INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will cap the 2020-2021 home schedule this week when the Jaguars host UIC (8-9, 5-7 HL) in a two-game series inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The two teams will hook up on Friday (Feb. 12) and Saturday (Feb. 13) with both games tipping at noon on ESPN+. Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) will be on the call. 

IUPUI (5-8, 4-8 HL) is coming off a road split at Green Bay last week, keyed by the senior trio of Marcus Burk, Elyjah Goss and Jaylen Minnett. Goss is riding four straight double-doubles while Minnett scored 21 in each of the two games and Burk averaged 22 points per game in the two contests. In the 80-71 victory last Friday, Burk scored 25 points in the second half of the win as he, Minnett and Goss combined to score 47 of the team's 49 points average halftime. The following day, Minnett contributed to half of the Jaguars' offense with 21 points and six assists as IUPUI trailed by as many as 23 before falling 79-72.

For the year, Burk has climbed to No. 3 in the Horizon League in scoring at 20 points per game while Goss is tops in the league in rebounding at 10.8 caroms per game. Minnett has climbed to 16 points per game and is shooting 93.1 percent from the free throw line. 

IUPUI comes in at just 1-9 all-time against UIC and has dropped four straight in the series. 

FEATURES ON THE IUPUI BASKETBALL TEAM
IUPUI students have written stories on different subjects on this year's men's basketball team through a series of class assignments. Read their work, as published earlier on IUPUIJags.com and other social channels. 
    RIMM INSTILLING NEW CULTURE INTO MEN'S BASKETBALL PROGRAM, by Bobby Taylor
    COHESION KEY AS JAGUARS SET TO OPEN UNIQUE 2020-2021 CAMPAIGN, by Andrew Thomison
    HOOPS ROOTS RUN DEEP IN DePERSIA FAMILY, by Ed Clark
    MINNETT LOOKING TO IMPROVE AS A LEADER HEADING INTO SENIOR SEASON, by Devin Voss
    GEORGIADIS'S TRAVAILS LAND HIM AT IUPUI, by Alex Burr

OPENING TIPS (notes about this week's series with UIC / click here to read the full game notes)

•  IUPUI is 4-4 in the past eight games following last week's road split at Green Bay. The Jags enter play at 5-8 overall and 4-8 in #HLMBB play.  
• IUPUI has struggled against UIC since joining the Horizon League, losing all three meetings last year and going 1-9 all-time against the Flames. The Jags lone win was a road victory on ESPNU on Jan. 4, 2018 behind 30 points from Camron Justice.  
• Senior Marcus Burk is on a tear, averaging 23.1 points over his past eight ballgames, which includes his having to miss the opening half of the first game of the WSU series to COVID-19 protocols. More impressive has been his efficiency as he's hit 49.6 percent (63-of-127) attempts from the field and 49 percent (24-of-49) from three-point range during that span. Burk has since climbed to No. 3 in the Horizon League in scoring (20.0 ppg) and No. 8 in field goal percentage (45.5%).
• Senior Elyjah Goss comes in having recorded double-doubles in four straight games. He's one shy of tying the program's D1 record for consecutive double-doubles as Brandon Cole had five-in-a-row in November/December 2004. Goss and Odell Bradley are the only two other IUPUI players to have four-in-a-row during the program's D1 era. Goss took over as IUPUI's all-time leader in rebounds and now has 811 in his collegiate career.  
• IUPUI is 9-3 under head coach Byron Rimm when holding opponents to 69 points or fewer. 
• The Horizon League recently announced the postseason tournament format as the first round (seeds 5-12) will be played on campus sites on Thursday, Feb. 25, followed by the quarterfinals round on campus sites on Tuesday, Mar. 2. The semifinals and championship game will return to Indianapolis in 2021 at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. 
• IUPUI has had eight different players start at least one game with sophomore Nathan McClure being the most recent addition to the Jaguars' starting five, just prior to the Northern Kentucky series. Goss and sophomore Mike DePersia are the only players to have started all 13 games so far this season. 

    THE BIG 3
    All season long, IUPUI has been keyed by its senior trio of Marcus Burk (20.0 ppg), Jaylen Minnett (16.0 ppg) and Elyjah Goss (9.1 ppg) as the group has accounted for 64 percent of the team's scoring. 
    However, they took it to a new level at Green Bay last week, accounting for 75 percent of the team's scoring in the two-game series (114 of 152 points). In the 80-71 win in game one, the trio combined to score 47 of the Jaguars' 49 points in the second half as Azariah Seay was the only other IUPUI player to score. 

