INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will host its third annual NCAA 'Readers Are Leaders' game on Thursday morning (Feb. 6) when the Jaguars host Green Bay (11-13, 6-5 HL) at 11:00 a.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. More than two thousand third-graders are expected to be in attendance, celebrating a yearlong commitment to reading through a partnership between the NCAA, IUPUI and selected Indianapolis school systems. The day's festivities include messaging from national and local celebrities, capped by a halftime celebration emceed by WISH-TV's Anthony Calhoun and 2020 Miss Indiana Alexis Lete.

On the court, IUPUI is 2-0 all-time in the Readers Are Leaders games, having defeated Oakland last season and Wright State two years ago. This year's Jaguars are coming off an arduous stretch of four straight road games, capped by a two-game trip to Cleveland State and Youngstown State. The Jags dropped both ends of that trip and were limited to just seven players in the finale of that trip at YSU. In a 91-76 loss to the Penguins, junior Marcus Burk tallied a team-high 22 points and junior Grant Weatherford tossed in a season-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. After trailing by as many as 18 in the first half, IUPUI rallied to cut the lead back to five on a number of occasions, but never fully got over the hump. Elyjah Goss registered his tenth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 boards and Jaylen Minnett also had 13 in the loss. Sophomore Brandon Kenyon made his third straight start and finished with five points, while true freshmen Mike DePersia and Taveion White were the only other Jags to see action. Both finished with two points off the Jaguars' bench. 

For the season, Burk and Minnett have become the nation's top three-point shooting backcourt, having teamed to hit a national best 149. Goss ranks No. 2 in the country, having grabbed 277 rebounds already this season while leading the Horizon League at greater than 14 caroms per game. 

ABOUT GREEN BAY
Green Bay is 11-13 overall and 6-5 in Horizon League play. The Phoenix have four players averaging double-figures, led by JayQuan McCloud (16.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 4.8 apg) and freshman Amari Davis (16.0 ppg, 51.5 FG%). In addition, PJ Pipes (10.3 ppg) and Kameron Hankerson (10.2 ppg) also tally more than 10 points per game. As a team, Green Bay ranks among the nation's leaders in scoring (81.5 ppg), assists (16.8 apg) and three-point percentage (37.2%). The Phoenix are 4-8 in road games with road victories at Montana State, Northern Illinois, Northern Kentucky and Cleveland State. 

PROBABLE STARTERS
G- Jaylen Minnett (6-1, Jr.) - 15.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.4 apg, 77 3's
G- Marcus Burk (6-3, Jr.) - 20.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 39.3 3FG%, 72 3's
G- Grant Weatherford (6-2, Jr.) - 8.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.7 apg
F- Brandon Kenyon (6-10, Soph.) - 2.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg
F- Elyjah Goss (6-7, Jr.) - 9.1 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 1.3 bpg

KEY RESERVES
G- Jamil Jackson Jr. (6-6, Jr.) - 3.6 ppg, 1.3 rpg
G- Mike DePersia (5-11, Fr.) - 2.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.6 apg
F- Isaiah Williams (6-8, Jr.) - 8.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg
F- Zo Tyson (6-9, Gr.) - 3.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 60.9 FG%

SERIES NOTES: IUPUI is 7-3 all-time against Green Bay and has won the last six meetings, including a 93-78 win in Green Bay earlier this season. The Jags are 3-2 in five meetings in Green Bay and 3-1 in the four meetings in Indy. In addition, the Jags captured a neutral site win in Oxford, Ohio, back in 2010.  

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). 

    LOTS O' KIDS
    Today marks IUPUI's 3rd annual NCAA 'Readers Are Leaders' game as 3rd grade students from all across Indianapolis are converging on Indiana Farmers Coliseum to celebrate a yearlong partnership and commitment to reading. IUPUI is 2-0 in the past two 'Readers Are Leaders' game and have drawn hefty number of students on each occasion. Below are the results from the two prior events.
    Jan. 24, 2019 - IUPUI 73, Oakland 71 // attendance 2,285
    Feb. 23, 2018 - IUPUI 66, Wright State 56 // attendance 2,263    

    NATIONAL LEADERS
    Entering this week, IUPUI boasts some big time numbers on a national scale, including the nation's top three-point shooting backcourt. 
    -The backcourt duo of Jaylen Minnett (77) and Marcus Burk (72) have combined to make more threes than any other tandem in the country at 149. Syracuse's Buddy Boeheim and Elijah Hughes is next in line with 137 makes. 
    -Junior Elyjah Goss is tops in the nation, having collected 277 rebounds this season, trailing Toledo's Willie Jackson by a singular carom. He ranks No. 6 nationally (tops in the HL) with 11.5 rebounds per game. 
    -In addition, Minnett owns the nation's 2nd longest active streak (Horizon League record and t-6th all-time longest in NCAA D1 history) of games with at least one three made at 60 straight games. 

