INDIANAPOLIS - IUPUI will open a four-game homestand on Thursday night (Dec. 16) when the Jaguars host former league foe Chicago State (3-7) at 7:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) call the action from courtside. The IUPUI Athletics Department is offering discounted tickets for faculty and staff members. 

The Jags are looking to snap a three-game skid and get the offense on track on its home floor. While IUPUI (1-8) has been stingy defensively, leading the Horizon League and ranking 65th in the country in scoring defense, the offense has struggled to make shots and take care of the ball. IUPUI comes in shooting 37.4 percent from the floor and 25.5 percent from beyond the arc while turning the ball over 18.6 times per game. Part can be blamed on the Jaguars' collective inexperience and B.J. Maxwell and Mike DePersia are the only two to have played significant Division I minutes at this point. Head coach Matt Crenshaw's team has used two freshmen in the starting five all season long in KJ Pruitt and Boston Stanton III. 

Pruitt is continuing to blossom and is coming off a 10-point, 5-rebound effort at Tennessee State last week. For the year, Maxwell leads the team in scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (5.4 rpg) and is easily pacing the squad in field goal attempts (101), three-point attempts (41) and free throw attempts (28), despite missing a full game due to injury.

QUOTABLE
"We knew (TSU) was going to come out and be aggressive - at times run and jump - and be physical with us. 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," Crenshaw said following the contest at Tennessee State. 

SCOUTING CSU
Chicago State enters play at 3-7 overall with victories over St. Thomas (Minn.), SIUE and Tennessee State. The Cougars are 3-2 at home and 0-5 in five road contests. Brandon Betson leads the Cougars in scoring (15.3 ppg), assists (3.1 apg), steals (1.4 spg), minutes played (34.6 mpg) and threes made (24). Jahsean Corbett is second on the team in scoring at 11.4 points per game and tops the club in rebounding at 7.3 caroms per contest. Collectively, CSU outrebounds opponents by 1.3 boards per game, but struggles shooting (38.3 percent) and with turnovers (17.1/game). 

SERIES NOTES
IUPUI leads the all-time series with Tennessee State, having defeated the Tigers last season in Indianapolis, 69-66. The Tigers have dropped four straight, including a 59-49 defeat at Chicago State on Dec. 4. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will continue its four-game homestand against Morehead State on Dec. 21 at 7:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. That contest will be broadcast on ESPN+. 

Game Notes (click here for the full PDF packet)
    DEFENSIVE NUGGETS
    IUPUI has been incredibly stingy all season long, holding five of nine foes under 40 percent shooting and ranking 65th in the country in scoring defense at 62.4 points allowed per game. They easily lead the Horizon League in that category as Oakland is second in the league at 66.2 points allowed per game. 

    CLAMPS
    IUPUI held Spalding to just 10 first half points in its 61-41 win over the Golden Eagles on Nov. 23. The 10 first half points matched the fewest by any team in the country this season. Below is the list of the five lowest offensive outputs in the country this season:
    10 - Arizona State vs. Washington State (Dec. 1, 2021)
    10 – IUPUI vs. Spalding [Non D1] (Nov. 13, 2021)
    10 – Georgia State vs. Brewerton  [Non D1] (Nov. 9, 2021)
    12 – Detroit Mercy vs. IUPUI (Dec. 2, 2021)
    12 – Pacific vs. Chicago State (Nov. 22, 2021)

    The 41 points allowed matched the fewest by an IUPUI opponent in program history, tying the 41 scored by Indiana State on Dec. 23, 2008 in the Jaguars' 62-41 victory. 

    ON THE GLASS
    IUPUI is second in the Horizon League in rebounding margin, outrebounding opponents by 2.2 caroms per game. IUPUI is one of just three teams in the league on the positive side of the rebounding ledger this season and has either tied or won the glass in seven straight games entering tonight's contest. 

    BY COMMITTEE
    It's becoming evident that IUPUI's offense is going to come by committee this season as the Jaguars lack a true go-to-scorer. Through nine games, IUPUI has had just 11 double-digit scoring games as B.J. Maxwell has done it six times and five others have tallied 10-or-more once. 
    Conversely, IUPUI has eight players scoring more than four points per game. 
    Maxwell has led the team in scoring seven times and Bakari LaStrap and KJ Pruitt have each done it once. 

    TAP INTO THE RESERVES
    With the committee approach being the case, IUPUI is averaging 19 points per game off the bench this season. IUPUI has received 10-or-more points from its bench in every game this season and peaked with a season-high 30 in the win over Spalding. 

    MAD MAX
    Graduate transfer and former Detroit Titan B.J. Maxwell has been IUPUI's top weapon thus far, leading the team in scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (5.4 rpg) and easily pacing the squad in field goal attempts (101), three-point attempts (41) and free throw attempts (28), despite missing a full game due to injury.
    His 101 shot attempts are more than 23 percent of the team's tries as Boston Stanton III is second on the team with 53 attempts. 

    CRAFTY VETERAN
    Maxwell is an interesting case study in today's new world of college basketball as he's entering his seventh year of college this season. After redshirting his opening season (2015-16) at Abilene Christian, he played three full seasons at ACU before transferring out for a fifth season. He played just two games at Detroit Mercy in 2019-20 before suffering a season ending injury and receiving another season of eligibility. He spent all of last season at Saint Edward's University in Austin, Texas, where he averaged 18.6 points and 5.3 boards per game while earning NABC Second Team All-District honors.
    After all NCAA student-athletes were granted an additional year of eligibility due to COVID-19 issues, Maxwell opted to join the IUPUI program for a seventh season of schooling. He enters this season having played 94 collegiate basketball games and having scored 758 points across both NCAA Division I and II levels.     

    QUIET KJ
    Freshman KJ Pruitt is quietly beginning to play really solid basketball and is second on the team in minutes played (251) and scoring (5.0 ppg) this season. Pruitt is coming off his first career double-digit scoring game at Tennessee State on Dec. 10 and is averaging 5.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game over his past six games. 

    FEAR THE PANDA
    After scoring just 13 points in the season's first eight games, senior Dimitar Pandev made the most of 13 minutes off the bench at Tennessee State last week. Pandev came off the bench to score a career-high eight points (3-4 FG, 2-3 FT), grab five boards and block a shot. Pandev suffered a season-ending injury at Northern Kentucky last season on Jan. 16, 2021 and is starting to round back into form this season. 

    OFFENSE IS OFFENSIVE
    IUPUI is currently last in the nation in scoring offense (49.4 ppg) and tops in the country in turnovers per game (18.6 to/gm). The Jags have topped 50 points just three times this season and have topped 60 just once. 

    SPYING THE FIRST
    IUPUI needed the victory the victory over Spalding to avoid the first-ever 0-6 start in program history. This season marked the third 0-5 start to the year in program history (1999-2000 & 1992-1993).