INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will look to stop a recent string of bad luck as the Jaguars will head north to Milwaukee to kickoff a two-game road trip. IUPUI (4-11, 0-2 HL) is coming off a heart breaking 82-80 loss to Cleveland State as the visiting Vikings scored on a tip-in as time expired. 

Friday's game will tip-off at 7:00 p.m. Central (8 Eastern) and can be seen on ESPN3. 

The final tip-in ruined a season-best shooting night from the floor as the Jaguars connected on 52 percent and matched its season-high with 80 points. Jaylen Minnett poured in his final three points of a 23-point effort with an off balanced trey with 8.8 seconds remaining to tie the score, only to see CSU win at the buzzer. Marcus Burk added 19 points and both Mike DePersia (11 points) and Zo Tyson (10 points) had career-highs in the scoring column. Junior Elyjah Goss just missed a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds for his seventh double-digit rebounding effort of the season. Goss ranks 21st nationally, grabbing 10.1 rebounds per game. 

Burk and Minnett continue to rate as one of the top shooting duos in the country as Minnett is third in the nation with 49 made threes and Burk is 14th nationally with 44 trifectas. As a team, IUPUI is shooting 35.5 percent from beyond the arc, to rank second in the Horizon League. 

IUPUI has just one true road win on the season, having won at South Florida, 70-53, on Nov. 13 for the program's first-ever win over an AAC opponent. 
 
ABOUT MILWAUKEE
Milwaukee enters play at 5-9 overall and 4-2 on its home floor this season. The Panthers are amidst a seven-game losing streak, including opening Horizon League play with back-to-back losses at Northern Kentucky (74-64) and at Wright State (82-70) thus far. The Panthers own non-conference wins over Kansas City, North Dakota and Morgan State this season. Darius Roy (15.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg), Illinois-transfer Te'jon Lucas (14.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and Josh Thomas (11.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg) all average double-digits and DeAndre Abram (9.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg) is just off that number. As a team, Milwaukee is efficient with the ball, committing just 13.4 turnovers per game while forcing more than 16 opponent miscues. 

PROBABLE STARTERS
G- Jaylen Minnett (6-1, Jr.) - 14.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.3 apg, 49 3's
G- Marcus Burk (6-3, Jr.) - 18.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 41.1 3FG%, 44 3's
G- Grant Weatherford (6-2, Jr.) - 7.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.6 apg
F- Isaiah Williams (6-8, Jr.) - 8.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg
F- Elyjah Goss (6-7, Jr.) - 8.3 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 1.0 bpg

KEY RESERVES
G- Jamil Jackson Jr. (6-6, Jr.) - 4.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg
G- Mike DePersia (5-11, Fr.) - 2.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.1 apg
F- Zo Tyson (6-9, Gr.) - 3.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 63.6 FG%

SERIES NOTES: IUPUI is 5-5 all-time against Milwaukee, going 3-1 in four meetings in Indianapolis and 2-4 in the six meetings in Milwaukee. IUPUI won the most recent meeting, 67-60 in Indianapolis on Feb. 22, 2019.  

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). 

    COLD FRONTS
    IUPUI is trying to avoid a first-ever 0-3 start in Horizon League play today. Last year's group dropped road games at Northern Kentucky and Wright State before winning at UIC behind 30 points from Camron Justice. 
    In year one of Horizon League play, the Jags were also swept on the opening trip at Northern Kentucky and Wright State before firing back with a win at Green Bay. 
    This year's schedule marks the first time IUPUI has opened Horizon League play at home.  

    CLOSING REMARKS
    IUPUI led both of its last two games with five minutes remaining, before dropping home contests to Youngstown State (83-73) and Cleveland State (82-80). YSU closed the game with a 16-6 run to outlast the Jaguars while CSU scored on a tip-in as the final horn sounded to defeat the Jags on Monday night. 
    Following the loss to CSU on Monday, IUPUI is now 0-5 this season in games decided by two possessions (6 points) or less. 

