FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Sophomore
Jlynn Counter netted a career-high 27 points and provided the bulk of the offense as the Jaguars fell to Southern Indiana 87-74 in the opening game of the Indiana Classic inside Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne on Monday (Dec. 19). The Screaming Eagles buried the Jaguars in a flurry of threes, connecting on 17-of-28 attempts (60.7 percent) from long range, keyed by Trevor Lakes 10-of-16 effort.
Lakes scored a game-high 30 points for the victors, all from deep. Jacob Polakovich added 15 points and 20 rebounds for the victors. IUPUI freshman
Armon Jarrard tallied a career-high 16 points off the IUPUI (2-10) bench and
Daylan Hamilton added nine in his first career start.
"We obviously didn't guard the three-point line well enough today. We knew they shoot the ball well from the perimeter at virtually every position, but defensively, we let them get too many clean, open looks," head coach
Matt Crenshaw said. "Once a few went in, it was kind of contagious for them.
"We got some really good contributions today. I thought (Counter) was really good and some others guys, (Jarrard) and Cooper, came in and played some really good minutes. We just need to be more consistent and get everyone going at the same time."
The opening few minutes provided a precursor of things to come as Lakes buried three threes in the opening three-plus minutes to stake USI (7-5) to a 9-2 lead. The lead grew to 14-2 before
Vincent Brady II and Hamilton connected on back-to-back treys to cut the lead back to 15-10. USI led by as many as 20 in the opening half before taking a 47-31 lead to the locker room. The Screaming Eagles made 9-of-14 threes in the opening half while IUPUI shot just 33 percent overall and from three in the opening 20 minutes.
The second half saw IUPUI play much more evenly, including using an 8-0 run to get within 12 with 15:07 to play. Counter scored six straight points on drives to the bucket before Hamilton swished a pull-up jumper. However, Lakes stopped the run and stole the momentum with an open trey to push the lead back to 15.
Counter hit 10-of-19 shots and all seven of his free throws for his first career game of 20-or-more. Jarrard scored his 16 points in 28 minutes off the bench and Hamilton closed with nine points and a pair of steals. Junior
Cooper Dewitt had a career-high seven points and
John Egbuta added six points and four boards.
IUPUI turned it over just 12 times but was outrebounded by a 41-27 margin.
IUPUI will cap the two-game event on Tuesday (Dec. 20) when the Jaguars take on Texas A&M Commerce at 4:00 p.m. inside Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne. That game will be aired on ESPN+ and will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
