INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will embark on game two of a stretch of four games in six days on Thursday night (Jan. 20) when the Jaguars host Wright State (9-8, 6-2 HL) in Horizon League play at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The Jaguars are coming off a Tuesday night (Jan. 18) tilt at No. 19/18 Ohio State and will later host Northern Kentucky on Saturday at noon at the Coliseum. The Jags will cap the hectic stretch with a late addition home game on Monday (Jan. 24) when they host Brescia in the Jungle at 7:00 p.m.. 

Thursday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) are on the call. Head coach Matt Crenshaw's team will look to recapture its defensive work that shone earlier in the season as the Jags are coming off back-to-back tough defensive outings, including an 83-37 defeat at Ohio State. The Jaguars' point guard duo of Bakari LaStrap and junior Mike DePersia showed well at Ohio State as the former had a team-high 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting and the latter closed with nine points and a team-high six rebounds. Freshman Chuks Isitua also performed well with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting, four boards and two steals. 

LaStrap has scored in double-digits in four of IUPUI's last six games while DePersia is averaging 8.5 points and 5.0 rebounds over his past two outings. 

The Jags are looking to stop an eight-game skid to Wright State, which includes a 72-58 loss in Dayton less than two weeks ago. Azariah Seay paced IUPUI with 16 points in that loss. 

QUOTABLE
"I liked what we did defensively in the first half. Their size, strength and physicality bothered us, but I thought we did a good job fighting them. We knew they were going to come out strong in the second half. We were prepared for that, but we couldn't match them athletically, especially on the inside. They're one of the best teams in the nation for a reason," Crenshaw said following his team's loss at Ohio State on Tuesday. 

SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE
Wright State enters at 9-8 overall and 6-2 to start Horizon League play. WSU had won seven straight before falling at Youngstown State on Jan. 15, 90-87. Tanner Holden leads Wright State in scoring at 20.3 points per game and is joined in double-digits by Grant Basile (18.3 ppg, 8.9 rpg) and Trey Calvin (13.9 ppg). Tim Finke leads Wright State in minutes played and is just shy of double-digits at 9.6 points per game. Collectively, WSU shoots 46 percent from the field and 77.4 percent from the free throw line. 

SERIES NOTES
IUPUI is 3-18 all-time against Wright State and has dropped eight-in-a-row heading into Thursday night's contest.

UP NEXT
IUPUI will continue the homestand against Northern Kentucky on Saturday (Jan. 22) at noon inside the Indiana Farmers Coliseum. 

Game Notes (click here for the full PDF packet)

QUICK HITTERS

• IUPUI comes in having dropped eight straight to Wright State, dating back to 2018. The Raiders defeated IUPUI just 12 days prior in Dayton, 72-58. Azariah Seay paced three Jags in double-digits with 16 points (6-17 FG, 2-6 3's, 2-2 FT) and Bakari LaStrap added 11 points and five assists off the bench. Freshman Boston Stanton III had a season-high 10 points (3-8 FG, 2-3 3'3s, 2-2 FT) in that contest. 
• LaStrap has scored in double-digits in four of IUPUI's last six games, averaging 9.8 points per contest during that span. LaStrap has connected on 48.9 percent (22-of-45) from the floor and 4-of-6 from three-point range during that span. 
• After not allowing an opponent to shoot better than 50 percent in a game in the season's first 14 games, IUPUI's last two opponents have scorched the nets at a combined 59.8 percent (61-of-102) and hit half of their three-point attempts (24-of-48). At Milwaukee on Saturday, the Panthers shot 62.3 percent overall and 52 percent from three while No. 19/18 Ohio State shot 57.1 percent overall and 48 percent from three on Monday. 
• With a rash of injuries in December, the IUPUI starting lineup and rotations has become a patchwork chore for first year head coach Matt Crenshaw. Of the 11 players who have seen action this season, 10 have started at least one game this season. Freshman Boston Stanton III is the lone IUPUI player to have started all 16 games. 
• Of IUPUI's 11 active players, 10 have scored in double-figures in at least one game this season with senior Jonah Carrasco adding his name to that list  on Jan. 10. Carrasco had a perfect shooting night, hitting all four field goals and both of his free throws in tallying a career-high 10 points against UIC. The only player to have not scored in double-digits this season is junior guard Mike DePersia.  
• Maxwell leads IUPUI in scoring (11.1 ppg), rebounding (4.4 rpg), minutes played (31.2 mpg), free throw percentage (82.2%) and threes made (18). Maxwell has led IUPUI in scoring nine times this year and had a career-high 20 points (6-11 FG, 3-4 3's, 5-5 FT) against Chicago State on Dec. 16. 
• The IUPUI basketball team had a 3.23 grade point average for the fall with 10 of the 14 team members notching a 3.0 or better. Nathan McClure had a perfect 4.0 in the fall and Stanton had a 3.95 mark. As a team, the Jaguars currently have a cumulative 3.37 team GPA.  

