YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - After trailing by 17 at halftime, the IUPUI basketball team put up a strong second half before falling short at Youngstown State on Saturday (Feb. 19), 74-61. The Jaguars cut YSU's lead back to three with 8:01 to play before the Penguins outscored the guests 17-7 from there. 

Freshman Chuks Isitua had a career-high 14 points and seven rebounds and graduate transfer B.J. Maxwell also added 14 points in the loss. Senior Nathan McClure had 13 points in a full 40 minutes of work and Bakari LaStrap finished with 10 points and five assists. Michael Akuchie paced YSU (18-11, 12-7 HL) with 21 points and 13 rebounds and Dwayne Cohill had 19 points and four assists. 

YSU shot a blistering 58.7 percent from the floor while holding IUPUI to just 40.7 percent overall. 

Youngstown State shot 60 percent in the opening half to build a 43-26 break at the half. After a Maxwell at the 1:43 mark, YSU closed the half with the final eight to extend the lead to 17. Largely behind the play of Isitua in the frontcourt, IUPUI opened the second half strong, outscoring the Penguins 28-14 over the opening 12 minutes to get within three. At one point, Isitua scored eight of IUPUI's 10 points and blocked a shot at the other end to help bring the Jags back. However, the Jags were unable to get all the way back as Akuchie got loose for a dunk to make it a two-possession game with 6:58 left. 

The road weary Jags got back within five when McClure swished a pair of free throws with 5:43 left, but YSU answered with nine straight points to seal the game. Cohill dialed up a pair of jumpers during the run as part of a 7-of-9 shooting night. YSU missed just 19 field goal attempts and grabbed eight offensive boards, leading to 13 second chance points. 

Isitua was 6-of-9 from the floor and also dished out a pair of assists. Maxwell hit for double-digits for an eighth straight game.  

IUPUI will return home to cap the regular season with back-to-back home games. The homestand will begin against Milwaukee on Thursday night (Feb. 24) at 8:00 p.m. at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The season finale will be against Green Bay inside the Jungle on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 4:45 p.m..