INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will return from a lengthy COVID related layoff later this week to host Horizon League co-leader Cleveland State (4-3, 4-0 HL) on Friday (Jan. 1) and Saturday (Jan. 2). Friday's game will tip-off at 2:00 p.m. and Saturday's contest will tip at noon. No fans will be permitted to attend Horizon League games this season until further notice so the only coverage for this week's games will be the ESPN+ streams. Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and former Jaguar Marcellus Barksdale (analyst) will be on the call from inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. 

The Jaguars lone game to date this season was a 69-66 win over Tennessee State on Dec. 12, fueled by 18 points from Marcus Burk and 10 points, eight assists and four boards from sophomore guard Mike DePersia. The Jags held TSU to just 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) from three-point range to key the victory. 

IUPUI (1-0, 0-0 HL) was short-handed as senior guard Jaylen Minnett, who ranked second on the team in scoring a season ago, was sidelined. That pushed Burk (37 minutes) and DePersia (36 minutes) into extended action and left pivotal minutes for true freshman Bakari LaStrap off the bench. LaStrap was on the court down the stretch, finishing with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting in his collegiate debut. 

All total, eight different IUPUI players made their Jags' debut and the IUPUI bench tossed in 22 points. Junior Azariah Seay hit a pair of threes off the bench and both Bobby Harvey (7 points) and Dimitar Pandev (5 points) earned starting nods in their debuts. 

FEATURES ON THE IUPUI BASKETBALL TEAM
IUPUI students have written stories on different subjects on this year's men's basketball team through a series of class assignments. Read their work, as published earlier on IUPUIJags.com and other social channels. 
    RIMM INSTILLING NEW CULTURE INTO MEN'S BASKETBALL PROGRAM, by Bobby Taylor
    COHESION KEY AS JAGUARS SET TO OPEN UNIQUE 2020-2021 CAMPAIGN, by Andrew Thomison
    HOOPS ROOTS RUN DEEP IN DePERSIA FAMILY, by Ed Clark
    MINNETT LOOKING TO IMPROVE AS A LEADER HEADING INTO SENIOR SEASON, by Devin Voss
    GEORGIADIS'S TRAVAILS LAND HIM AT IUPUI, by Alex Burr

OPENING TIPS (notes about this week's series with CSU / click here to read the full game notes)

• With an early season 69-66 win over Tennessee St., IUPUI is seeking the program's first 2-0 start since 2009. 
• IUPUI won the opener short-handed as senior guard Jaylen Minnett watched from the sidelines. The Jaguars expect to be at full strength entering this weekend. In Minnett's absence, the Jags got a typical effort from Marcus Burk (18 pts, 4 reb) and a strong showing from Mike DePersia (10 pts, 8 ast, 4 reb). 
• Eight different Jaguars made their IUPUI debuts last against TSU with juniors Bobby Harvey (7 pts) and Dimitar Pandev (5 pts, 3 reb) each earning a starting nod. Freshman Bakari LaStrap (9 pts) and Azariah Seay (7 pts, 3 reb) keyed the reserves in the debuts as IUPUI reserves combined to score 22 points. 
• The Jaguars 69 points were the fewest in a win since IUPUI defeated Milwaukee 67-60 on Feb. 22, 2019. 
• The Jags enter the turn of the calendar having played just one game due to COVID concerns. The one game is among the nation's fewest - other teams to have played one game or less include Cal State Fullerton (1), Fordham (1), Alabama State (0), Merrimack (0), Siena (0), UMES (0) and the entire Patriot League (all have played 0)
• Be it just a one-game sample size, but senior forward Elyjah Goss leads the country in rebounding, having grabbed 16 in the opener. Goss averaged a Horizon League best 11.5 rebounds per game last season. 
• IUPUI's core of returners is keyed by Burk, a preseason 1st team All-Horizon League pick, and Minnett,  the program's all-time leader in threes made. Goss, who grabbed a school record 369 rebounds last season, was also named to the league's All-Defensive Team. Burk tested the NBA waters during the offseason before ultimately opting to return for his senior season. The two other returners are DePersia and Sawyer Stoltz. 
• Burk and Minnett combine to be one of just four duos to have teamed to average at least 35 points per game last season. The pair averaged a combined 37.9 points per game last year and trail only UTSA's Jhivan Jackson & Keaton Wallace (45.6 ppg), Austin Peay's Terry Taylor & Jordyn Adams (39.2 ppg) and Iowa's Luka Garza & Joe Wieskamp (38.0 ppg). 
• Minnett owns the fifth-longest streak of consecutive games with at least one three in NCAA Division I history, having made one in 68 straight games dating back to his freshman campaign. His streak is the second-longest active streak in Division I, trailing Eastern Illinois' Mack Smith, who sits at 89 and counting. 