    TRENDS
    IUPUI has seen some positive offensive trends of late, particularly in the area of ballhandling and foul shooting. While IUPUI turns it over 13 times per game for the year, they've committed just 9.5 turnovers per game over the past four games and have 50 assists against just 38 turnovers during that span (1.32 assist-to-turnover ratio). Sophomore Mike DePersia has keyed that effort, having not committed a turnover since  the Jan. 23 loss to Wright State. Since then, DePersia has played 132 minutes without a turnover and delivered 12 assists. 
    At the foul line, IUPUI has sat at or near the bottom of the league standings in free throw percentage all season long. However, the past three games, IUPUI has made 58-of-70 (82.9 percent) attempts, climbing to No. 6 in the league in free throw percentage and is up to 70.4 percent as a team. 
    Minnett comes in having made his last 13 free throw attempts, having not missed since Jan. 16 at Northern Kentucky. 
    
    MARCUS MY WORD
    Marcus Burk was one of five players voted to the Horizon League Preseason First Team before the season by the league's coaches, media and sports information personnel. Burk averaged 21.3 points per game last year and drained 93 3's in his first year with the program. 
    Burk scored in double-digits in 29 of his 32 games last season, including hitting for 20-or-more 19 times. He topped 30 points on four different occasions, highlighted by a career-high 39 points in an overtime win at Oakland last season. 
    With Burk returning, it marks the first time IUPUI's top scorer from a season ago returned since Darell Combs returned in 2016-17 after leading the Jags in scoring at 16.3 points per game in 2015-16. Combs upped his output to 16.8 points per game as a senior in 2016-17. 
    Including his two years at Campbell before coming to IUPUI, Burk has totaled 1,718 points (No. 16 among active D1 players) and 283 threes made (No. 9 among active D1 players) in his collegiate career. 

    NOT JUST 3'S
    Last year, Burk was far more inclined to fire from three while this year, he's mixing it up more. A season ago, 39% of his field goals came from behind the line and 44% of his attempts were three-point attempts. 
    This season, teams have chased him off the line as 35% of his made field goals are threes and 42% of his overall attempts have come from behind the arc. 
        
    BATMAN & ROBIN, PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY
    Marcus Burk and Jaylen Minnett are challenging to be one of the top duos, ranking among the nation's top returning pairs this year.  The duo is one of four in the country that returns to school after averaging at least a combined 35 points per game or better last season. 
    UTSA – Jhivan Jackson (26.8) & Keaton Wallace (18.8) = 45.6
    Austin Peay – Terry Taylor (21.8) & Jordyn Adams (17.4) = 39.2
    Iowa – Luka Garza (23.7) & Joe Wieskamp (14.0) = 38.0 
    IUPUI – Marcus Burk (21.3) & Jaylen Minnett (16.6) = 37.9 
 
    Burk's 21.3 points per game were the most by an IUPUI player since George Hill averaged 21.5 per game in 2007-08. Minnett connected for a school record 115 3's during the season and became the 24th player in school history to surpass 1,000 career points in an IUPUI uniform. 
    This season, they're down a tick at a combined 36.0 points per game. 

    JAYL3N
    Senior Jaylen Minnett became the 24th player in program history to achieve 1,000 career points in an IUPUI uniform against Green Bay on Feb. 6, 2020 as part of a career-high 32-point effort last season. He enters today's game with 1,332 career points, ranking No. 14 on the program's all-time list. He became the 16th player to hit for 1,000 points in three seasons or less in IUPUI history. Given his track record, he should move into the top 10 by season's end. Below is a snippet of the program's all-time leading scorers and where Minnett sits. 
    8.)    1,447    Kim King    1978-83
    9.)    1,395    Todd Schabel    1985-89
    10.)     1,373     Ron Angevine     1979-83
    11.)    1,340     Don Carlisle     1997-01
    12.)     1,332    Jaylen Minnett    2017-pr.         13.)     1,319     Brandon Cole     2002-06

    Minnett has also taken over as the program's all-time list in threes made and will continue to add to that total all season long.
    1.) Jaylen Minnett    271    2017-pres.
    2.) Brandon Cole        238    2002-06
    3.) Rodney Thomas    215    1996-00
    4.) Carlos Knox        208    1994-98
     
