INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will close out its non-conference slate on Tuesday (Dec. 21) when the Jaguars host Morehead State (7-5) inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum at 7:00 p.m.. The Jaguars (1-9) will look to snap a modest four-game skid on Tuesday night, capping a home-and-home series with the visiting Eagles. 

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. 

IUPUI had a late comeback bid stopped short in a loss to former league foe Chicago State last week, falling to the Cougars, 61-55. CSU was seemingly coasting to the win, leading 43-24 with 9:22 to play before the Jags launched a furious rally. Behind Azariah Seay and B.J. Maxwell, IUPUI cut the lead all the way back to five in the closing minute, but couldn't climb all the way back. Maxwell tossed in a career-high 20 points in the loss and Seay tallied a career-high 15 points, all coming in a seven-minute span in the second half. The duo combined to hit 11-of-21 field goal attempts and 6-of-8 three-point attempts. However, the remainder of the squad hit a combined 6-of-32 field goal attempts as the Jags finished the game shooting just 32.1 percent from the floor. 

While IUPUI conquered its season-long turnover woes in the loss, the typically reliable rebounding team was outrebounded by 20 in the loss.

QUOTABLE
"What I think changed (the game) was the guys played a little more free and a little more loose. And then, when you're playing confident and you're playing loose and you're playing free, you tend to make shots. Our effort was through the roof and I was proud of the way they fought," head coach Matt Crenshaw said after the Chicago State loss. "We got down 19 and didn't get discouraged and the guys kept their heads high and we clawed our way back. We did it all through our defense."

SCOUTING MOREHEAD STATE
Morehead State is 7-5 on the year and had a four-game winning streak earlier this year. The Eagles are 5-0 at home this year and 2-5 in games away from home. Morehead State comes in shooting 45.4 percent from the floor and 36.4 percent from three-point range, making 9.0 treys per contest. Johni Broome (15.3 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 3.4 bpg) leads the way on the interior, ranking among the nation's leaders in blocked shots (41). On the perimeter, Tray Hollowell (11.6 ppg, 35 3's) and Skyelar Potter (11.3 ppg, 27 3's) are the primary scorers and lead guard Ta'Lon Cooper (8.8 ppg, 6.6 apg) ranks among the nation's best in assists. 

SERIES NOTES
IUPUI leads the all-time series by a 3-2 margin, including going 2-0 in the two meetings in Indianapolis. Morehead State has won the most recent two meetings coming into tonight's contest. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will return to Horizon League play when the Jaguars host Cleveland State at 7:00 p.m. on Dec. 30 inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. 

Game Notes (click here for the full PDF packet)
    DEFENSIVE NUGGETS
    IUPUI has been incredibly stingy all season long, holding six of 10 foes under 40 percent shooting and ranking 63rd in the country in scoring defense at 62.3 points allowed per game. They easily lead the Horizon League in that category as Youngstown State is second in the league at 65.6 points allowed per game. 
    No IUPUI opponent has topped 50 percent from the field in a game this season. 

    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. 

    REVERSALS
    The recent loss to Chicago State saw a game that went against two season-long trends for the Jaguars .
    On the plus side, IUPUI curbed the season-long issue with turnovers, committing just 11 against the Cougars while forcing 23 CSU miscues. IUPUI came in averaging more than 18 turnovers per game - last in the country in that category. The Jags' 11 turnovers were their second-fewest in a game this season and fewest since committing nine in the season opener at Butler. Given the discrepancy in turnovers, IUPUI outscored the Cougars 22-5 in points off turnovers. 
    However, the typically dependable rebounding IUPUI team was outrebounded by a wide margin - 47-20. IUPUI had been outrebounded in a game just twice all season and came into play outrebounding opponents by more than three boards per game. The -20 rebounding margin was the Jaguars' worst in a game since Jan. 20, 2018 when YSU outrebounded IUPUI by a similar 20-board margin (39-19). 

    TWO CAREER NIGHTS
    Two Jags posted new career highs against Chicago State last week as graduate transfer B.J. Maxwell pumped in 20 points (6-11 FG, 3-4 3's, 5-5 FT) and Azariah Seay tallied 15 points (5-10 FG, 3-4 3's, 2-2 FT), all coming in a span on 6:54 late in the second half before he fouled out with 31 seconds to play. 
    Maxwell's 20 points were the most in a game by an IUPUI player this season while Seay hit for double-digits for just the fourth time in his two-year IUPUI career. 

    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 10 games, IUPUI has had just 13 double-digit scoring games as B.J. Maxwell has done it seven times and six others have tallied 10-or-more once. 
    Conversely, IUPUI has eight players scoring more than 3.8 points per game. 
    Maxwell has led the team in scoring eight 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 18.6 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 (13.3 ppg) and rebounding (5.2 rpg) and easily pacing the squad in field goal attempts (112), three-point attempts (45) and free throw attempts (33), despite missing a full game due to injury.
    His 112 shot attempts are 23 percent of the team's tries as Boston Stanton III is second on the team with 62 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 (270) and scoring (5.0 ppg) this season. Pruitt recently had his first career double-digit scoring game at Tennessee State on Dec. 10 and is averaging 5.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game over his past seven 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 on Dec. 10. 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 (50.0 ppg) and 348th of 350 teams in turnovers per game (17.8 to/gm). The Jags have topped 50 points just three times this season and have topped 60 just once.

    EXPERIENCE MATTERS
    Despite having eight players classified as upperclassmen, the IUPUI roster entered this season without a ton of actual Division I experience. Mike DePersia (1,241 career minutes) and B.J. Maxwell (1,156 minutes between ACU and Detroit Mercy) are the only two to have played at least 1,000 career minutes. A third, Zach Gunn, was closing in on the number having played 920 minutes in three seasons at Ball State, but will miss the entire season due to injury. 
    Six others in the IUPUI rotation entered this season having played fewer than 400 career minutes in Nathan McClure (388), Azariah Seay (376 between IUPUI and Alabama State), Bobby Harvey (255), Bakari LaStrap (234), Dimitar Pandev (62) and Jonah Carrasco (49). 

    FRESH STARTERS
    Rarely have freshmen cracked IUPUI's starting five in the program's Division I era. It's super rare to have multiple freshmen starting, but that's the case for the Jags as both KJ Pruitt and Boston Stanton III are the only two Jags to have started all 10 games this season. Here's a look at other freshmen who have started more than half of the team's games in a given season in the D1 era. 
    Aaron Brennan - 2014-15 (started 24 of 31 games)
    Lyonell Gaines - 2011-12 (started 27 of 32 games)
    Alex Young - 2008-09 (started 21 of 30 games)
    George Hill - 2004-05 (started 21 of 29 games)

    Only one other time in the program's Division I era have the Jags had two freshmen as primary starters as Brennan and D.J. McCall were consistent starters in the 2014-2015 campaign.