DAYTON, Ohio - Senior Azariah Seay pumped in a team-high 16 points and sophomore Bakari LaStrap matched his career-high with 11 points and five assists, but an undermanned IUPUI squad was overmatched by red hot Wright State inside the Nutter Center, 72-58. Tanner Holden led four Raiders in double-digits with 20 points and Trey Calvin contributed 16 points. Grant Basile just missed a double-double for the victors with 13 points and nine boards in the win. 

The Jaguars (1-11, 0-3 HL) rolled into Dayton with just eight healthy bodies and were a prohibitive underdog against the league's hottest team of late. That said, head coach Matt Crenshaw's Jags showed some fight and mettle, coming off an extended COVID related pause. 

"I was really proud of the team," Crenshaw said. "A lot of times, you can go into a game and people seem defeated going into the game. (Today), guys were upbeat and understood that we were short coming into the game, but they fought. 

"Wright State's a great team - one of the best teams in this league and they've been that way consistently. I thought the game was a little closer than what the final score was and how we played and what we did, but I was really proud of them. At the same time, I'm a little disappointed with some of the things we did within the game."

Even after a 1-of-9 start from the floor, IUPUI was able to build an 11-6 lead on back-to-back threes from Nathan McClure and Seay. The Jags held Wright State scoreless for nearly six minutes before Holden got loose on the baseline for a dunk to stop the Jags' 11-0 run. 

Wright State (8-7, 5-1 HL) outscored IUPUI 22-7 over the final seven-plus minutes of the first half, including closing the stanza with nine straight points to take a 33-23 lead at intermission. 

IUPUI showed some frisk, getting within 42-37 with 13:19 left when B.J. Maxwell drilled a wing three. The Jags looked to edge closer when they collected a steal on the ensuing WSU possession and had LaStrap out in front in transition. However, LaStrap was unable to convert and Calvin scored on a tough bank shot in transition the other way to recapture momentum. The sequence ultimately ignited a 12-0 run that saw the hosts run away with the outcome. 

Wright State shot 58 percent from the floor in the second half and finished the game at 47.3 percent overall. IUPUI's season long offensive struggles continued as the Jaguars shot 35.7 percent overall in the defeat. The Jags shot a solid 41 percent from three-point range with Seay and Boston Stanton III each hitting a pair. 

Stanton had a season-high 10 points and was the lone Jaguar to finish with a positive plus/minus on Saturday. McClure had five points, six boards and a career-high six steals in the loss and Maxwell closed with seven points and a team-high seven boards. 

In his first trip to Wright State as head coach, Crenshaw was able to take some notes and teach his team as he continues to mold and teach. 

"How a team plays at home doesn't matter the opponent. They play Wright State basketball and they do what they do," Crenshaw said. "They didn't get antsy whether the game was 10 or four or we go up or they go up, they didn't get antsy. 

"When they got up 15, they were still playing like they were up two (points). That was one of the things I shared with our team is that we're going to play our style of play and play our IUPUI basketball."

The Jaguars will now return home to host UIC on Monday night (Jan. 10) inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum at 7:00 p.m. That contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) are on the call.