ROCHESTER, Mich. - The IUPUI basketball team will cap the regular season on Saturday (Mar. 2) when the Jaguars take on Oakland University (14-16, 10-7 HL) at 4:00 p.m. on ESPN3 inside the Athletics Center O'rena. Seeding is on the line heading into the final game of the regular season as the Jaguars can finish anywhere from Nos. 6-8 in the league standings. On the flip side, Oakland has already clinched an opening round home game and a top-4 seed.
IUPUI has been tough luck losers recently with the last five losses coming by a combined 13 points. The Jags dropped a narrow decision at Detroit Mercy on Thursday night by an 87-85 score, despite shooting 55 percent for the game and putting five players in double-digits. Junior
Camron Justice led the Jaguars with 22 points, including five treys, and
Evan Hall added 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
Jaylen Minnett (12),
Elyjah Goss (11) and
Ahmed Ismail (10) also scored in double-digits. Josh McFolley led six Titans in double-digits with 23 points and Antoine Davis added 20.
HL STANDINGS (as of 2/27/2019):
t-1. Northern Kentucky (12-5)
t-1. Wright State (12-5)
t-3. Green Bay (10-7)
t-3. Oakland (10-7)
5. UIC (9-8)
t-6. IUPUI (8-9)
t-6. Youngstown State (8-9)
t-6. Detroit Mercy (8-9)
t-9. Cleveland State (4-13)
t-9. Milwaukee (4-13)
QUOTABLE: "We gave ourselves a chance to win in the final minute on the road and that's really all you can ask for. Offensively, I thought we played well enough to win, but defensively, we just didn't get the stops when we needed them and we gave them way too many second chances. When we did force them into tough shots, we didn't finish the possession by getting the rebound, especially in the first half. Winning on the road is especially tough and we didn't get a whole lot of breaks, but you have to give them credit for making some shots down the stretch," head coach Jason Gardner said.
UP NEXT: IUPUI will begin the Horizon League Tournament early next week and the Jaguars will be either No. 6, 7 or 8 seed. The Jaguars will definitely be on the road for the quarterfinals round and will earn a trip to Detroit for the semifinals on Mar. 11 with a victory.
QUICK NOTES (click here to access the full notes for Saturday's game):
JAGS DROP ANOTHER CLOSE AFFAIR, THIS TIME AT DETROIT MERCY
The IUPUI basketball team came up on the wrong end of yet another close affair on Thursday night (Feb. 28) as the Jaguars dropped an 87-85 decision at Detroit Mercy inside historic Calihan Hall. Senior Josh McFolley led six Titans in double-digits with 23 points and freshman Antoine Davis added 20 while breaking Steph Curry's freshman record for threes in a season in the process.
Junior
Camron Justice paced five Jags in double-digits with 22 points and senior
Evan Hall added 16 on 8-of-11 shooting. Sophomore
Jaylen Minnett tossed in 12 and classmate
Elyjah Goss had 11 points and seven boards off the bench while senior center
Ahmed Ismail contributed 10 points and eight boards.
IUPUI shot 55 percent from the field and 42 percent from three-point range, but struggled to get stops at the other end. Detroit Mercy shot 50 percent overall and 35 percent from three, while turning the ball over just eight times. McFolley made two late treys, the second of which gave the Titans an 84-81 lead with 45 seconds to play.
The Jags had chances, but ultimately lost for the fifth time in seven games with the defeats coming by a combined 13 points. IUPUI cut the lead back to one when Hall tipped in a Justice missed from the top of the key with 29 seconds left. With the shot clock off, IUPUI received a gift when McFolley threw an errant inbounds pass right to Justice, who immediately attacked the rim. The Jaguars' top scorer absorbed contact on his way to the basket, causing him to miss the layup. UDM's Marquise Moore grabbed the rebound, was immediately fouled and sank both free throws.
Given an opportunity to tie, Minnett missed badly on a contested try from the corner with nine seconds left and UDM rebounded the miss to seal the game.
CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR
IUPUI has dropped five of its last seven games with the two wins coming at home over Milwaukee and Green Bay. Those five losses have come by a combined 13 points and four by a single possession. In league play, IUPUI has played six one possession games, going 2-4.
In Horizon League games, only four IUPUI games have been decided by double-digits with the Jags going 3-1 in those contests.