    FOR OPENERS
    IUPUI opened the season with a win for the first time since 2015 and is vying for the program's first 2-0 start since 2009 today. IUPUI has opened 2-0 just nine times in the program's 49-year history and just twice (2003 & 2009) in the program's Division I era (1998-present). 

    NEW TEAM, NEW DREAM
    -IUPUI needed just 69 points to defeat Tennessee State in the opener, marking the Jags' fewest in a win since beating Milwaukee 67-60 on Feb. 22, 2019. 
    -The Jags were outshot from the field as TSU shot 39 percent and IUPUI was held to just 37 percent. Last season, IUPUI was 1-23 overall in games in which it was outshot by its opponent. 
    -Last season's squad averaged just 10.0 points per game off the bench, but this year's club tallied 22 bench points in the opener with five different players contributing to that total. 

    THE NATION'S BEST
    IUPUI may have only played one game thus far, so given the small sample size, they can say they lead the nation in blocked shots (7.0 bpg) and three-point percentage defense (17.6%). 
    Elyjah Goss leads the country in rebounding (16.0 rpg) and defensive rebounding (13.0 rpg) and ranks eighth nationally in blocked shots (3.0 bpg). Sophomore Mike DePersia is currently sixth in the country in assists (8.0 apg).

    CLASS ACTS
    IUPUI is coming off a banner semester in the classroom, achieving a 3.20 grade point average during the fall. Ten Jags (Carrasco, DePersia, Dhaliwal, Harvey, LaStrap, McClure, Pandev, Seay, Shirley and Stoltz) all posted a GPA of 3.0 or better, paced by McClure (3.93), Stoltz (3.75) and DePersia (3.66). 

    NO PLACE LIKE HOME...
    ...and no, we're not talking about the old '227' sitcom theme song or Glen Campbell classic. This marks the Jaguars seventh season at Indiana Farmers Coliseum since the facility's renovation and reopening and IUPUI boasts a 46-31 (.597) mark at the Fairgrounds since then. IUPUI went 9-2 at the Coliseum in 2015-16 and 11-4 in 2018-19. 
    More impressive is IUPUI's 21-6 (.778) home record in non-league games during that span with the  losses coming to Indiana State (2014), Georgia State (2014), Eastern Kentucky (2014), SIUE (2017), Ball State (2018) and Evansville (2019). 

    BURK BALLIN'
    Marcus Burk was one of five players voted to the Horizon League Preseason First Team before the season by the league's coaches, media and sports information personnel. Burk averaged 21.3 points per game last year and drained 93 3's in his first year with the program. He was a two-time Horizon League Player of the Week and entered his name into the NBA Draft during the offseason before ultimately returning to Indy for the 2020-2021 season. 
    Burk scored in double-digits in 29 of his 32 games last season, including hitting for 20-or-more 19 times. He topped 30 points on four different occasions, highlighted by a career-high 39 points in an overtime win at Oakland last season. 
    With Burk returning, it marks the first time IUPUI's top scorer from a season ago returned since Darell Combs returned in 2016-17 after leading the Jags in scoring at 16.3 points per game in 2015-16. Combs upped his output to 16.8 points per game as a senior in 2016-17. 
    Including his two years at Campbell before coming to IUPUI, Burk has totaled 1,476 points and 253 threes made in his collegiate career. 
    
