INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will host Horizon League leader Northern Kentucky (8-6, 3-0 HL) inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Saturday (Dec. 31) at 2:00 p.m. to close out the calendar year. NKU enters as the lone remaining unbeaten team in the Horizon League while the Jaguars come in seeking their first win of the conference season. 

IUPUI (3-10, 0-2 HL) posted a solid 62-52 win over Texas A&M Commerce in its final game before the Christmas holiday as Jlynn Counter scored 23 points and Daylan Hamilton contributed a career-high 14 points in the win. IUPUI went wire-to-wire in the win, despite the Lions pulling even on three different occasions. Freshman Vincent Brady II chipped in 11 points and sophomore Boston Stanton III had an important seven rebounds in his second start of the season. 

The Jags shot 51.1 percent from the floor 5-of-10 from long range while holding Commerce to just 2-of-18 (11.1 percent) from three. 

QUOTABLE
"I'm super proud of our guys. We only played eight guys in this game, but they all contributed and played their role in the win. What I'm most proud of is we didn't panic when things got tight in the second half. We knew they'd make a run at us, but we stuck to the game plan and got (defensive) stops when we needed them. This was a solid win against a solid team and hopefully it'll give us some momentum going into Horizon League play. These guys earned this one," head coach Matt Crenshaw said following the win over Commerce. 

SCOUTING NORTHERN KENTUCKY
NKU enters at 8-6 overall and 3-0 to start Horizon League play with wins over Youngstown State, Robert Morris and Wright State. The Norse are 8-1 at home this season with wins over Cincinnati and Eastern Kentucky, but 0-5 in five contests away from home. Marques Warrick (19.7 ppg, 32 3's) leads the NKU offense while Sam Vinson (10.1 ppg) and Xavier Rhodes (9.2 ppg, 3.5 apg) join him in the backcourt. Chris Brandon (5.9 ppg, 9.6 rpg) anchors the frontcourt. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will cap the two-game homestand on Monday (Jan. 2) when the Jaguars host Wright State at 2:00 p.m. at the Coliseum.

Tidbits heading into today's game (click here for full game notes (PDF))
    SOLID AS A ROC
    Sophomore Jlynn Counter, known as Roc, was fantastic in the two-game Indiana Classic before Christmas, averaging 25.0 points in the two contests. He had a career-high 27 points (10-19 FG, 7-7 FT) and five rebounds against Southern Indiana on Dec. 19 and followed up with 23 points (9-13 FG, 1-1 3's, 4-4 FT) in the Dec. 20 win over Texas A&M Commerce. 
    Given the recent output, he's climbed to No. 11 in the Horizon League in scoring (13.3 ppg) and fifth in field goal percentage (49.7%) among qualified players. His three against TAMU Commerce was his first of the season, coming in his 15th attempt. 

    FRESHIES    
    Of the seven Horizon League Freshman of the Week Awards this season, three have gone to IUPUI players as Vincent Brady II is a two-time recipient and Armon Jarrard is the reigning honoree. 
    Jarrard came off the bench to average 10.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in the two-game Indiana Classic, including a career-high 16 points (4-7 FG, 2-3 3's, 6-7 FT) against Southern Indiana. 
    IUPUI has relied on freshmen since the start of the season with Brady and the Jarrard twins being fixtures in the rotation. A fourth rookie, DJ Jackson, also came in with high expectations, but suffered an injury at the start of the season, limiting him to two games. 
    Here's a look at how the four have performed so far this season.     
Vincent Brady: 28.5 mpg (leads team), 9.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 23 3's made (leads team)
Amhad Jarrard: 21.6 mpg (5th on the team), 5.8 ppg, 1.5 apg, 6 steals
Armon Jarrard: 17.5 mpg (6th on the team), 4.3 ppg,7 3's made (2nd on the team), 15 steals
DJ Jackson (2 games): 16.5 mpg, 3.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg

    FRESH STARTERS
    IUPUI had three freshmen in the starting lineup in the opener as Vincent Brady II, Amhad Jarrard and Armon Jarrard all got the starting nod. The trio, all of whom are Indianapolis natives, combined on four points, five boards and an assist in the opener at Iowa State. 

    TIGHTEN UP
    Against Texas A&M Commerce, IUPUI tightened up to an eight-man rotation by both necessity and success. Daylan Hamilton earned his second straight start and chipped in a career-high 14 points (5-10 FG, 4-7 FT) and four assists. Boston Stanton III, also making a second straight start, had four points and a career-high seven rebounds. 
    The only three that saw time off the bench were Armon Jarrard (5 pts), Jonah Carrasco (3 pts, 3 reb) and Cooper Dewitt (season-high 17 min). 

    4K
    IUPUI hosted its annual NCAA Readers Become Leaders game on Dec. 12 against Spalding University and had a program best 4,114 fans in attendance. The game attracted roughly 3,500 3rd graders from Central Indiana and stressed the importance of creating reading habits at a young age. The 4,114 fans easily surpassed the previous record for an IUPUI home game - 3,327 against Indiana State inside Conseco Fieldhouse on Dec. 23, 2008. 
    The previous record for an IUPUI game inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum was 3,159 in the inaugural game against Indiana State on Nov. 14, 2014. 

    PRINCE VINCE
    Freshman Vincent Brady II has earned two #HLMBB Freshman of the Week Awards this season, the most recent coming after a banner effort at Green Bay on Dec. 5 (17 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast). He became the first rookie in the Horizon League to earn the award twice this season.     
    The Green Bay game was his fourth straight game of 15 points or more, becoming the first IUPUI freshman to have at least four straight games of 15 points or more since Alex Young did so in December 2008. 

    THE MONROE EFFECT
    After missing the first three games of the season to injury, junior transfer Bryce Monroe came in and made a major impact in the Jaguars' lineup. In his four appearances, Monroe led the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) and assists (3.8 apg), despite suffering an injury in his third game back. More importantly, the team as a whole has improved its output. Without Monroe in the lineup, the Jags averaged just 53.4 points per game and scored 65.0 points per game with him available.
    The San Diego-transfer had a monster game at New Orleans on Nov. 24, pumping in 29 points (13-20 FG, 3-6 3's) and seven assists - both of which are the most by an IUPUI player this season. However, Monroe was injured during the New Orleans trip and is sidelined indefinitely.  

    INJURY BUG
    IUPUI has yet to have its full roster available this season as Bryce Monroe has been limited to just four games on the year and freshman DJ Jackson has been limited to two. Both are currently out and eying returns after the new year.  
    In addition, Jonah Carrasco, Cooper Dewitt, Amhad Jarrard, Armon Jarrard and Marlon Taylor have each missed at least one game due to injury or illness.
    Only four players - Jlynn Counter, Chris Osten, Vincent Brady II and Daylan Hamilton - have appeared in all 13 games this season. 

    OSTEN POWERS
    Graduate transfer Chris Osten is shooting an absurd 60.5 percent from the floor this season with 12 of his 46 field goals being dunks.
    Coming into this season, he had scored in double-digits just one time in his Division I career
in stops at both Arizona State and Northern Illinois, and never had a double-double. However,
in just 10 games this season, Osten has hit double-figures five times and registered three
double-doubles. He had season-highs of 15 points (6-9 FG, 3-4 FT) and 12 boards at Chicago
State on Nov. 14 and later had back-to-back 14-point, 10-rebound double-doubles against
Denver (Nov. 23) and New Orleans (Nov. 24).

    BOOK WORMS
    The Jaguars put together a 3.03 team grade point average during the fall semester with 12 members of the team earning a 3.0 or better. Junior John Egbuta was most impressive with a perfect 4.0 mark during the fall.