3 NOTES
Junior
Camron Justice has hit 83 treys this season, putting him fifth on the program's single-season record list. Sophomore
Jaylen Minnett is two shy of cracking the top-10, having hit 70 this season.
Their combined 153 treys this season is the third-highest single-season mark in school history, 16 shy of the school record of 169, set in 2003-04 by Akeem Clark (109) and Brandon Cole (60).
This season is just the fourth season in school history in which two different IUPUI players have each made 70 treys.
MILESTONES
-The UIC game marked the 150th game of 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.
-
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 an IUPUI D1 record 33 straight games, dating back to last season. His streak is the eighth longest active streak in D1 college basketball.
-Senior
D.J. McCall has started 56 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 Feb. 14 due to an injury to
Elyjah Goss.
Senior center
Ahmed Ismail (11.8 pts, 7.8 reb, 73 FG%) has filled in admirably in his five most recent starts, getting the nod in Goss' stead. 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.
INDICATORS
As the season wears on, three trends have become indicators as to how IUPUI will fare.
1.) IUPUI is 14-2 this season when shooting a higher percentage than their opponent. That number has been consistent under Gardner as IUPUI is 58-10 (.853) in his five seasons when shooting a higher percentage than their opponent.
2.) IUPUI is now 11-1 this season when holding opponents to 70 points or less. In IUPUI wins, IUPUI holds foes to 41 percent and an average of 67.7 points per game. In IUPUI losses, foes are shooting 49 percent and scoring 80 points per game.
3.) IUPUI is 15-5 this season when outrebounding opponents and 1-9 when being outrebounded or rebounds are equal.
GLASS EATERS
IUPUI has been strong on the glass all year long, outrebounding foes by a league-high 5.0 rebounds per game to rank 34th in the nation. However, the Jags have been particularly impressive on the glass in league play with a league best +6.2 margin in Horizon League games.
IUPUI has outrebounded its opponent by 10 or more boards 10 times this season, including seven 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 34.5 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 a league-low 7.0 treys per game while four Horizon League teams hit 9-or-more 3's per game in league play.
HE GO, WE GO - JUSTICE NOTES
In this instance, 'he' being
Camron Justice. IUPUI is 9-5 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 19 of 30 games and scored in double-digits in 28 of the Jaguars' 30 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.
BEST START SINCE...
The Jags' 8-3 start was the program's best start in head coach Jason Gardner's five seasons and best start since the 2009-10 season. That squad finished 25-11 overall and earned a spot in the CBI that season. This marks the first time Gardner has had IUPUI above .500 beyond the fourth game of any of his five seasons.
ROLLING ON DUBS
IUPUI has points-rebounds double-doubles from three different players this season as
Elyjah Goss,
Evan Hall and
Ahmed Ismail have all pulled the trick. For perspective, IUPUI hasn't had three different players get double-doubles in a season since 2013-14 when four different players registered at least one (Marcellus Barksdale, Donovan Gibbs, Khufu Najee & Mitch Patton).
BLOW OUT THE CANDLES
Head coach Jason Gardner celebrated his 38th birthday in style, collecting his 50th career head coaching win at Boston College on November 14. The win was the Jaguars' first over an ACC opponent since 2001 and first over a Power 5 school since winning at Seton Hall in 2009.
Gardner is third on the program's all-time wins list at 60, but is a far cry from the top two in program history. Current Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter (275) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (195) own the top two spots in program history.
SHARING THE WEALTH
IUPUI has had nine different players have hit for 10-or-more points at least once this season.
Nick Rogers became the most recent player to tally double-digits, joining a group that includes
Elyjah Goss,
Evan Hall,
Jack Hansen,
Ahmed Ismail,
Camron Justice,
D.J. McCall,
Jaylen Minnett and
Grant Weatherford.
HOT BENCH
A staple under head coach Jason Gardner has been his teams' bench scoring as the IUPUI leader likes to play 9-10 players and use his bench frequently. Gardner's teams have matched or outscored the opposition's bench in 115 of 155 games (74.2 percent), including 23 of 30 games this season. All total, the IUPUI bench is averaging almost 27 points per game this season and outscoring opponents' benches by 6.5 points per game. The Jags' bench scored a season-high 66 points in the win over IU Northwest.
