trey of the night made it 59-44 with 10:32 left. The Jags responded with a 13-0 run spurred by a pair of Rogers' threes. The run received a jolt when Justice was fouled with 6:36 to play and YSU was called for a technical foul after the play for knocking the Jags' leading scorer to the floor. Justice made 2-of-3 free throws, but IUPUI came up empty on the ensuing possession as the Penguins clung to a two-point lead. 

IUPUI finally took its first second half lead with 2:34 remaining when Ismail got loose for an easy layup off a Rogers feed. YSU countered with four straight points from Quisenberry, but IUPUI took its final lead of the night when McCall banked in a runner with 1:24 left and then Hall scored in close with 49 seconds to play. The Jags dug in defensively and initially forced a Cathcart miss with 18 seconds left, but Grant Weatherford grabbed the defensive rebound while standing on the endline. Given new life, Cathcart cashed in as Quisenberry drove into the tall trees and pitched out to his teammate, who stroked the winner in front of his own bench. 

IUPUI rebounded from a 36 percent shooting effort in the first half to knock down 58 percent after halftime to finish at 46 percent for the game. YSU shot just 41 percent overall, but cashed in 24 points off the Jaguars' 17 turnovers. The Jags dominated the glass, in part due to Evan Hall's nine boards and career-high five blocked shots.

The loss dropped IUPUI to 1-12 all-time against YSU and 0-4 since joining the Horizon League prior to last season. 

IUPUI will cap the two-game road trip at Cleveland State on Saturday (Feb. 16) at 7:00 p.m. inside the Wolstein Center in a game that will be aired on ESPN3. In addition, Saturday's game can be heard on IUPUIJags.com as Morgan Adcock (pxp) is on the call.