INDIANAPOLIS - In a meeting of the Jaguars and Panthers on Saturday afternoon, both felines expunged more than their shares of nine lives before the visiting Milwaukee squad escaped victorious, 80-79 in overtime. Milwaukee's Te'Jon Lucas banked in a short jumper with 7.0 seconds left in overtime to provide the game-winner as IUPUI missed an opportunity in the final second to send the game to a second overtime. Junior Marcus Burk, who was fouled while receiving a pass in the final second, swished the first free throw before missing the second to end the contest. 

"We're a lot better than what we've been playing and a lot better than our record," head coach Byron Rimm II said. "We've just got to do the little things - we've got to knock down these free throws and we've got to get some of these rebounds.

"Burk and Minnett, I almost take it for granted because on a bad day, they both go out and get 20. I thought Minnett's shot in regulation was going to be the game-winner - it rolled in and out and that's how the cookie crumbles."

Junior Jaylen Minnett had a team-high 26 points on an 8-of-30 shooting day and Burk closed with 23 on 5-of-20 shooting. Grant Weatherford supplied 13 points and five steals before fouling out and Elyjah Goss had seven points and 13 rebounds. Freshman Taveion White continued to provide a major spark off the bench, closing with four points and a season-high nine rebounds in 25 minutes. 

Lucas led Milwaukee (12-13, 7-6 HL) with 31 points, 12 rebounds and five assists and Courtney Brown Jr. pumped in 11 points, DeAndre Abram also had a double-double off the Milwaukee bench with 10 points and 13 rebounds. 

Such has been the case of late, IUPUI (6-20, 2-11 HL) was playing uphill from the outset after falling into a 20-11 hole midway through the opening half. Milwaukee extended the lead to 35-24 on an Abram three at the 4:24 mark and led 43-33 at intermission. In what would become a precursor of things to come, two officials reviews in the final seconds of the half resulted in three late made free throws for the Panthers that made it a double-digit margin. 

IUPUI got contributions from unexpected sources in the first half as Burk specifically struggled to find the range. Goss tossed in his first trey of the season in the game's early going and Mike DePersia rattled home an open corner trey for his third make of the year. White continued to give a lift off the bench, grabbing six boards and a steal before intermission.

The Panthers extended the lead to 13 on a Josh Thomas layup early in the second half before IUPUI began chipping away. The Jags did the bulk of their damage at the foul line, working into the bonus early in the stanza and repeatedly earning free throw attempts. As the attempts piled up, so did the self inflicted wounds as IUPUI made just 13-of-25 (52 percent) attempts after halftime after making all eight of its first half tries. 

The Jags pulled even at 60 all when Weatherford put back a Minnett miss, but Milwaukee immediately fired back with a Lucas four-point play from the top of the key. The Panthers lead grew to eight with 3:53 remaining before a 10-0 IUPUI run gave the hosts a 73-71 advantage with 1:44 left. 

Lucas split a pair of free throws with 1:26 left and Minnett misfired on a three, giving the Panthers a chance to retake the lead. However, Lucas drew another foul and split a pair to tie the score. After an IUPUI turnover with 35.7 seconds left, Milwaukee returned the favor when DePersia picked off a Lucas pass and immediately shuffled the ball to Minnett. Minnett came up empty on a contested wing three, sending the game to overtime. 

IUPUI went ahead 78-76 with 1:15 left after DePersia came up with a steal after Goss missed a three and kicked out to Burk for a wide open three. Lucas tied the game at 78 all with 41 seconds left and Minnett missed a potential go-ahead trey with 15 seconds left. 

Milwaukee opted against a timeout and Lucas raced the other way, working to his left before banking in the winner. IUPUI similarly raced the other way, but Minnett had his shot blocked in traffic with 0.9 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds, Thomas fouled Burk, who tried to get a three-point attempt to the rim from the corner. The foul was immediately called on the floor, giving the Jaguars' sharpshooter two free throw attempts. Burk, who drew eight fouls all total, missed the second to cap his day at 9-of-13 from the line. 

"It's unfortunate," Minnett said of the loss. "We put it on ourselves, really. We just have to come out more locked in from the jump and I take responsibility for that.

"I need to be way better than what I was today. I knew I was going to take the shot (in regulation) and just wanted to shoot it with confidence. We fight. We fight to the very end and we've got to keep rallying to make a run."

Milwaukee shot 43.5 percent from the floor and held IUPUI to just 32.9 percent shooting and 12-of-38 (31.6 percent) from three. The Jags also lost the glass, 49-41, as Milwaukee outscored the Jags 28-20 in the paint. 

The Jags did force 24 turnovers and outscored the Panthers 29-12 in points off turnovers, including 10 fast break points. 

IUPUI will be back in action next Friday night (Feb. 14) when the Jaguars hit the road to face Northern Kentucky inside BB&T Arena at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+.