DES MOINES, Iowa - The IUPUI basketball team will cap a two-game trip through the state of Iowa on Wednesday (Nov. 9) when the Jaguars take on Drake (0-0) inside the Knapp Center at 7:00 p.m. CT on ESPN+. IUPUI (0-1) opened the season at Iowa State on Monday before trekking 37 miles south to Des Moines to face the Bulldogs. Wednesday's game will mark the fourth-ever meeting between the two schools with Drake having won two of the prior three matchups. 

Head coach Matt Crenshaw's team is coming off an 88-39 loss at Iowa State on Monday night, despite a team-high 16 points from sophomore guard Jlynn Counter in his IUPUI debut. Crenshaw unveiled a starting five that consisted of all newcomers and three freshmen in Vincent Brady II, Amhad Jarrard and Armon Jarrard. In fact, 12 different IUPUI players made their Jaguar debuts on Monday night as only Jonah Carrasco, Boston Stanton III and Marlon Taylor had ever played a minute in an IUPUI uniform prior to the opener. Junior John Egbuta provided a spark off the bench with six points in 17 minutes, but turnovers plagued the Jaguars as 29 miscues were converted into 31 Iowa State points. Counter shouldered the load for the Jaguars early, scoring eight of the team's opening 10 points on a bevy of drives to the bucket. Daylan Hamilton and Stanton were IUPUI's second leading scorers in the opening half with each connecting on a three-point field goal. 

The game marked IUPUI's first meeting with a Big 12 team since playing K-State in Kansas City in November 2009. 

This season marks the first time since 2015 that IUPUI will start the campaign with three consecutive true road games. Back in 2015, the Jaguars opened with games at Indiana State (W, 72-70), Marquette (L, 71-75 ot) and NC State (L, 56-79) before the home opener with Kentucky State. Last season, IUPUI opened with five straight away from home with road games at Butler (L, 47-56) and Evansville (L, 40-60) before playing three games at the 210 San Antonio Shootout ahead of the home opener against Spalding University. 

QUOTABLE
"This is a starting point for us. We're young, so it was good for the new guys to see this speed and strength and athleticism. (Iowa State) did a good job of speeding us up and making us uncomfortable with their pressure. Those turnovers led to them getting out in transition and getting some easy buckets. I thought Jlynn adapted to the speed of the game right away and showed some really good stuff. The rest of the guys will learn from this and we'll be better prepared on Wednesday," Crenshaw said following Monday's game at Iowa State. 

TIDBITS
- IUPUI freshmen combined to score 50 points in the exhibition game win over Brescia and newcomers scored 91 of the team's 101 points. 
- IUPUI returns just 9.1 points per game from a season ago as Crenshaw's squad returns just two letterwinners in Boston Stanton III (4.7 ppg) and Carrasco (4.4 ppg). The 9.1 points per game are the fewest returning points in the country among the nation's Division I programs. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will close out a span on three straight road games to start the year when the Jaguars take on Chicago State on Monday night (Nov. 14) at 7:00 p.m. Central inside CSU's Jones Convocation Center.