    SEEING 30-30
    The IUPUI duo of Marcus Burk and Jaylen Minnett pulled off a rare feat in the Jaguars' win at Oakland on Jan. 25, each tallying more than 30 points. Burk hit for a career-high 39 points (12-24 FG, 8-15 3's, 7-10 FT) and Minnett just missed his career-high with 30 points (10-24 FG, 6-14 3's, 4-5 FT). The feat has only been achieved by one another Division I team this season as Austin Peay's Terry Taylor and Jordyn Adams both scored 37 points in the Govs' win over Tennessee State on Jan. 23.
    It marked the first time in the program's Division I era (1998-present) that two IUPUI players tallied 30 or better in the same game. 

    BURK HONORED
    Not unexpectedly, Burk earned his second Nike #HLMBB Player of the Week award on Jan. 27 after averaging 32 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game and connecting on 13 threes in two contests last week. Burk's 39 points at Oakland were the most by a Horizon League player this season and it came on the heels of his first career double-double at Detroit Mercy on Thursday, when he totaled 25 points and 10 boards. 

    DUELING DOUBLE-DUBS
    Both Marcus Burk (25 pts, 10 reb) and Elyjah Goss (15 pts, 12 reb), had double-doubles in the Jan. 23 loss at Detroit Mercy. It marked the 1st time two IUPUI players had a double-double in the same game since Jan. 2, 2014 when Donovan Gibbs (32 pts, 11 reb) and Khufu Najee (11 pts, 11 reb) both had double-doubles in a win over Judson. 

    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. 

    AT THE TURN
    Just past the midpoint of Horizon League play, here are some key numbers in regards to the Jaguars through 11 games. 
    -Offensively, IUPUI is ranked fourth in the league in scoring at 74.4 points per game, but yielding a league-worst 81.8 points per game. Foes are shooting 45.2 percent against the Jags and a league-best 39.6 percent from three-point range and averaging 9.6 made threes per game.
    -Burk leads the league in scoring at 21.9 points per game while Minnett is third at 18.3 points per game. Minnett leads the league in threes made (3.6/game) and Burk is third at 2.8/game. Goss leads the league in rebounding at 14.1 rebounds per game and with six double-doubles.  
    -Freshman Mike DePersia has 38 assists against just 14 turnovers in league games and is third in the league with a 2.71 assist-to-turnover ratio.  As a team, IUPUI has 169 assists against 145 turnovers for a 1.17 a/to ratio, ranking fourth best in the league. However, IUPUI opponents have a robust 1.48 a/to ratio in league games.  
    -Four IUPUI players - Burk (2nd - 37.1), Minnett (4th - 36.2), Weatherford (5th - 36.6) and Goss (8th - 34.9) - rank among the league's top 10 in minutes played in league play. 

    THE BEST ABILITY...
    ...is availability. IUPUI players have struggled to stay healthy and available this season as only five players - Burk, Minnett, DePersia, Goss and Weatherford - have played all 24 games. Redshirt freshman Marlon Taylor is the only other IUPUI player who has been available for all 24 games. 

    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 483 this season, giving him 1,259 in his collegiate career. 
    Here are some more tidbits on Burk:
    -Burk has been IUPUI's top offensive player all season, ranking No. 2 in the Horizon League in scoring (20.1 ppg) and third in the league in threes made (3.00/gm). He also ranks tops in the league in three-point percentage at 39.3 percent.   
    -Burk has two 30-point games this season, including a career-high 39 at Oakland (12-24 FG, 8-15 3's, 7-10 FT) on Jan. 25.  
    -While Burk is averaging just over 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. 

    NEXT TO A GRAND
    Junior Jaylen Minnett is knocking on the door of becoming the 24th player in program history to achieve 1,000 career points in an IUPUI uniform. Minnett enters today's game with 984 career points and would be the 16th player to achieve the mark in three seasons or less, should he hit for 1,000 by season's end. 
    He's also recently moved into fourth on the program's all-time list in threes made:
    1.) Brandon Cole        238    2002-06
    2.) Rodney Thomas    215    1996-00
    3.) Carlos Knox        208    1994-98
    4.) Jaylen Minnett    206    2017-pres.
    5.) Alex Young        202    2008-12
     
