INDIANAPOLIS - An undermanned and already reeling IUPUI basketball team ended up on the short-end of a 60-41 decision to Northern Kentucky inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum on a brutally cold Saturday afternoon (Jan. 22).

Sophomore Bakari LaStrap finished with 11 points and four boards and junior Mike DePersia had a season-high 10 points, six boards and five assists in 39 minutes of action. Trevon Faulkner led NKU with 18 points, including 5-of-9 from three, and freshman Sam Vinson added 15 points and five assists. 

"It's adversity and we've been playing through adversity. We've been preaching patience and continuing to work hard. I'm proud of our guys," head coach Matt Crenshaw said afterwards. "There's honestly no quit in our guys."

With just six healthy bodies in uniform, IUPUI (1-17, 0-8 HL) brought a knife to a gunfight and was quickly outgunned by the Norse in the game's early going. After the teams traded treys early, NKU reeled off an 11-2 burst to take a quick 14-5 lead. 

Freshman Boston Stanton III stopped the Jaguars' bleeding with a three before the offense went silent for nearly six minutes, allowing NKU to rattle off 10 straight points. The Jaguars trailed 33-13 by halftime after shooting just 23 percent in the opening half. 

Amazingly, IUPUI outscored (28-27) and outshot (52 percent to 39 percent) NKU after halftime as LaStrap scored all 11 of his points after the break. 

"No matter what, we're going to continue to battle," DePersia said after hitting 4-of-10 shots and drawing six fouls against the Norse.

B.J. Maxwell finished with nine points in a full 40 minutes of work and Stanton had five points. Jonah Carrasco had four points, five boards and a pair of blocked shots and IUPUI's lone substitution, Chuks Isitua, had two points and four boards off the bench. 

NKU shot 41 percent overall and hit 9-of-23 (39.1 percent) from three-point range. 

IUPUI will cap the three-game homestand on Monday night (Jan. 24) when the Jaguars host Brescia University at 7:00 p.m. inside the Jungle. The game was a recent addition to the schedule so admission will be FREE of charge. There will be no broadcast for Monday night's contest.