     OHIO STATE AFTERTHOUGHTS
    Monday's loss at Ohio State dropped IUPUI to 0-3 all-time against the Buckeyes and 0-18 all-time against ranked opponents... the game was a late addition as both teams had previously had three games canceled due to COVID... sophomore Bakari LaStrap had a team-high 12 points and Mike DePersia had nine points and a team-high six rebounds... the 37 points scored were the program's fewest in a game in school history - the previous low was 39 at North Dakota State on Feb. 16, 2013... IUPUI trailed by just eight in the closing minutes of the first half before ultimately falling behind by 13 at halftime before OSU outscored the Jags 46-13 in the second half.

    ANOTHER ADDITION
    IUPUI will add another quick turnaround home game as the Jaguars have scheduled a game with Brescia for Monday, Jan. 24 inside the Jungle. It will mark just the second meeting all-time between the teams as IUPUI defeated Brescia 120-76 on Dec. 16, 1989 at the DePauw University Tourney in Greencastle. Martin Reedus led five Metros in double-digits with 18 points, followed by Greg Wright (17), Eric Foster (15), Tony Long (13) and Ed Zello (10). 
    There will be no broadcast for Monday's game and admission will be free of charge.  

    PG PLAY
    IUPUI's two point guards have both stepped up their play of late as sophomore Bakari LaStrap has scored in double-digits in four of IUPUI's last six games, including a career-high 16 against UIC on Jan. 10. The past six games, LaStrap is averaging 9.8 points per game and shooting 49 percent from the floor. 
      In addition, junior Mike DePersia is rounding back into form after suffering an injury earlier this season. The past two games, DePersia has played 32.5 minutes per game while averaging 8.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. In addition, he's hit 4-of-6 from three over the past two games and is now shooting 45.5 percent from deep this season. For the year, DePersia has a 2.55 assist/turnover ratio, delivering 28 assists against just 11 miscues. 

    THREE-HEADED MONSTER
    IUPUI has used a trio of bodies in the middle this season in Jonah Carrasco, Chuks Isitua and Dimitar Pandev. Collectively, the group is averaging 10.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per game while shooting 52 percent (60-of-116) from the field. 

    THIN ON NUMBERS
    IUPUI entered the season thin on numbers with Zach Gunn suffering a season ending injury in the preseason and two others, Kaleb Edwards and Derek Petersen, intending to redshirt. 
    That said, it's been a nine-man bunch for Coach Crenshaw of late with both K.J. Pruitt and Bobby Harvey currently sidelined due to injury. Pruitt is expected to miss the remainder of the season after suffering an injury against Chicago State on Dec. 16. Harvey hasn't suited up since suffering an injury during pregame warmups prior to the game against Morehead State on Dec. 21.
    All total, IUPUI has had four different players (DePersia, Maxwell, Harvey and Pruitt) miss at least one game this season due to injury. 

    TAP INTO THE RESERVES
    With IUPUI's scoring coming via committee, IUPUI is averaging 19.8 points per game off the bench this season. IUPUI has received 10-or-more points from its bench in every game this season and has had a season-high 30 points twice, including at Milwaukee on Jan. 15. 

    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.     

    CHASING 1,000
    Maxwell's journey has spanned four schools in three different states at both the Division I and Division II levels, but through it all, he's closing in on 1,000 collegiate points. Maxwell has 925 collegiate points entering play - 385 at Abilene Christian, 2 at Detroit Mercy, 371 at St. Edward's University and 167 this season at IUPUI.