NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The IUPUI basketball team's offensive woes continued on Friday night (Dec. 10) as the Jaguars fell on the road at Tennessee State, 70-44. The Jaguars committed 19 turnovers and shot just 35.4 percent from the floor as the hosts surged out to a large early lead and never let the Jaguars fully back in the contest. 

Freshman KJ Pruitt tallied a season-high 10 points in the loss and B.J. Maxwell and Dimitar Pandev scored eight apiece. Bakari LaStrap added seven points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting off the bench. Dedric Boyd paced Tennessee State (2-6) with 20 points off the Tigers' bench and Christian Brown contributed 11 in the victory. 

"We knew (TSU) was going to come out and be aggressive - at times run and jump - and be physical with us," head coach Matt Crenshaw said. "This was a game where you've got to go out and play basketball and when you're one-on-one, go and make a play."

It was TSU making the plays early, getting loose in transition to capitalize on IUPUI (1-8) miscues in the opening minutes. The Tigers built a quick 13-2 lead before IUPUI stormed back with a 7-0 run on four straight from Maxwell and a Boston Stanton III three. However, TSU scored the game's next five points and ultimately regained its double-digit lead as IUPUI made just 6-of-26 (23.1 percent) first half field goal attempts and committed nine turnovers. The Tigers cashed in the nine turnovers for 13 points as Boyd tallied 12 off the bench on 5-of-6 shooting. 

The Jaguars never truly threatened after halftime, although a late 10-0 run showed a glimmer of life. Pandev, who had scored just 13 points in the season's first eight games, scored all eight of his points during the run and Pruitt also scored in close. TSU ended the rally with back-to-back threes from Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. and Boyd to extend the lead back beyond 20. 

TSU finished with 30 points off the 19 IUPUI turnovers while IUPUI scored just five points off nine Tiger miscues. The Jaguars also struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) attempts.

Pandev, Pruitt and Nathan McClure all grabbed a team-high five boards as IUPUI outrebounded TSU 32-29. McClure came off the bench for the first time this season and finished with two points, five boards and a team-high four assists in 29 minutes of work.  

With the win, TSU avenged a loss to the Jaguars in Indianapolis last season as each team held serve on their home floor in the home-and-home series. 

IUPUI will return home to host Chicago State on Thursday night (Dec. 16) at 7:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum.