INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will open its final homestand of the 2018-19 season on Friday night (Feb. 22) when the Jaguars take on Milwaukee (9-18, 4-10) at 7:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Friday's game will be
Favorite Professor Night as selected IUPUI faculty and staff members will be acknowledged throughout the evening. In addition, IUPUI Hall of Famer Matt Crenshaw will have his No. 21 jersey retired at halftime as numerous former players are expected to attend, including current Milwaukee Bucks guard George Hill.
IUPUI (14-13, 6-8 HL) comes in amidst a befuddling four-game losing skid by a combined 11 points. The Jaguars dropped back-to-back games on the most recent road trip at Youngstown State and at Cleveland State, missing potential game-tying or game-winning attempts at the final horn of each contest. Seniors
Evan Hall and
D.J. McCall matched their season-highs with 18 points each at Cleveland State while junior
Camron Justice chipped in with 17 points. Sophomore
Jaylen Minnett tallied 15 off the Jaguars' bench and senior
Ahmed Ismail, making his second straight start, closed with 12 points and seven boards.
IUPUI surged out to 16-2 lead in that game, but trailed by three at the break and by as many as nine in the second half. The Jags were down 87-80 with 33 seconds remaining, but battled back to make it a one-possession game before ultimately falling short.
Head coach Jason Gardner's team enters Friday's contest two games clear of ninth-place Milwaukee for the final spot in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament. A win would all but cement a berth while a loss will make tighten things up over the season's final three games. IUPUI could still potentially host a quarterfinals round game of the Horizon League Tournament by climbing among the top four seeds over the next two weeks.
HL STANDINGS (as of 2/20/2019):
t-1. Northern Kentucky (10-4)
t-1. Wright State (10-4)
t-3. UIC (8-6)
t-3. Green Bay (8-6)
t-5. Oakland (8-7)
t-5. Youngstown State (8-7)
7. Detroit Mercy (7-8)
8. IUPUI (6-8)
9. Milwaukee (4-10)
10. Cleveland State (3-12)
QUOTABLE: "We just need to get back to where we're playing consistent basketball. This is four games in a row where little things have cost us. We're not good enough to overcome those mistakes and still win. I liked how hard we played and how well we competed, but we had too many breakdowns tonight," head coach Jason Gardner said after last Saturday's loss at Cleveland State.
UP NEXT: IUPUI will close out the regular season on Sunday (Feb. 24) when the Jaguars host Green Bay at 1:00 p.m. inside the Coliseum. IUPUI will recognize the senior trio of
Evan Hall,
Ahmed Ismail and
D.J. McCall at approximately 12:45 p.m. that day with tip-off slated for 1:04 p.m..
QUICK NOTES (click here to access the full notes for Friday's game):
JAGS DROP FOURTH STRAIGHT TO CAP TWO-GAME TRIP
IUPUI's tough luck continued last weekend when the Jaguars dropped an 89-86 decision at Cleveland State on Saturday night (Feb. 16) inside the Wolstein Center. IUPUI surged out to a 16-2 lead in the game's opening six minutes, but Cleveland State fired back and took a 43-40 lead by halftime. CSU built a 9-point lead midway through the second half before trying to hold on in the closing minute. The Vikings led 87-80 with 33 seconds left, but the Jags fired back to make it a one possession game before missing a potential game tying three at the final horn.
Seniors
Evan Hall and
D.J. McCall finished with a team-high 18 points each and
Camron Justice finished with 17 points. Sophomore
Jaylen Minnett tallied 15, all in the second half, and
Ahmed Ismail closed with 12. Tyree Appleby had a game-high 26 points and 11 assists while CSU shot 59 percent from the floor and hit 15-of-27 (56 percent) from three-point range. Rashad Williams finished with 18 points on six treys.
Here are more notes from last Saturday's loss:
-CSU's 59 percent shooting and 56 percent from three were the highest marks against the Jaguars' defense this season. In addition, CSU's 15 made threes were the most by an IUPUI opponent this season as well.
-IUPUI grabbed a season-high 23 offensive boards and outscored CSU 26-18 on second chance points. On the flip side, IUPUI grabbed a season-low 16 defensive boards. McCall paced IUPUI with nine boards.
-Minnett delivered a career-high five assists off the bench to go along with his 15 points.
-Both Hall and McCall matched their season-highs in the scoring column with 18 points apiece. Hall hit 9-of-14 shots and McCall connected on 6-of-12 attempts.
-Sophomore
Jakoby Kemp made a rare appearance off the Jaguars' bench, grabbing a career-high four boards (all offensive) in five minutes of action. He also stayed perfect from the floor this season, moving his shooting numbers to 6-of-6 for the season.
-Ismail made his third three of the season in just four attempts.
MILESTONES
-The UIC game marked the 150th game of head coach Jason Gardner's IUPUI career.
-Senior
Evan Hall became the 15th player in IUPUI history to grab 500 career rebounds at UIC (Jan. 4). Fellow senior
D.J. McCall followed in line as the 16th in school history to hit the number against Wright State (Feb. 3).
-Senior
D.J. McCall delivered his 200th career assist against UIC (Feb. 9).
-Sophomore
Jaylen Minnett hit his 100th career three in the win over Detroit Mercy (Jan. 26). He tallied his 500th career point against UIC (Feb. 9).
-The game at Green Bay was
Evan Hall's 100th career game played.
-
Nick Rogers dished out the 100th assist of his IUPUI career at Wright State.
-
Elyjah Goss grabbed his 250th career rebound at Milwaukee.