    Finally, Minnett owns the fifth-longest streak of consecutive games with at least one made three in NCAA history at 69 games... Minnett made at least one trey in all 32 games last season and all 33 games of his sophomore campaign. He also hit threes in the final three games of the 2017-18 season.
    Here's the list of the longest streaks of threes made in NCAA Division I history:
    1.) Mack Smith (Eastern Ill.)    ended Jan. 14, 2021    91 straight games / OVC record
           Cory Bradford (Illinois)    ended Feb. 10, 2001    88 straight games / B10 record
    3.) Jordan Howard (Central Ark.)    ended 2017    73 straight games / Southland rec.
           Wally Lancaster (Va. Tech)    ended 1989    73 straight games / ACC record
    5.) Jaylen Minnett (IUPUI)    ended Jan. 2, 2021    69 straight games / HL record

    MR. REBOUND 
    While it was seemingly a foregone conclusion entering the season, senior Elyjah Goss took over as IUPUI's all-time leader in rebounds against Milwaukee on Jan. 29.     After earning Horizon League All-Defensive Team honors last year and leading the league in rebounding at 11.5 rebounds per game, Goss has backed it up and is leading the league in boards again this year at 10.8 rebounds per contest. 
    Goss owns IUPUI's single-game (21), single season (369) and career rebounding (811 and counting) records. 
    He entered this season fifth on the program's career rebounding list and owns six career games of 17 boards or more. He owns 39 career double-digit rebound games and 21 career double-doubles. Last year, he tied IUPUI's D1 record with 12 double-doubles in a season. 
    Below is a look at IUPUI's top four in career rebounds. 
    1.    811    Elyjah Goss    2017-pr.
    2.    769    Don Carlisle    1997-01
    3.    703    Brandon Cole    2002-06
           703    Jesse Bingham    1985-89

    69 OR LESS
    Through a combination of pace and defense, IUPUI has found that 69 carries weight on the scoreboard. When holding foes to 69 points or less the past two seasons, IUPUI is 9-3 (.750) and 3-30 (.091) when the opposition hits for 70-or-more. 

    SATURDAYS ARE FOR STEAK (TACOS)
    Going through the NBA process this past summer, senior Marcus Burk was afforded three pieces of advice heading into the college campaign. Tighten up his body, become better defensively and show more playmaking ability. 
    Burk went to a largely vegetarian diet in August 2020 (he allows himself to eat meat on Saturdays - his favorite is steak tacos) and worked tirelessly on his body during the offseason, shedding 10 pounds. His work in the weight room has seen him up his strength and lower his Body Mass Index (BMI). His BMI was at 13.7 at the close of last season and now hovers between 7-8. 
    Defensively, he is second in the Horizon League at 1.85 steals per game and has routinely drawn the assignment of guarding the opposition's best wing players.

    TWO-HEADED MONSTER
    The Jaguars' point guard duo of Mike DePersia (4.2 ppg, 3.4 apg) and Bakari LaStrap (3.2 ppg, 1.4 apg) have been formidable this season, having combined to deliver 62 assists against 27 turnovers (2.30 a/to ratio). The pair combines to play 39.5 minutes per game while averaging 7.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. 
    DePersia ranks second in the Horizon League with a 3.38 assist-to-turnover ratio this season. 

    McCLURE EFFECT
    IUPUI is 4-4 since sophomore Nathan McClure joined the Jaguars starting five prior to the two-game series at Northern Kentucky. During that span, McClure is averaging 5.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 1.1 apg while shooting 36.4 percent from three-point range. 
    McClure was averaging 9.8 minutes per game in the season's first five games but is averaging 25 minutes per game since moving into the starting five. 

    PILING UP
    IUPUI has three high achieving seniors on the roster who all rank among all of Division I college basketball's active career leaders in specific categories. 
    Senior Marcus Burk, who played his first two seasons at Campbell, ranks No. 16 in all of college basketball with 1,718 career points (942 in an IUPUI uniform). Burk also ranks No. 9 among active D1 players, having made 283 three-point field goals (125 in an IUPUI uniform). 
    Senior Jaylen Minnett ranks 13th among Division I players by having made 271 three-point field goals in his IUPUI career and is No. 71 in active career scoring with 1,332 points. 
    Senior Elyjah Goss ranks No. 11 among all active Division I players by having grabbed 811 career rebounds. 

    CLASS ACTS
    IUPUI is coming off a banner semester in the classroom, achieving a 3.20 grade point average during the fall. Ten Jags (Carrasco, DePersia, Dhaliwal, Harvey, LaStrap, McClure, Pandev, Seay, Shirley and Stoltz) all posted a GPA of 3.0 or better, paced by McClure (3.93), Stoltz (3.75) and DePersia (3.66).