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INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team dropped a second straight come-from-behind effort to cap the current five-game homestand on Saturday (Feb. 9) as the Jaguars battled back from an 18-point deficit before ultimately falling to UIC, 76-75. IUPUI misfired on three potential go-ahead attempts in the final seconds, including a hook shot from
Ahmed Ismail on the final play, before UIC escaped with the game's final rebound.
Sophomore
Jaylen Minnett led the Jaguars with 20 points off the bench, including four treys, and Ismail bullied his way to 13 points, eight boards and two blocked shots in the loss. Marcus Ottey led five UIC (13-12, 7-5 HL) players in double-digits with 13 points and both Tarkus Ferguson and Michael Diggins closed with 12 apiece.
"Honestly, I thought it was a really good basketball game. Any time you lose by one, you can look back at a million different things that could've swung it in your favor. A missed free throw, a missed block out, a missed layup - but all those things add up in a game like this," head coach
Jason Gardner said. "I thought we did a really good job of getting stops in the second half and getting back in the game. We fought them really hard and came back and took the lead.
"It's just when it came time to make plays to get the win, we didn't necessarily get it done."
IUPUI (14-11, 6-6 HL) trailed 50-36 at halftime and was down 61-43 with 13:18 to play before turning up the defense and making it a game late. A 13-1 IUPUI run cut the UIC lead to 64-61 with 9:01 left and was keyed by Minnett's hot shooting and some big plays from
Grant Weatherford. Weatherford brought energy to the building by swooping in for a one-handed dunk in transition and later completed a three-point play.
Even after UIC pushed the lead back to 72-62 with 6:57 remaining, the Jags refused to wilt, instead firing back with a 13-2 run to take a 75-74 lead with 1:20 left.
D.J. McCall swished an uncontested wing three to make it 74-72 and
Evan Hall later tied the score with a tip-in of a Minnett miss.
The Jags later took the lead when Ismail split a pair of free throws with 80 seconds left. IUPUI then came up with a big defensive stand when Godwin Boahen missed a fallaway three, giving IUPUI the lead and possession with under a minute. However, a
Camron Justice turnover resulted in a Ottey transition bucket, which was the eventual game-winner.
On the ensuing possession, McCall drove down the middle, but had a shot sent away by Ferguson. Hall grabbed the offensive board and fired to Justice in the left corner, who tried to draw a foul on a leaning three, to no avail. However, Jordan Blount grabbed the rebound, but threw the ball away on an outlet pass with 3.3 seconds left.
On the final possession, IUPUI opted to lob the ball inside to Ismail, who hurried a hook from just beyond the left block before time expired.
IUPUI shot just 39.7 percent for the game and 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) from three. Conversely, UIC shot 50 percent overall and 10-of-21 (47.6 percent), including eight first half makes. The Jaguars' saving grace was 16 offensive boards, which they converted into 17 points. The Jags also turned it over just 11 times and outscored UIC 23-15 in points off turnovers.
Justice, who was wearing a protective mask after suffering an injury in the second half of last week's game with Wright State, was held to a season-low six points on just 2-of-10 shooting overall and 0-of-7 from three. Hall finished with 10 points and six rebounds while Weatherford added 10 points and four boards.
Rob Howard and Jamie Ahale tallied 11 each for UIC on a combined 5-of-7 from deep. Ferguson scored nine of his 12 points in a 58 second stretch of the first half that saw him hit three straight treys, turning a 13-12 IUPUI lead into a 21-13 UIC advantage.
IUPUI will hit the road next week for a two-game road trip, beginning at Youngstown State on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 7:00 p.m.. That game will be heard on IUPUIJags.com as Morgan Adcock (pxp) is on the call.
