INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will welcome Milwaukee (11-13, 6-6 HL) to cap a two-game homestand on Saturday (Feb. 8) as the two teams hook up for a noon clash inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Non-Profit Day. Fans will be able to support a number of Central Indiana non-profits inside the main lobby as they enter the Coliseum prior to Saturday's game. In addition, the game will be aired on ESPN+ as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Lance Scheib (analyst) are on the call. 

Despite an impressive offensive performance against Green Bay on Thursday, IUPUI (6-19, 2-10 HL) dropped a 91-85 to the Phoenix on the third annual NCAA 'Readers Are Leaders' Game. IUPUI all but erased a 25-point first half deficit, closing within five in the second half before ultimately falling by six. Junior Marcus Burk tallied 33 points and Jaylen Minnett pumped in a career-high 32 points, including his 1,000th career point in the loss. Minnett hit a career-high eight threes and scored 25 of his 32 after halftime. Burk tallied 20 after halftime as the Jags rolled up 58 second half points and shot 51 percent after intermission. 

Grant Weatherford contributed eight points and matched his career-high with six assists, while Elyjah Goss finished with four points and 14 rebounds. True freshman Taveion White provided a spark off the bench with five points and a season-high six rebounds in 16 minutes of work. 

IUPUI is trying to avoid a season sweep against the Panthers as Milwaukee defeated the Jaguars 78-74 on Jan. 3 of this season. 

ABOUT MILWAUKEE
Milwaukee enters play at 11-13 overall and 6-6 in Horizon League play following Thursday's 74-57 road win at UIC. Darius Roy leads Milwaukee in scoring (15.2 ppg) and threes made (42) while Illinois-transfer Te'jon Lucas is second on the team in scoring (14.9 ppg) and leads the Panthers in assists (108), steals (42) and free throws made (87). Josh Thomas also averages double-digits at 10.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and DeAndre Abram checks in at 9.5 points and a team-high 5.6 rebounds per game. The Panthers own three true road wins in league play, having collected victories at Green Bay, Youngstown State and UIC.  

PROBABLE STARTERS
G- Jaylen Minnett (6-1, Jr.) - 16.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.4 apg, 85 3's
G- Marcus Burk (6-3, Jr.) - 20.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 38.7 3FG%, 74 3's
G- Grant Weatherford (6-2, Jr.) - 8.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.8 apg
F- Brandon Kenyon (6-10, Soph.) - 2.0 ppg, 1.1 rpg
F- Elyjah Goss (6-7, Jr.) - 8.9 ppg, 11.6 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 5-6 all-time against Milwaukee and 3-1 in the four matchups in Indianapolis. Milwaukee won the most recent meeting, 78-74, on Jan. 3, 2020 in Milwaukee. 

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
    IUPUI packed in more than 2,000 third-graders at Thursday's 3rd annual NCAA 'Readers Are Leaders' game to celebrate a yearlong partnership and commitment to reading. IUPUI is now 2-1 in the 'Readers Are Leaders' games and have upped the attendance number in each of the three years. Below are the results from the three events.
    Feb. 6, 2020 - Green Bay 91, IUPUI 85 // attendance 2,394
    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 and rebounder.
    -The backcourt duo of Jaylen Minnett (85) and Marcus Burk (74) have combined to make more threes than any other tandem in the country at 159, one ahead of the UTSA duo of Jhivvan Jackson (92) and Keaton Wallace (66). 
    -Junior Elyjah Goss is tops in the nation, having collected 291 rebounds this season, two ahead of Drexel's James Butler's 289. He ranks No. 5 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 61 straight games. 

    SEEING 30-30
    The IUPUI duo of Marcus Burk and Jaylen Minnett have hit some rare air on two different occasions this season, each scoring 30 points in a single-game twice this season. The feat has been accomplished just three times all year, and twice by IUPUI's top scorers. 
    Jan. 23 - Austin Peay vs. Tennessee St. - Terry Taylor (37 pts) & Jordyn Adams (37 pts)
    Jan. 25 - IUPUI at Oakland - Marcus Burk (39 pts) & Jaylen Minnett (30 pts)
    Feb. 6 - IUPUI vs. Green Bay - Marcus Burk (33 pts) & Jaylen Minnett (32 pts)
    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. 

