GREEN BAY, Wisc. - The IUPUI basketball team will open up a two-game trip on Thursday (Jan. 13) when the Jaguars take on Green Bay (2-12, 1-4 HL) inside the Resch Center. The game will tip-off at 7:00 p.m. Central (8 Eastern) and will be broadcast on ESPN+. 

The Jaguars just missed getting their first Horizon League win of the season on Monday as they fell to UIC inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum, 67-65. The Jags led for a good chunk of the contest and built an eight-point lead midway through the second half, but saw UIC edge ahead in the final minute to hold off the Jags. Sophomore Bakari LaStrap had a career-high 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and senior forward Jonah Carrasco made all four of his field goal attempts in scoring a career-high 10 points. 

IUPUI shot a season-high 52 percent from the floor and tallied a season-high 65 points against one of the league's better defensive team. The Jags also won the glass by a 29-23 margin and was even in turnovers at 14 apiece. 

B.J. Maxwell finished with 10 points and Nathan McClure had nine points and a team-high six boards. Boston Stanton III had seven points and three rebounds. All eight Jaguars that saw action scored and grabbed at least one rebound. The Jags shot 56 percent from the field in the second half and made 8-of-10 free throws after the break after not attempting one in the first half. 

QUOTABLE
"I loved the fight (of the team). I think with adding back DePersia and having Bakari, we had some ballhandlers out there and it finally gave us the chance to get some easy baskets. We were able to stay locked in and not get discouraged when (UIC) made a run. I was encouraged by that," head coach Matt Crenshaw said following Monday's home defeat to UIC. 

SCOUTING GREEN BAY
Green Bay is 2-12 overall and 1-4 in Horizon League play. The Phoenix are 2-2 at home this season with victories over Wisconsin-Superior and Robert Morris. Green Bay shoots 41 percent overall and 25.4 percent from three-point range and is being outrebounded by just less than a board per game. Turnovers have been a problem as the Phoenix lose the turnover battle by more than one miscue per contest. Emmanuel Ansong leads Green Bay in scoring (12.4 ppg), rebounding (5.3 rpg), steals (14) and minutes played (28.4 mpg). Donovan Ivory (10.6 ppg) and Kamari McGee (10.1 ppg) also score in double-digits while sophomore point guard Lucas Stieber leads the team in assists (4.0 apg) and threes made (15). 

SERIES NOTES
IUPUI leads the all-time series by an 8-5 margin and is 4-3 in the seven meetings in Green Bay. The two teams split a pair of games in Green Bay last year with the Jags winning the first meeting 80-71 on Feb. 5 and losing the following day, 79-72. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will continue the two-game trip at Milwaukee on Saturday (Jan. 15) at 3:00 p.m. Eastern at Panther Arena. That game will be aired on ESPN+. 

Game Notes (click here for the full PDF packet)
    OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
    On the surface, IUPUI's 65-point effort against UIC would seem pretty pedestrian by college basketball standards. However, for the Jaguars, it marked an offensive explosion as it was the most points by the Jaguars in a game this season. Bakari LaStrap led the way with a career-high 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and senior Jonah Carrasco was a perfect 4-of-4 for his career-high 10 points. Collectively, IUPUI shot a season-high 52 percent from the floor in the loss to UIC. 

    THEFTS 
    IUPUI is coming off back-to-back double-digit games in the steals department, collecting 11 at Wright State on Jan. 8 and 10 against UIC on Monday night (Jan .10). Junior Nathan McClure had a career-high six at Wright State while four different Jaguars had two steals against UIC. 
    IUPUI averaged just 4.1 steals per game over the season's first nine games, but is averaging 7.8 steals per game over the past four games. 

    DEFENSIVE NUGGETS
    While the IUPUI offense has struggled to score, defense has been the Jaguars' calling card, holding six foes under 40 percent shooting this season. IUPUI ranks 83rd in the country in scoring defense at 64.8 points allowed per game, topping the Horizon League in the category
    No IUPUI opponent has hit 50 percent or better 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. 

    SEAY MY NAME
    After scoring just 30 points in the season's first nine games combined, senior Azariah Seay has been on a scoring binge, averaging 13.5 points per game over the past four games. Seay tallied a career-high 17 on 8-of-12 shooting against Morehead State on Dec. 21. 

    SEVEN BODIES
    IUPUI entered the Morehead State game with nine healthy bodies and finished the night with just seven cleared for takeoff. In addition to Seay's career-high 17, two others made the most of an extended opportunity as sophomore Bakari LaStrap finished with a career-high 11 points (5-11 FG, 1-1 FT) in 35 minutes off the bench and senior Dimitar Pandev also had a career-high 11 (3-3 FG, 2-2 3's, 3-6 FT) in just 18 minutes. 
    IUPUI's top scorer, B.J. Maxwell, was limited to just three points on 1-of-7 shooting. 

    BRING ON THE BUCKS
    IUPUI had a recent addition to the schedule, lining up a non-conference game at No. 16/15 Ohio State for next Tuesday (Jan. 18) at 7:00 p.m. on BTN. The game will mark the third meeting between the two schools and IUPUI's first against a Big Ten foe since December 2017. 

    TAP INTO THE RESERVES
    With IUPUI's scoring coming via committee, IUPUI is averaging 19.1 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. 

    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
    Before a recent injury sidelined him, freshman KJ Pruitt was quietly beginning to play really solid basketball. At the point of his injury, he was second on the team in minutes played (270) and scoring (5.0 ppg) and had recently had his first career double-digit scoring game at Tennessee State on Dec. 10. 

    OFFENSE IS OFFENSIVE
    IUPUI is currently last in the nation in scoring offense (51.9 ppg) and 344th of 350 teams in turnovers per game (17.2 to/gm). The Jags have topped 50 points just seven times this season and have topped 60 just twice.