INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will cap a quick two-game homestand on Saturday (Dec. 17) when the Jaguars host Eastern Illinois at noon inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Head coach Matt Crenshaw's team is looking for a clean sweep of the two-game homestand, having defeated Spalding 75-53 on Monday (Dec. 12) as part of the annual NCAA Readers Become Leaders Day. The Jaguars defeated Spalding in front of a program record 4,114 fans with the majority of the crowd coming from local elementary schools as the NCAA Readers Become Leaders initiative invites third-graders to the game as part of a partnership with WISH-TV, Scholastic and the Indianapolis Public Library. 

As part of Saturday's Holiday Hoops Day festivities, fans will be treated to pregame entertainment in the lobby from the Fishers Community Choir and the game is being sponsored by IU Health. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Zach Gunn (analyst) describe the action. 

On Monday, the Jaguars buzzed out to a 44-17 halftime lead and never looked back, shooting a blistering 60.4 percent from the field in the victory. Graduate transfer Chris Osten had a career-high 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting and reigning #HLMBB Freshman of the Week Vincent Brady II hit all seven of his field goal attempts and scored 17 points in 19 minutes off the bench. Daylan Hamilton (12 points, three assists) and Jlynn Counter (10 points, four rebounds, four assists) also finished in double-figures. IUPUI led by as many as 32 in the second half and held Spalding to just one made three overall. Freshman Amhad Jarrard closed with five points and a career-high six assists and John Egbuta had seven points and three boards. 

Brady, an Indianapolis-native, has been hot of late, scoring 17-or-more in each of IUPUI's last three games and shooting 61.3 percent overall and 47.3 percent from three-point range during that span. In addition to averaging 17.3 points per game during that stretch, he's also contributing 4.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game during the last three games. 

Saturday's game will kickoff a home-and-home series between IUPUI and Eastern Illinois as the Jaguars will return the trip to Charleston next season. 

QUOTABLE
"I was proud of our guys. It's been a tough week with a lot of guys out of practice and out of today's game due to some sickness. We weren't sure who was going to be able to play until Saturday, so it's been hard to get some good, solid practices in. I thought we did a good job of getting the ball inside early and really establishing our big men on the interior. That got us free for some open looks and things just work so much better when you make those open shots. I thought Vince came in and gave us a nice lift off the bench," Crenshaw said following Monday's win over Spalding. 

SCOUTING EASTERN ILLINOIS
EIU comes in at 2-9 on the season and 0-5 away from home. The Panthers two victories have come over Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (102-40) and Blackburn College (93-43). Saturday's game will mark EIU's first road game since playing twice at the Bobcat Battle on Nov. 25-26 when they were defeated by Ohio (67-78) and Alabama State (58-67). Kinyon Hodge leads EIU in scoring (12.4 ppg) and is shooting 46.8 percent from the floor while Yaakema Rose checks in at 8.8 points and 2.6 assists per game. Nick Ellington averages 6.4 points and a team-high 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 53.5 percent from the field. 

SERIES HISTORY
IUPUI is 3-3 all-time against Eastern Illinois and 2-0 in the two meetings in Indianapolis, having defeated the Panthers inside Conseco Fieldhouse in November 2008 and then defeating them inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum in November 2018. That game was the most recent meeting in the series as the Jaguars escaped with a 71-65 victory behind 21 points from Camron Justice and a double-double from Illinois-native Elyjah Goss, who had 10 points and 10 boards. (BOX SCORE) 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will head to Fort Wayne for a pair of games, beginning with a Monday, Dec. 19 meeting with Southern Indiana inside the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Both games in Fort Wayne will be broadcast on ESPN+.