EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The IUPUI basketball team will hit the hardwood for a second time in three days to start the season on Thursday (Nov. 11) when the Jaguars take on Evansville (0-1) inside Ford Center at 6:00 p.m. CT (7 Eastern). IUPUI (0-1) opened the season with a 56-47 loss at Butler on Tuesday night and will start the campaign with five consecutive games away from home. 

The Jaguars' defense was up to the task against the Bulldogs, limiting the hosts to just 56 points, 15 made field goals and 34.1 percent shooting from the field. However, the IUPUI offense was in a similar slumber as the Jaguars mustered just 47 points in the opener and made less than 38 percent from the floor. The Jaguars closed at 3-of-23 (13 percent) from three-point range, but used back-to-back makes in the closing minutes to cut the lead to single digits. IUPUI had a chance to close within two possessions, but missed a fast break opportunity with a minute to play before Butler salted away the contest. 

Graduate transfer B.J. Maxwell had a team-high 14 points (4-11 FG, 2-7 3FG, 4-6 FT) and six boards while Bakari LaStrap finished with eight points on four buckets. Head coach Matt Crenshaw had two true freshmen make their collegiate debuts in the starting five in Boston Stanton III (5 pts, 3 reb) and KJ Pruitt (4 pts, 2 reb). In addition, true freshman Chuks Isitua came off the IUPUI bench for his first collegiate appearance and closed with four points and two blocked shots. 

IUPUI was outrebounded by the taller Bulldogs by a 38-26 margin, but committed just nine turnovers and outscored Butler 11-7 in points off turnovers. The Jags forced 14 turnovers and collected five steals, playing four-guard and five-guard lineups at times. Despite being outrebounded by a wide margin, IUPUI yielded just three second chance points, even though Butler crashed 10 offensive boards. 

Thursday's game with Evansville caps a home-and-home series as the Purple Aces visited Indianapolis back on Nov. 30, 2019, defeating IUPUI 70-64 inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. IUPUI is seeking the program's first-ever win over the Purple Aces, having lost the first four meetings between the two schools. 

QUOTABLE
"We do have some depth and we want to be able to play a lot of different guys and cause some matchup problems with some different combinations," Crenshaw said after 10 different players played at least 15 minutes in the opener.  

UP NEXT
IUPUI will trek to San Antonio to compete in three games in three days at the UTSA Tournament from Nov. 15-17. The Jags will open that event against former league foe Denver on Nov. 15 at 6:00 p.m.

QUICK HITTERS (click here for full game notes)

PROTEGE
    First year head coach Matt Crenshaw is quick to credit his college coach and mentor Ron Hunter (current Tulane HC) for helping guide his principles. IUPUI experienced a lot of success at the Division I level under Hunter with the success largely stemming from two traits - an aggressive matchup zone defense that held opponents down and ability to limit turnovers. 
    IUPUI did both in the season opener, holding Butler to just .341 percent shooting, 15 made field goals (only six after halftime) and just 56 points. 
    The .341 shooting percentage was the lowest by an IUPUI opponent since holding St. Francis Brooklyn to .340 back on Nov. 23, 2018. The 15 made buckets tied for the fourth-lowest total in a game by an IUPUI opponent and were the least since Western Illinois made just 14 against IUPUI back on Feb. 6, 2010. The 56 points allowed were the fewest by an IUPUI foe since IUPUI held South Florida to 53 back on Nov. 13, 2019. 
    In addition, IUPUI committed just nine turnovers and forced 14 miscues. The Jaguars cashed in to outscore Butler 11-7 in points off turnovers. 
    
DEBUTS
    Four IUPUI players made their Jaguar debuts at Butler on Tuesday night (Nov. 9) with three making their collegiate debuts. 
    Grad-transfer B.J. Maxwell made his IUPUI debut with a team-high 14 points, six boards and two blocked shots. He hit 4-of-11 field goal attempts and played a team-high 27 minutes.
    The three true freshmen all made their collegiate debuts with KJ Pruitt and Boston Stanton III doing so as starters. 6-foot-11 forward Chuks Isitua made his debut off the IUPUI bench. 
    Pruitt: 4 pts, 2 reb, 2-5 FG
    Stanton: 5 pts, 3 ast
    Isitua: 4 pts, 2 blk

DEPARTED
    IUPUI returns just 32.5 percent of its scoring from a season ago as the trio of Marcus Burk (21.7 ppg, 45 3's), Jaylen Minnett (16.4 ppg, 41 3's) and Elyjah Goss (11.1 ppg, 11.6 rpg) are all playing elsewhere this season. 
    Burk recently inked a deal with the G League Grand Rapids Gold (affiliate of the Denver Nuggets), Goss is playing professionally in Sweden and Minnett opted to play a graduate season at Missouri State. 
    Burk finished his two-year IUPUI career ranked No. 22 on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,072 points and Minnett finished No. 9 on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,403 career points and as the program's all-time leader in threes made (285). Goss closed his career as the program's all-time leader in rebounds (880) and a D1 record 25 double-doubles. 

SEVEN BACK
    IUPUI returns seven letterwinners and two starters - Mike DePersia (5.0 ppg, 3.9 apg) and Nathan McClure (4.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg). The other returning letterwinners are Azariah Seay (5.7 ppg), Bobby Harvey (5.6 rpg), Bakari LaStrap (2.8 ppg), Dimitar Pandev (1.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg) and Jonah Carrasco (0.3 ppg, 0.4 rpg).