NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The IUPUI basketball team will play its lone road game during the month of December on Friday night (Dec. 10) when the Jaguars venture south to face Tennessee State (1-6) at 6:00 p.m. Central. The game will cap a home-and-home series as the Jaguars defeated the Tigers in Indianapolis last season, 69-66. 

Both teams have yet to secure a win against Division I competition this season as the Jags are 1-7 overall and TSU is 1-6. Graduate transfer B.J. Maxwell has emerged as the Jaguars' top threat, checking in at a team-high 13.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Maxwell, a 6-foot-5 guard, has topped IUPUI in scoring in all seven games in which he's appeared, scoring in double-figures six times, which includes each of his past five games. The Jags are still seeking a second fiddle and are hoping Music City may help provide that answer. Nine different guys have been the Jags' second leading scorer in game this season with Jonah Carrasco, Bobby Harvey and Boston Stanton IIII each doing so twice. Behind Maxwell's 13 points per game, IUPUI has nine players averaging between three and six points per game. 

In order to get on the winning side of the ledger, the Jags will have to lean on a defense that ranks 51st nationally in scoring defense at 61.5 points allowed per game. IUPUI has been tough on the boards, outrebounding foes by more than two caroms per game, but will need to cut down on the turnovers to help kickstart the attack. The Jags rank among the nation's worst in terms of ball control in both turnovers and turnover ratio. Of the regulars in the rotation, only Mike DePersia (2.50 a/to) and Harvey (1.17 a/to) have an assist-to-turnover ratio better than one. 

QUOTABLE
I think we're still trying to identify ourselves. B.J. Maxwell's got to show that he wants to be the lead horse and now we need to identify those second and third guys and right now, nobody has really taken that role and been consistent," Crenshaw said following the home loss to Oakland on Dec. 4. 

SCOUTING TSU
Like IUPUI, Tennessee State enters the game with just one win on the season, with the victory having come against a non-Division I opponent. The Tigers are 1-2 at home on the year with an emphatic win over Fisk University by a 111-56 score and defeats to Norfolk State and Southern University. As a team, TSU is shooting 45.3 percent from the floor, 36.9 percent from three and outrebounding their opponents by more than three per game. However, like the Jags, turnovers have been a problem as TSU is -2.0 turnovers per game through seven games. Dedric Boyd leads TSU in scoring (12.4 ppg) and threes made (15) off the bench. Carlos Marshall Jr. checks in at 11.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game and Kassim Nicholson averages 10.3 points and a team-high 9.4 rebounds per 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 return home to host Chicago State in non-conference play inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Thursday, Dec. 16 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+. 

Game Notes (click here for the full PDF packet)
    DEFENSIVE NUGGETS
    IUPUI has been incredibly stingy all season long, holding five of eight foes under 40 percent and ranking 51st in the country in scoring defense at 61.5 points allowed per game. They easily lead the Horizon League as Cleveland State is second in the league at 63.4 points allowed per game. In addition, IUPUI is holding opponents to just 39.5 percent shooting and 30.1 percent from three-point range. 

    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 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 also tops in the Horizon League in rebounding margin, outrebounding opponents by 2.1 caroms per game. The Jags are fourth in the league in defensive rebounding percentage, grabbing nearly 72 percent of their opponents misses. On the offensive end, IUPUI is second in the league, grabbing nearly 31 percent of its own misses. 

    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 eight games, IUPUI has had just 10 double-digit scoring games as B.J. Maxwell has done it six times and four 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 in all seven of his appearances and Bakari LaStrap led the team in scoring in the win over Spalding. 

    TAP INTO THE RESERVES
    With the committee approach being the case, IUPUI is averaging 19 points per game off the bench this season. Harvey (5.4 ppg) and DePersia (4.5 ppg) lead the reserves in scoring this season.  

    MAD MAX
    Graduate transfer and former Detroit Titan B.J. Maxwell has been IUPUI's top weapon thus far, leading the team in scoring (13.1 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg) and easily pacing the squad in field goal attempts (90), three-point attempts (36) and free throw attempts (26), despite missing a full game due to injury.
    His 90 shot attempts are 23 percent of the team's tries as Boston Stanton III are second on the team with 48 attempts each. 

    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 leads the team in minutes played (219) this season. Pruitt is averaging 4.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. However, in the last five games, Pruitt is averaging 5.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. 

    HOT POTATO
    Turnovers have plagued IUPUI all season long as the Jaguars rank 349th of 358 schools at 18.5 miscues per game. The Jaguars' turnover margin of -5.2 per game is 337th in the country. Against Oakland on Dec. 4, the Jags tied the program's single game record with a minus-15 differential (23-8), leading to the 78-45 loss to the Golden Grizzlies. For the season, IUPUI is allowing nearly 19 points per game in points off turnovers. 

    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). 

    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 have started every game 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.