    IN LEAGUE PLAY
    Through 12 Horizon League games, here are some numbers that jump out.  
    -Offensively, IUPUI is ranked fourth in the league in scoring at 75.3 points per game, but yielding a league-worst 82.6 points per game. Foes are shooting 45.1 percent against the Jags and a league-best 39.9 percent from three-point range and averaging 9.6 made threes per game.
    -Burk leads the league in scoring at 22.8 points per game while Minnett is third at 19.4 points per game. Minnett leads the league in threes made (3.9/game) and three-point percentage (37.9%) while Burk is second in percentage (34.4%) and third in makes (2.8/game). Goss leads the league in rebounding at 14.1 rebounds per game and with six double-doubles.  
    -Freshman Mike DePersia has 42 assists against just 14 turnovers in league games and is second in the league with a 3.00 assist-to-turnover ratio.  As a team, IUPUI has 187 assists against 154 turnovers for a 1.21 a/to ratio, ranking fourth best in the league. However, IUPUI opponents have a robust 1.46 a/to ratio in league games.  
    -Four IUPUI players - Burk (3rd - 37.3), Weatherford (4th - 36.8), Minnett (5th - 36.3) and Goss (7th - 35.3) - 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 25 games. Redshirt freshman Marlon Taylor is the only other IUPUI player who has been available for all 25 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 516 this season, giving him 1,292 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 (20.6 ppg) and third in the league in threes made (3.00/gm). He also ranks tops in the league in three-point percentage at 38.7 percent.   
    -Burk has three 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. 

    NO. 0 HITS 1,000
    Junior Jaylen Minnett became the 24th player in program history to achieve 1,000 career points in an IUPUI uniform on Feb. 6 as part of a career-high 32-point effort. Minnett enters today's game with 1,016 career points and would was the 16th player to achieve the mark in three seasons or less. 
    He's also recently moved into third on the program's all-time list in threes made:
    1.) Brandon Cole        238    2002-06
    2.) Rodney Thomas    215    1996-00
    3.) Jaylen Minnett    214    2017-pres.
    4.) Carlos Knox        208    1994-98
    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 61 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
    6.) Jaylen Minnett (IUPUI)    active streak    61 straight games / HL record
    t-7.) Fletcher Magee (Wofford)    ended 2018    60 straight games / SoCon record
    t-7.) 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 and his 85 this season is the fifth-most in school 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).  

    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 22 of the team's 25 games and 18-in-a-row. 
    Five games into this season, he was averaging 6.0 rebounds per game, but has since grabbed at least 10 boards in 16 of the Jaguars' 20 games.  
    In league play, Goss leads the league in rebounding (14.1 rpg) and has seven double-doubles in 12 games and grabbed double-digit boards in every league contest. 
    Goss now has 13 career double-doubles, including 10 this season.   

    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 (38.7%) and is third in threes made at 3.0/game. Minnett is second in threes made (3.4/game) and three-point percentage (36.6). By hitting a combined 6.4 threes/game, the duo is tops in the league and leads the country with 159 combined makes. 
    Burk is fifth among active juniors (36th among all players) in college basketball with 232 career treys and Minnett is seventh on that list (55th overall) with 214 makes. 

    TOP GUNS
    Burk and Minnett are accounting for the bulk of the Jaguars' offense, having taken 52 percent of the team's field goal attempts (778 of 1503) and 74 percent of the team's three-point attempts (423 of 574). In addition, the duo has accounted for 53 percent (924 of 1751) 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' 19 losses, foes have shot 48 percent overall and 39 percent from beyond the arc while making 9.3 threes per game. Nine of the 19 opponents to have beaten the Jags have shot 50 percent or better from the floor. 

    FREEBIES
    IUPUI enters play ranked 326th of 350 teams in free throw percentage at 64.4 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 167-of-235 (71 percent) in the last 11 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 10.2 points per game this season. IUPUI is getting less than 15 percent of its points from reserves and has had 12 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. 
 
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.