DETROIT, Mich. - Despite a stalwart effort from junior guard Marcus Burk, the IUPUI basketball team dropped a fourth straight game as the Jaguars fell on the road at Detroit Mercy, 76-64, inside Calihan Hall on Thursday night (Jan. 23). Burk finished with a team-high 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first career double-double in the loss. Junior Elyjah Goss finished with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting and 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season and fifth in Horizon League play and Jaylen Minnett tallied 15 points, all after halftime. Minnett also closed with a team-high five assists. 

Burk and Goss became the first IUPUI duo to collect double-doubles in the same game since January 2014. 

Sophomore sharpshooter Antoine Davis led Detroit Mercy (5-16, 3-5 HL) with 27 points and seven rebounds while Chris Brandon chimed in with an impressive double-double with 18 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots. Brandon hit 9-of-10 field goal attempts, all from in close, as the host Titans shot 42.4 percent from the floor and limited IUPUI to just over 40 percent shooting. 

With Brandon setting the tone with three early blocked shots, Detroit Mercy (5-16, 3-5 HL) opened the game by outscoring the Jaguars 11-2 in the opening few minutes, bullying the guests on the interior and on the glass. Undersized and undermanned, the Jaguars had no answer for the Titans' front court, which eventually opened the door for Davis and the other Detroit Mercy guards. 

After IUPUI closed within four on a Burk jumper, the Titans outscored IUPUI 19-3 over an eight minute stretch to build a 21-point first half lead. Both Davis and Brad Calipari connected on a pair of triples during the run as Detroit connected on seven first half triples.  

"A lot of execution has to do with it," Burk said of the Jaguars' recent early game offensive struggles. "Sometimes we're not really running the plays that coach tells us and we try to do our own thing. We just have to be more focused and execute what (Coach Rimm) is talking about and put the ball in the basket."

The IUPUI (5-16, 1-7 HL) offense labored through the opening half, making just 9-of-30 field goal attempts (30 percent) as Burk tallied 15 of the team's 22 points before halftime. Burk continued to fire away early in the second half until Minnett heated up and started connecting from deep. The Terre Haute-native extended the nation's second-longest streak of games with at least one trey to 56 straight games, dating back to his freshman campaign, connecting on 3-of-12 from deep. 

Burk finished 10-of-22 overall and 5-of-12 from three-point range. 

The Jags clawed away throughout the second half and had multiple opportunities to cut the lead to single-digits, but ultimately got no closer than 10 after intermission. 

IUPUI (5-16, 1-7 HL) was without the trio of Isaiah Williams, Zo Tyson and Jamil Jackson Jr., and saw junior Jakoby Kemp leave late in the contest with an injury. With the increasingly shortened bench, IUPUI received just three points from the reserves as Kemp closed with two points, a rebound and an assist in 12 minutes before leaving with the injury. Brandon Kenyon added a point with a first half free throw and true freshman Taveion White grabbed two boards in his most extensive playing time in over two months. 

IUPUI, which had made more free throws than its opponents had attempts during league play, was held to just seven foul shots and didn't draw a foul for more than 13 minutes of the second half. Detroit Mercy cashed in on 11-of-12 attempts (91.7 percent), keyed by Davis' perfect 8-of-8 effort. 

"We're always fighting and we're always fighting to the very end," Burk said. "Hopefully we can get on the right track and get off to better starts."

IUPUI will continue the stretch of four straight road games on Saturday (Jan. 25) when the Jaguars take on Oakland University at 3:00 p.m. inside the Athletics Center O'rena in Rochester, Mich.