    NAME TWO BETTER... WE'LL WAIT... 
    While IUPUI's roster is predominantly new faces, some of the returners already boast impressive credentials. At the top of the list is the high scoring, Hoosier raised duo of Marcus Burk and Jaylen Minnett. The duo is one of four in the country that returns to school after averaging at least a combined 35 points per game or better last season. 
    UTSA – Jhivan Jackson (26.8) & Keaton Wallace (18.8) = 45.6
    Austin Peay – Terry Taylor (21.8) & Jordyn Adams (17.4) = 39.2
    Iowa – Luka Garza (23.7) & Joe Wieskamp (14.0) = 38.0 
    IUPUI – Marcus Burk (21.3) & Jaylen Minnett (16.6) = 37.9 
 
    Burk's 21.3 points per game were the most by an IUPUI player since George Hill averaged 21.5 per game in 2007-08. Minnett connected for a school record 115 3's during the season and became the 24th player in school history to surpass 1,000 career points in an IUPUI uniform. 

    JAYL3N
    Senior Jaylen Minnett became the 24th player in program history to achieve 1,000 career points in an IUPUI uniform against Green Bay on Feb. 6, 2020 as part of a career-high 32-point effort last season. He enters today's game with 1,140 career points, ranking No. 16 on the program's all-time list. He became the 16th player to hit for 1,000 points in three seasons or less in IUPUI history. Given his track record, he should move into the top 10 in career points midway through this unusual season. Below is a snippet of the program's all-time leading scorers and where Minnett sits. 
    10.)     1,373     Ron Angevine     1979-83
    11.)    1,340     Don Carlisle     1997-01
    12.)     1,319     Brandon Cole     2002-06
    13.)     1,247     Eric McKay     1982-85
    14.)     1,182     Charles Price     1997-02
    15.)     1,170     Odell Bradley     2002-04
    16.)     1,140    Jaylen Minnett    2017-pr.         
    17.)     1,134     Greg Wright     1987-90

    Minnett has also taken over as the program's all-time list in threes made and will continue to add to that total all season long.
    1.) Jaylen Minnett    244    2017-pres.
    2.) Brandon Cole        238    2002-06
    3.) Rodney Thomas    215    1996-00
    4.) Carlos Knox        208    1994-98
    5.) Alex Young        202    2008-12
     
    Finally, Minnett owns the nation's second-longest streak of consecutive games with at least one made three at 68 games, which is the fifth-longest in NCAA history... Minnett made at least one trey in all 32 games last season and all 33 games of his sophomore campaign. He also hit threes in 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.
    Here's the list of the longest streaks of threes made in NCAA Division I history:
    1.) Mack Smith (Eastern Ill.)    active streak    89 straight games / OVC record
    2.) Cory Bradford (Illinois)    ended Feb. 10, 2001    88 straight games / B10 record
    3.) Jordan Howard (Central Ark.)    ended 2017    73 straight games / Southland rec.
           Wally Lancaster (Va. Tech)    ended 1989    73 straight games / ACC record
    5.) Jaylen Minnett (IUPUI)    active streak    68 straight games / HL record

    BOOGIE BOARDS
    Senior Elyjah Goss, known as E-Boogie on Twitter, was a monster on the glass last season, grabbing a school record 369 rebounds. He was voted to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team and his 11.5 boards per game were easily tops in the Horizon League and ranked sixth nationally. He entered this season fifth on the program's career rebounding list and is just 82 shy of matching Hall of Famer Don Carlisle's 769 career boards. 
    1.    769    Don Carlisle    1997-01
    2.    703    Brandon Cole    2002-06
           703    Jesse Bingham    1985-89
    4.    688    Charles Price    1997-02
    5.    687    Elyjah Goss    2017-pr.
    6.    668    Alex Young    2008-12
        Goss owns six career games of 17 boards or more, including having grabbed a school record 21 in a game last year. He has 31 career double-digit rebound games and 15 career double-doubles. Last year he tied IUPUI's D1 record with 12 double-doubles in a season. 

    JERSEY MIKE DELIVERS
    Sophomore Mike DePersia showed last year that he's a bona fide playmaker from the point guard spot. The New Jersey-native delivered an IUPUI Division I freshman record 85 assists in his 32 appearances and was a two-time Horizon League Freshman of the Week honoree. In Horizon League play, he averaged 3.2 assists per game and had a 3.05 assist-to-turnover ratio with 58 assists and just 19 turnovers. 
    In this year's opener, DePersia was pressed into a starting role and responded with 10 points, eight assists and four rebounds in 36 minutes of work.