DAYTON, Ohio - After a lengthy COVID related pause, the IUPUI basketball team will return to action on Saturday (Jan. 8) when the Jaguars hit the road to face Wright State (7-7, 4-1 HL) inside the Nutter Center at 2:00 p.m.. The Jaguars haven't played since they hosted Morehead State back on Dec. 21 and have since had three games canceled due to COVID. IUPUI (1-10, 0-2 HL) comes in having dropped five-in-a-row while Wright State has won five straight, including a non-conference win at NC State on Dec. 21. The Raiders have since rattled off Horizon League victories over Milwaukee, Green Bay and UIC, all at home. 

Head coach Matt Crenshaw's team has struggled to put all the pieces together this season, starting the season stout defensively but never finding an offensive rhythm. Graduate transfer B.J. Maxwell paces the team in scoring (12.3 ppg), rebounding (4.8 rpg) and threes made (12). The Jags received a shot in the arm against Morehead State as senior Azariah Seay tossed in a career-high 17 points (8-12 FG, 1-1 FT) in his first start of the season. It marked the second time in as many games he hit for double-figures after scoring 15 against Chicago State on Dec. 16. 

Two others also hit for double-figures as both Bakari LaStrap and Dimitar Pandev tallied 11 each off the bench. Pandev hit all three of his first goal attempts in 18 minutes while LaStrap played 35 minutes as a reserve. 

IUPUI has dropped seven straight to the Raiders and hasn't won in Dayton since November 1976 - the first-ever meeting between the two teams. 

QUOTABLE
"We got off on a bad foot and it kind of snowballed from there. We really need to hone in and work on getting stops defensively early in the game and that will kickstart the offense. Maybe we can get out in transition and get some easy ones, rather than having to get everything in the halfcourt, especially early in the game. Getting some easy (baskets) can really get everyone going and get everyone going emotionally," Crenshaw said. 

SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE
Wright State checks in at 7-7 overall and 5-1 at home this season. Four Raiders have started all 14 games this season, led by Tanner Holden (20.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg) and Grant Basile (17.8 ppg, 8.9 rpg). The backcourt of Trey Calvin (13.7 ppg, 22 3's) and Tim Finke (8.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 21 3's) has also started every game while the fifth spot has been a revolving door with five different players having received a start. Collectively, WSU shoots 46 percent from the field and 29 percent from three while opponents shoot 45 percent overall and 33 percent from beyond the arc. 

SERIES NOTES
Wright State leads the all-time series, 17-3, and has won the last seven meetings between the two teams. Since IUPUI joined the Horizon League in 2017 the Jaguars are 1-8 against the Raiders. IUPUI has won just once in Dayton, back on Nov. 29, 1976, winning 89-84 in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will return home to host UIC on Monday night (Jan. 10) at 7:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. 

Game Notes (click here for the full PDF packet)
    DEFENSIVE NUGGETS
    IUPUI has been incredibly stingy all season long, holding six of 11 foes under 40 percent shooting and ranking 80th in the country in scoring defense at 63.9 points allowed per game. They easily lead the Horizon League in that category as Youngstown State is second in the league at 67.2 points allowed per game. 
    No IUPUI opponent has topped 50 percent 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 tallied 32 points in the team's last two games, including a career-high 17 (8-12 FG, 1-1 FT) against Morehead State on Dec. 21. In addition to averaging 16 points per game during those two games, he shot 13-of-22 (59.1%) from the floor and 3-of-7 (42.9%) from three in the two outings. His 17 against Morehead State paced the team, marking the first time in his two seasons that he's led the team in scoring. 

    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. 

    BY COMMITTEE
    It's becoming evident that IUPUI's offense is going to come by committee this season as the Jaguars lack a true go-to-scorer. Through 11 games, IUPUI has had just 16 double-digit scoring games as B.J. Maxwell has done it seven times and six others have tallied 10-or-more once. 
    Behind Maxwell, both Seay and LaStrap have each hit for double-digits twice. 

    TAP INTO THE RESERVES
    With the committee approach being the case, 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. 

    MAD MAX
    Graduate transfer and former Detroit Titan B.J. Maxwell has been IUPUI's top weapon thus far, leading the team in scoring (12.3 ppg) and rebounding (4.8 rpg) and easily pacing the squad in field goal attempts (119), three-point attempts (51) and free throw attempts (33), despite missing a full game due to injury.
    His 119 shot attempts are 22 percent of the team's tries as Boston Stanton III is second on the team with 72 attempts. 

    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. 

    FEAR THE PANDA
    After scoring just 13 points in the season's first eight games, senior Dimitar Pandev has totaled 19 points in the past three games, including 11 against Morehead State. Pandev, who is slowly rounding into form after a season ending knee injury derailed him last season, has made 6-of-8 shots off the bench the past three games and also grabbed nine boards in limited action (12.0 mpg) during the past three contests.  

    OFFENSE IS OFFENSIVE
    IUPUI is currently last in the nation in scoring offense (50.2 ppg) and 347th of 350 teams in turnovers per game (17.6 to/gm). The Jags have topped 50 points just five times this season and have topped 60 just once.

    EXPERIENCE MATTERS
    Despite having eight players classified as upperclassmen, the IUPUI roster entered this season without a ton of actual Division I experience. Mike DePersia (1,241 career minutes) and B.J. Maxwell (1,156 minutes between ACU and Detroit Mercy) are the only two to have played at least 1,000 career minutes. A third, Zach Gunn, was closing in on the number having played 920 minutes in three seasons at Ball State, but will miss the entire season due to injury. 
    Six others in the IUPUI rotation entered this season having played fewer than 400 career minutes in Nathan McClure (388), Azariah Seay (376 between IUPUI and Alabama State), Bobby Harvey (255), Bakari LaStrap (234), Dimitar Pandev (62) and Jonah Carrasco (49). 

    FRESH STARTERS
    Rarely have freshmen cracked IUPUI's starting five in the program's Division I era. It's super rare to have multiple freshmen starting, but that's the case for the Jags as both KJ Pruitt and Boston Stanton III have routinely been among the first five. Here's a look at other freshmen who have started more than half of the team's games in a given season in the D1 era. 
    Aaron Brennan - 2014-15 (started 24 of 31 games)
    Lyonell Gaines - 2011-12 (started 27 of 32 games)
    Alex Young - 2008-09 (started 21 of 30 games)
    George Hill - 2004-05 (started 21 of 29 games)

    Only one other time in the program's Division I era have the Jags had two freshmen as primary starters as Brennan and D.J. McCall were consistent starters in the 2014-2015 campaign.