-Fifth-year senior
D.J. McCall played his 2,500th career minute at NKU.
STREAKS
-Minnett has made a three in 30 straight games, dating back to last season as he owns one of the nation's 10 longest streaks for consecutive games with a triple.
-Senior
D.J. McCall has started 54 straight games, dating back to last season.
NEW FIVE
For just the third time this season, IUPUI used a new starting five at Youngstown State on Thursday (Feb. 14) due to an injury to
Elyjah Goss.
Senior center
Ahmed Ismail (13.5 pts, 7.5 reb) has filled in admirably in his two most recent starts, getting the nod at both YSU and Cleveland State. Ismail also started the season opener in place of an injured
Evan Hall.
Otherwise, the quintet of
Camron Justice,
D.J. McCall,
Grant Weatherford, Goss and Hall has started 23 times this year.
11 POINTS
IUPUI has lost the last four games by a combined 11 points with the largest margin of defeat coming in the 5-point loss to Wright State. Since then, IUPUI has lost by 1 to UIC, 2 to Youngstown State and 3 to Cleveland State. IUPUI has had potential game-winning or game-tying shots at the final horn of each of the past three games.
In the four games, IUPUI has shot 43 percent from the floor and 30 percent from three while opponents are shooting 49 percent overall and 46 percent from three-point range. The four opponents are averaging 11 treys per game during the losing skid.
RECENT HOLES
The first three of IUPUI's losses during the four-game skid have been similarly themed as IUPUI has fallen into massive first half holes, rallied late, and then ultimately fallen short. Below is a quick recap of each of those three outcomes.
Feb. 3 - Wright State 79, IUPUI 74 (Indiana Farmers Coliseum)
Jags fall behind 27-6 at the 11:54 mark of the first half... come all the way back and lead by as many as three in the second half... allow a 10-1 WSU run late in the game to see the Raiders escape with a 5-point win.
Feb. 9 - UIC 76, IUPUI 75 (Indiana Farmers Coliseum)
Jags fall behind by as many as 15 in the first half and still trail 61-43 with 13:18 to play... Jags rally to take a 75-74 lead with 1:20 left before UIC regains the lead with 26 seconds left... Jags miss three potential go-ahead opportunities on the game's final possession.
Feb. 14 - Youngstown State 75, IUPUI 73 (Youngstown, Ohio)
YSU leads by as many as 15 in the first half and still leads 59-44 with 10:32 remaining... Jags rally to take a late lead before the Penguins' Donel Cathcart hits a game-winning three with 5.5 seconds left... Jags miss running 3 at the final horn.
INDICATORS
As the season wears on, two trends have become indicators as to how IUPUI will fare.
1.) IUPUI is 12-1 this season when shooting a higher percentage than their opponent. That number has been consistent under Gardner as IUPUI is 56-9 (.862) in his five seasons when shooting a higher percentage than their opponent.
2.) IUPUI is now 9-1 this season when holding opponents to 70 points or less. In IUPUI wins, IUPUI holds foes to 40 percent and an average of 67.6 points per game. In IUPUI losses, foes are shooting better than 49 percent and scoring an average of 80 points per game.
GLASS EATERS
IUPUI has been strong on the glass all year long, outrebounding foes by a league-high 4.7 rebounds per game to rank 46th in the nation. However, the Jags have been particularly impressive on the glass in league play with a +6.0 margin in league games.
IUPUI has outrebounded its opponent by 10 or more boards nine times this season, including six times in Horizon League play.
DO IT INSIDE
Bucking the national trend, IUPUI relies heavily on the interior for points this season. The Jags average 35 points per game in the paint and also rank among the nation's leaders in free throws made and attempted.
In league play, IUPUI is hitting just 6.5 treys per game while seven Horizon League teams hit 8-or-more 3's per game in league play.
HEAVY HITTERS
IUPUI opened conference play with arguably the toughest opening schedule in Horizon League history, taking on the top three picks in the league's preseason polls, all on the road. The trio of Wright State, Northern Kentucky and UIC collected 39 of the 40 possible first-place votes and easily separated from the second tier of selections.
The Jaguars dropped the first two of the three-game stretch, losing at Northern Kentucky and Wright State, before rebounding to win at UIC last Friday (Jan. 4).
HE GO, WE GO - JUSTICE NOTES
In this instance, 'he' being
Camron Justice. IUPUI is 9-4 this season when Justice scores 20-or-better. Justice was the first IUPUI player to score 20-or-more in four straight games since Jan. 14-28, 2012 when Alex Young went for 27-27-26-22 in a four-game span.
-The Kentucky-native has led IUPUI in scoring in 18 of 26 games and scored in double-digits in 24 of the Jaguars' 26 games.
TURN BACK THE CLOCK
IUPUI got a skosh younger over the holiday break in terms of years of eligibility remaining.
Grant Weatherford was awarded a clock extension from the NCAA in December, allowing him a sixth year in which to complete his four playing seasons - thus making him a sophomore eligibility-wise. IUPUI Associate AD for Compliance
Laura Hue took the lead on applying for the successful waiver.
CLASS ACTS
Nine Jaguars were named to the department's Academic Advisor's List for the fall semester for earning a 3.0 GPA or better -
Daniel Alston,
Elyjah Goss,
Jack Hansen, Jamil Jackson,
Trevor Johnson,
Jakoby Kemp,
Brandon Kenyon,
D.J. McCall and
Grant Weatherford. Hansen notched a perfect 4.0 GPA during the fall semester.
McCall and Weatherford were also named to the Horizon League's Academic Honor Roll.
