INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team fell short against Horizon League leader Northern Kentucky inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Saturday (Dec. 31), dropping a tight contest to the Norse, 55-42. Freshman Vincent Brady II scored a team-high 13 points and veteran Marlon Taylor made the most of extended minutes off the bench, finishing with a career-high eight points and nine boards. 

Junior Marques Warrick paced NKU (9-6, 4-0 HL) with 15 points and five assists and Sam Vinson added 12 points. IUPUI (3-11, 0-3 HL) held NKU to just 37 percent shooting and outrebounded the Norse, 38-30, but struggled to score with injuries mounting among the regulars. Top scorer Jlynn Counter missed the game, as did Amhad Jarrard, Armon Jarrard and John Egbuta.

On the flip side, true freshman DJ Jackson made his first appearance in nearly two months, playing 16 minutes.

"The effort was there and the energy was there and the intensity was there where it needed to be," head coach Matt Crenshaw said. "We had too many turnovers and that led to them getting some easy buckets, but I'm not disappointed with the effort. Little by little, we need to get some guys back from some injuries and get them incorporated into what we want to do. 

"I was encouraged by today."

IUPUI committed 20 turnovers while forcing just five NKU miscues. The disparity led to NKU getting 18 more field goal attempts and a 23-6 advantage in points off turnovers. Despite the odds stacked against them, IUPUI hung around for most of the game. 

Brady scored 11 of his 13 points in the opening half and Taylor and Daylan Hamilton helped the Jaguars stay connected as the Jags trailed 29-21 at the break. However, NKU would score the opening seven points of the second half and keep the Jags off the board for over six minutes before Chris Osten broke through with a two-handed dunk. 

After having trailed by as many as 19, the Jags used a 7-0 run to creep within 11 when Boston Stanton III swished a corner three in front of his own bench, prompting an NKU timeout. The timeout quelled IUPUI's momentum as the Norse scored the game's next four points and held IUPUI scoreless for almost three minutes to seal the game. 

IUPUI finished at 36.6 percent from the floor and 3-of-15 (20 percent) from three. Stanton had seven points and seven rebounds and Osten closed with four points and a game-high 11 rebounds. 

The Jaguars will cap the two-game homestand on Monday (Jan. 2) when they host Wright State at 2:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Fans in attendance can get their picture with the NCAA National Championship trophy in the lobby prior to Monday's game.