INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will cap a stretch of home games on Saturday afternoon when the Jaguars host Robert Morris (5-17, 3-10 HL) inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum at noon. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) will call the action.

An iron man squad of Jaguars narrowly missed a home win over Youngstown State on Thursday night, falling to the Penguins by a 61-55 margin. Relegated to just six players for a third straight game, the Jags fought tough and rattled off an 18-2 run spanning both halves to build a second half lead. However, YSU ultimately outmanned the Jaguars in the win. Graduate transfer B.J. Maxwell tallied a career-high 22 points in the loss and sophomore Bakari LaStrap had 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the defeat. Maxwell continues to bear down on 1,000 collegiate points, moving his career total to 976 following his second 20-point game of the season on Thursday. 

Seemingly snakebitten, the Jags have refused to fold the tent and outrebounded YSU 34-39 on Thursday night and shot a respectable 46 percent from the floor. However, 17 turnovers led to 16 YSU points in a five-point loss.

SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS
Robert Morris enters play at 5-17 overall and 3-10 in Horizon League play. The Colonials have one road victory, having won at St. Francis (Pa.) back on Dec. 22 by a 75-67 score. Senior forward Kahliel Spear leads the team in scoring (13.7 ppg), rebounding (7.5 rpg), blocked shots (22) and free throws made (52). The Colonials had won two straight games prior to Thursday night's loss at UIC. 

SERIES NOTES
Saturday's game marks the first-ever meeting between IUPUI and Robert Morris. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will kickoff a stretch of five straight road games on Thursday, Feb. 10 when the Jaguars trek north to face Purdue Fort Wayne at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+.

Game Notes (click here for the full PDF packet)

QUICK HITTERS

• Today marks the first-ever meeting between IUPUI and Robert Morris on the hardwood. RMU joined the Horizon League prior to last season but the two teams never competed due to COVID. 
• Graduate transfer B.J. Maxwell had a career-night in Thursday's 61-55 loss to Youngstown State, notching a career-high 22 points (9-20 FG, 3-8 3's, 1-3 FT) and five boards. It marked his second game of 20-or-more points this season. For his collegiate career, Maxwell now has 976 career points, spanning four schools at the Division I and Division II levels. Maxwell had 385 points at Abilene Christian, 2 at Detroit Mercy, 371 at St. Edward's University and 216 this season at IUPUI.
• IUPUI has used 11 different players this season and amazingly, all 11 have scored in double-digits at least once this season. B.J. Maxwell has a team-high 11 double-digit scoring games this season and Bakari LaStrap has done so nine times. Mike DePersia was the last of the 11 Jaguars to score in double-digits this season, doing so against Northern Kentucky on Jan. 22. 
• Speaking of LaStrap, since Jan. 1 the sophomore is averaging 11.4 points and shooting 41.7 percent from three-point range in the Jaguars' nine games. He enters today's game having scored in double-figures in five straight games.
• Only two Jaguars have played all 20 games this season - Bakari LaStrap and Chuks Isitua. Every other IUPUI player has missed at least one game this season due to injury or COVID protocols. IUPUI has had just six players in uniform in each of its past three games and likely will have just six in uniform going forward as five different players have suffered season ending injuries.
• Maxwell leads IUPUI in scoring (11.5 ppg), minutes played (32.7 mpg), free throw percentage (80.0%) and threes made (24) and is second on the team in rebounding (4.8 rpg). Maxwell has led IUPUI in scoring 10 times this year and has tallied 20-or-more in a game twice. 
• The IUPUI basketball team had a 3.23 grade point average for the fall with 10 of the 14 team members notching a 3.0 or better. Nathan McClure had a perfect 4.0 in the fall and Stanton had a 3.95 mark. As a team, the Jaguars currently have a cumulative 3.37 team GPA.  

    SIX STRONG
    IUPUI has played its past three games with just six in uniform as injuries have ravaged the roster. It began in the preseason when Zach Gunn was lost to a season ending injury and four others (Jonah Carrasco, Bobby Harvey, KJ Pruitt and Azariah Seay) have since been lost for the season. Carrasco became the most recent to be bitten by the injury bug, suffering a likely season-ender against East-West on Jan. 31. In addition, senior Dimitar Pandev is no longer on campus after having returned to Macedonia at the start of the spring semester. 
    Lastly, two freshmen (Kaleb Edwards and Derek Petersen) won't suit up this season as redshirts. 

    CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR
    IUPUI put up a strong showing, but ultimately fell short against Youngstown State at home on Thursday night (Feb. 3), 61-55. IUPUI was behind 28-16 with 4:43 left in the opening half, but used an 18-2 run spanning the two halves to take a 34-30 lead with 16:41 left. YSU fired back with a 7-0 run and never relinquished the lead over the final 13 minutes. 
    It was a two possession game for much of the final 10 minutes, but IUPUI was unable to get over the hump. B.J. Maxwell (career-high 22 pts) and Bakari LaStrap (15 pts, 7 reb) led the way as IUPUI shot 46 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Penguins by a 34-29 margin. However, IUPUI committed 17 turnovers and saw the guests outscore them by a 16-2 margin in points off turnovers. 

    JONAH TIES THE BLOCK MARK
    Not only did Jonah Carrasco register his first career double-double against East-West on Monday (Jan. 31) with 13 points and 10 boards, he also tied the IUPUI single-game record with seven blocked shots. 
    Coming in, 6-foot-6 John Hester held the single-game record, having swatted seven shots against Indiana Tech on Jan. 21, 1997. 

    PG PLAY
    IUPUI's two point guards have both stepped up their play of late as sophomore Bakari LaStrap has scored in double-digits in eight of IUPUI's last 10 games, including a career-high 19 against East-West on Monday. The past nine games, LaStrap is averaging 11.4 points per game and shooting 41.7 percent from three-point range. 
    Junior Mike DePersia is rounding back into form after suffering an injury earlier this season. The past six games (five starts), DePersia has played 34 minutes per game while averaging 8.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. During that same six-game span, he's shooting 17-of-35 (48.6 percent) from the floor and 8-of-13 (61.5 percent) from three-point range. DePersia has made at least one three in seven straight games 

    THIN BENCH
    IUPUI's bench was averaging nearly 20 points per game for the bulk of the season before injuries beset the roster. IUPUI got at least 10 bench points in each of the first 17 games of the season before notching a season-low two points in its most recent three games.
    For the season, IUPUI reserves are averaging 17.3 points per game. 

    CRAFTY VETERAN
    Maxwell is an interesting case study in today's new world of college basketball as he's entering his seventh year of college this season. After redshirting his opening season (2015-16) at Abilene Christian, he played three full seasons at ACU before transferring out for a fifth season. He played just two games at Detroit Mercy in 2019-20 before suffering a season ending injury and receiving another season of eligibility. He spent all of last season at Saint Edward's University in Austin, Texas, where he averaged 18.6 points and 5.3 boards per game while earning NABC Second Team All-District honors.
    After all NCAA student-athletes were granted an additional year of eligibility due to COVID-19 issues, Maxwell opted to join the IUPUI program for a seventh season of schooling. He enters this season having played 94 collegiate basketball games and having scored 758 points across both NCAA Division I and II levels.     

    CHASING 1,000
    Maxwell's journey has spanned four schools in three different states at both the Division I and Division II levels, but through it all, he's closing in on 1,000 collegiate points. Maxwell has 974 collegiate points entering play - 385 at Abilene Christian, 2 at Detroit Mercy, 371 at St. Edward's University and 216 this season at IUPUI. 

    OFFENSE IS OFFENSIVE
    IUPUI is currently last in the nation in scoring offense (51.8 ppg) and 348th of 350 teams in turnovers per game (16.9 to/gm). IUPUI's shooting has been ugly as well as the Jags are 346th nationally at 38.3 percent from the field.
    The Jags have topped 60 points just three times this season.

    TAKING ADVANTAGE
    The category that has been the most damaging to the Jaguars this season may very well be points off turnovers. While IUPUI turns it over 3.7 times more than their opponents this year, it's the conversion rate that's more alarming. 
    IUPUI opponents are scoring 20.4 points per game in points off turnovers while the Jags are scoring just 10.7 points per game off turnovers -  a difference of 9.7 points per game. 

    EXPERIENCE MATTERS
    Despite having eight players classified as upperclassmen, the IUPUI roster entered this season without a ton of actual Division I experience. Mike DePersia (1,241 career minutes) and B.J. Maxwell (1,156 minutes between ACU and Detroit Mercy) are the only two to have played at least 1,000 career minutes. A third, Zach Gunn, was closing in on the number having played 920 minutes in three seasons at Ball State, but will miss the entire season due to a preseason injury. 
    Six others in the IUPUI rotation entered this season having played fewer than 400 career minutes in Nathan McClure (388), Azariah Seay (376 between IUPUI and Alabama State), Bobby Harvey (255), Bakari LaStrap (234), Dimitar Pandev (62) and Jonah Carrasco (49).