GREEN BAY, Wisc. - The IUPUI basketball team will make one of the more arduous trips the Horizon League has to offer this week when the Jaguars trek north to face Green Bay in a two-game series. The two teams will square off on Friday (Feb. 5) and Saturday (Feb. 6) at 5:00 p.m. Eastern and both contests will be seen on ESPN3. 

IUPUI (4-7, 3-7 HL) is 3-3 over its last six games after opening the season with multiple COVID-19 delays and a 1-4 mark in its first five contests. Since then, the Jaguars have gotten on track, led by the scoring duo of seniors Marcus Burk and Jaylen Minnett. Burk is averaging 23.5 points per game over the past six games and shooting 50 percent from three-point range during that span while Minnett is averaging 17.5 points and 3.2 assists per game during that same span. Inside, senior Elyjah Goss took over as the program's all-time leading rebounder last week and currently leads the Horizon League at 10.6 rebounds per contest. The 6-foot-7 Illinois-native is coming off back-to-back double-doubles in the two-game series with Milwaukee as he averaged 11.5 points, 14.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots against the Panthers last week. 

Goss now has four double-doubles on the year and 18 in his IUPUI career. 

More to follow...

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 GB / click here to read the full game notes)

• IUPUI is coming off a weekend split of a home series with Milwaukee last week and has won three of six games since starting the year 1-4 overall. The Jags come in at 4-7 overall and 3-7 in Horizon League games. 
• Since joining the Horizon League, IUPUI has experienced significant success against Green Bay, winning five of the six meetings. The Jags have won all three of their trips to Green Bay since joining the league.  
• Senior Marcus Burk is on a tear, averaging 23.5 points over his past six 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 52.5 percent (53-of-101) attempts from the field and 50 percent (17-of-34) from three-point range during that span. Burk has since climbed to No. 3 in the Horizon League in scoring (19.6 ppg) and No. 7 in field goal percentage (46.6%).
• IUPUI is 9-3 under head coach Byron Rimm when holding opponents to 69 points or fewer. 
• Senior Elyjah Goss took over as IUPUI's all-time leader in rebounds last week and now has 788 in his collegiate career. After leading the league in rebounding last season at 11.5 boards per game, he currently leads the league again this season at 10.6 rebounds per game. Goss already holds IUPUI's single-game (21 reb) and single-season (369 last season) records for rebounding. 
• Senior Jaylen Minnett is coming off a season-high 26-point effort in last Saturday's loss to Milwaukee. Minnett hit 9-of-23 shots, including three 3's, and all five of his free throw attempts in that contest. 
• 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 11 games so far this season. 

    AGAINST THE PHOENIX 
    IUPUI has had Green Bay's number since joining the Horizon League prior to the 2017-18 season, including winning all three of the matchups in Green Bay. IUPUI had won six-in-a-row against Green Bay prior to losing last year's Feb. 6 meeting in Indy. 
    Senior Jaylen Minnett personally tormented Green Bay last year, averaging 31.5 points per game in the two meetings while connecting on 14-of-28 from three-point range 11-of-12 from the foul line. His 32 points (11-27 FG, 8-18 3's, 2-3 FT) was a career-best effort. 

    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 last week against Milwaukee. The Illinois-native posted back-to-back double-doubles in the two-game set with the Panthers and eclipsed IUPUI Hall of Famer Don Carlisle's all-time rebounding record on Jan. 29 and has grabbed 788 rebounds in his four-year career. 
    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 10.6 rebounds per contest. 
    Goss owns IUPUI's single-game (21), single season (369) and career rebounding (788 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 35 career double-digit rebound games and 18 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.    788    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 2-29 (.065) 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 currently leads the Horizon League at 2.09 steals per game and has routinely drawn the assignment of guarding the opposition's best wing players.

    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 1,674 points (No 19 among active D1 players) and 276 threes made (No. 7 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 31% of his made field goals are threes and 39% 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 34.6 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 1,290 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. 
    10.)     1,373     Ron Angevine     1979-83
    11.)    1,340     Don Carlisle     1997-01
    12.)     1,319     Brandon Cole     2002-06
    13.)     1,290    Jaylen Minnett    2017-pr.         14.)     1,247     Eric McKay     1982-85

    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    267    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

    TWO-HEADED MONSTER
    The Jaguars' point guard duo of Mike DePersia (4.4 ppg, 3.3 apg) and Bakari LaStrap (3.5 ppg, 1.6 apg) have been formidable this season, having combined to deliver 55 assists against 27 turnovers (2.04 a/to ratio). The pair combines to play 39.7 minutes per game while averaging 7.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. 

    BY GEORG-IADIS
    Junior Dimitri Georgiadis is coming off his best game of the season as he pumped in five points and four rebounds in nine minutes last Saturday against Milwaukee. Georgiadis was slowed at the start of the season as he recovered from a knee injury, but is slowly gaining momentum as the Jaguars' top big man off the bench. 

    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. 19 in all of college basketball with 1,674 career points (898 in an IUPUI uniform). Burk also ranks No. 7 among active D1 players, having made 276 three-point field goals (118 in an IUPUI uniform). 
    Senior Jaylen Minnett ranks 13th among Division I players by having made 267 three-point field goals in his IUPUI career. 
    Senior Elyjah Goss ranks No. 12 among all active Division I players by having grabbed 788 career rebounds. 

    TAP INTO THE RESERVES
    After averaging just 10 points per game off the bench last season, this year's Jaguars has shown more depth and options off the bench. Through 11 games, IUPUI reserves are scoring 16.0 points per game and have topped 20 points four times. 
    Azariah Seay is currently fourth on the team in scoring at 6.3 points per game, largely off the bench and Bobby Harvey is next in line at 6.1, primarily as a reserve. Freshman Bakari LaStrap checks in at 3.5 points per game and has come off the bench in all 11 contests. 
    Seay scored a career-high 14 (6-9 FG, 2-4 3's) against Cleveland State on Jan. 2 and Marcus Burk scored 14 points (6-9 FG, 1-3 3's) against Wright State on Jan. 22 as the Jaguars top games by reserves this season. 

    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).