    SEASON HIGHS
    The offensive was clicking against Cleveland State on Monday as the Jags matched their season-high with 80 points and set new season-highs in field goal percentage (51.9%) and assists (21). The Jags also hit 15-of-18 (83.3%) at the free throw line, marking their second best effort of the season. 
    Jaylen Minnett had a season-high 23 points (8-16 FG, 7-13 3's) and a career-high seven treys, including a game-tying hit with 8.8 seconds left. Freshman Mike DePersia had a career-high 11 points (3-3 FG, 1-1 3's, 4-4 FT) in 24 minutes and grad transfer Zo Tyson scored a career-high 10 points (4-4 FG, 2-2 FT) off the bench. 

    BETTER THAN ALL THE REST
    IUPUI's early season win at South Florida (70-53 on Nov. 13) was widely considered the best non-conference victory by a Horizon League team this season. The Jags entered play as a 17-point underdog before defeating the AAC foe by 17 points. In addition, it was IUPUI's first-ever victory over an AAC opponent in program history. 

    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 277 this season, giving him 1,053 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 (18.5 ppg) and third in the league in threes made (2.93/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 averaging nearly 20 points per game, 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 10 20+ scoring games. 

    MR. WINDEX
    Junior Elyjah Goss currently leads the Horizon League and ranks 21st nationally in rebounding at 10.1 per contest, more than a full rebound ahead of second place Naz Bohannon (YSU). He owns the three of the four highest single-game totals in the Horizon League this season, grabbing a school record 21 against IUSB (Dec. 10), 18 against Youngstown State (Dec. 28) and 17 at Morehead State (Dec. 4). His 21 boards against IUSB is the third-highest single-game total in NCAA Division I this season. 
    All total, Goss has led the Jaguars in rebounds in 13 of the team's 15 games. 
    Since returning to the starting lineup 10 games ago, Goss is averaging 9.8 points and 12.1 rebounds per game. 
    Goss is second in the league in offensive rebounds (3.60 rpg) and tops in defensive (6.47). He's also second in the league in blocked shots (1.00 bpg) and tied for the top in double-doubles (4) and double-digit rebound games (7).  

    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.
    The Jags have played just five games at full strength as Isaiah Williams missed the most recent game with Cleveland 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 third in the league in threes per game (2.93) while Minnett is second in the league in the category (3.27). Burk is second in three-point percentage (41.1%) and Minnett is third at 37.7%. By hitting a combined 6.2 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 5.37 threes/game. 
    Burk is fifth among active juniors (48th among all players) in college basketball with 202 career treys and Minnett is 12th on that list (84th overall) with 178 makes. 
    Minnett's 49 threes this season are tops in the Horizon League and third in the country while Burk's 44 is second in the league and 14th nationally. 

    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-17 (53%) from beyond the arc in the Jaguars' last seven games, coinciding with his return to the starting lineup. 
    Since rejoining the starting unit, Weatherford has tallied in double-digits four times. During the seven games, Weatherford is averaging 10.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 50 percent (26-of-52) from the field and 9-of-17 (53 percent) from three-point range. 

    TOP GUNS
    Burk and Minnett are accounting for the bulk of the Jaguars' offense, having taken 50 percent of the team's field goal attempts (435 of 875) and 73 percent of the team's three-point attempts (237 of 324). In addition, the duo has accounted for 49 percent (491 of 1001) of the team's total points. 
    Burk (18.5 ppg) and Minnett (14.5 ppg) easily lead the team in scoring while Isaiah Williams is third at 8.6 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 51 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 178 made 3's in his career... 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' 11 losses, foes have shot 50.3 percent overall and 38.7 percent from beyond the arc. 
    Seven of the 11 opponents to have beaten the Jags have shot 50 percent or better from the floor. 

    FREEBIES
    IUPUI enters play ranked 343rd of 350 teams in free throw percentage at 60.0 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.