    Some other tidbits on Minnett include: 
    -He currently owns the nation's second-longest streak of consecutive games with at least one made three at 60 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.
    Here's the list of the longest streaks of threes made in NCAA Division I history:
     1.) Cory Bradford (Illinois)    ended Feb. 10, 2001    88 straight games / B10 record
    2.) Wally Lancaster (Va. Tech)    ended 1989    73 straight games / ACC record
    3.) Mack Smith (Eastern Ill.)    active streak    71 straight games / OVC record
    4.) Marshall Henderson (Ole Miss)    ended 2014    66 straight games / SEC record
    5.) Justin Jaworski (Lafayette)    ended 2020    64 straight games / Patriot record
    t-6.) Jaylen Minnett (IUPUI)    active streak    60 straight games / HL record
    t-6.) Fletcher Magee (Wofford)    ended 2018    60 straight games / SoCon record
    t-6.) Pat Bradley (Arkansas)    ended 1998    60 straight games
    t-9.) Tyler Hall (Montana St.)    ended 2017    59 straight games
    t-9.) John Lucas III (Oklahoma St.)    ended 2005    59 straight games / Big 12 record
    t-9.) John Jenkins (Vanderbilt)    ended 2012    59 straight games
    
    -Minnett's 78 3's made last season was the 7th-highest single-season total in IUPUI history. He's made 77 this season, quickly approaching last season's total. 
    -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).  

    MR. WINDEX
    Junior Elyjah Goss currently leads the Horizon League and ranks No. 6 nationally in rebounding at 11.5 per contest. He owns five of the seven highest single-game totals in the Horizon League this season, including grabbing a school record 21 against IUSB (Dec. 10), 18 against Youngstown State (Dec. 28) and at Oakland (Jan. 25) and 17 rebounds twice. His 21 boards against IUSB is tied for the fourth-highest single-game total in NCAA Division I this season. 
    All total, Goss has led the Jaguars in rebounds in 21 of the team's 24 games. 
    Five games into this season, he was averaging 6.0 rebounds per game, but has since grabbed at least 10 boards in 15 of the Jaguars' 19 games.  
    In league play, Goss leads the league in rebounding (14.1 rpg) and has seven double-doubles in 11 games and grabbed double-digit boards in every league contest. 
    Goss now has 13 career double-doubles and has led the Jags in rebounding in each of the past 17 games.   

    SPLASH BROTHERS
    IUPUI's version of the Splash Brothers - Marcus Burk and Jaylen Minnett - is on pace to reach unprecedented heights.
    Burk leads the league in percentage (39.3%) and is third in threes made at 3.00/game. Minnett is second in threes made (3.21/game) and three-point percentage (36.0%). By hitting a combined 6.21 threes/game, the duo is tops in the league and leads the country with 149 combined makes. 
    Burk is fifth among active juniors (36th among all players) in college basketball with 230 career treys and Minnett is 10th on that list (67th overall) with 206 makes. 

    TOP GUNS
    Burk and Minnett are accounting for the bulk of the Jaguars' offense, having taken 51 percent of the team's field goal attempts (727 of 1429) and 73 percent of the team's three-point attempts (397 of 542). In addition, the duo has accounted for 52 percent (859 of 1666) of the team's total points. 

    STORY TELLER
    In IUPUI's six wins this season, the Jags have held opponents to 37 percent shooting overall and 28 percent from three-point range while making 7.7 threes per game. 
    In the Jaguars' 18 losses, foes have shot 48.4 percent overall and 39 percent from beyond the arc while making 9.3 threes per game. Nine of the 18 opponents to have beaten the Jags have shot 50 percent or better from the floor. 

    FREEBIES
    IUPUI enters play ranked 329th of 350 teams in free throw percentage at 64.0 percent, which is 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. 

    ...HOWEVER
    Since the Dec. 28 Youngstown State loss in which IUPUI made just 12-of-28 (42.9 percent) at the foul line, IUPUI has been efficient at the stripe. Since then, IUPUI is a combined 156-of-221 (70.6 percent) in the last 10 games. 

    FULL 40
    Junior Jaylen Minnett's 40-minute effort at Green Bay on Jan. 5 was the first full 40 posted by an IUPUI player in a non-overtime game since Marcellus Barksdale played all 40 minutes at Western Illinois on Mar. 1, 2014. 

    STARTERS DOING IT ALL
    Head coach Byron Rimm has shown a reluctance to delve too deeply into his bench as IUPUI reserves accounted for just 10.3 points per game this season. IUPUI is getting less than 15 percent of its points from reserves and has had 11 games in which the bench has provided fewer than 10 points. The IUPUI bench has outscored the opposition's just twice this season. 
    The Jags' bench has scored a season-high 19 points on three different occasions. 

    GRADE CHECKS
    Six different Jaguars posted a grade point average of 3.0 or better during the fall - Mike DePersia, Elyjah Goss, Brandon Kenyon, Sawyer Stoltz, Grant Weatherford and Taveion White. Weatherford, who is pursuing his Master's degree in Organizational Leadership, had the team's top GPA for the fall at 3.67. Kenyon and Weatherford were recently named to the Horizon League's Academic Honor Roll for the fall semester.  
 
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.