INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will continue its four-game homestand on Saturday (Jan. 14) when the Jaguars host Cleveland State at noon inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Approximately 30 former IUPUI players are expected to be in attendance as part of Alumni Day inside the Coliseum. 

IUPUI (3-15, 0-7 HL) showed marked improvement against Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday, holding the Mastodons under 40 percent shooting and outrebounding the opposition by four boards. In addition, the Jags committed just 12 turnovers, well under their season average. However, the Jags flat out struggled shooting the basketball, particularly from the outside. IUPUI made a season-low one three, from Vincent Brady II, and saw PFW can 11 from distance to account for a 30-point difference. 

Graduate transfer Chris Osten continued his hot play with 12 points (6-of-8 FG) and eight rebounds and freshman DJ Jackson tossed in a season-high nine points in his third start of the year. Sophomore Jlynn Counter added nine points and five assists off the bench and Brady closed with seven. 

On Saturday, alum from virtually every era have confirmed their attendance, ranging from the program's early days to recent IUPUI graduates.

QUOTABLE
"We just didn't make shots, plain and simple. We let some of their guys get going early and it's really hard to match when you're getting twos and giving up threes. That was a veteran team that knows how to play together and we're playing a lot of new guys who are still figuring our what college basketball is all about. " liked our fight. We didn't back down and in fact, I thought we punched back. We've got a lot more basketball to play, so I think our guys learned a lot about themselves tonight," head coach Matt Crenshaw said following Thursday's defeat to Purdue Fort Wayne. 

SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE
Since starting the season 0-3, Cleveland State has rebounded nicely, climbing to 9-8 on the year and 4-2 in Horizon League play. The Vikings have alternated wins and losses in their past six games, but also had a six-game winning streak earlier this season. Tristan Enaruna (12.6 ppg), Deshon Parker (10.6 ppg), Tae Williams (9.8 ppg) and Drew Lowder (9.5 ppg) pace a balanced attack with Lowder doing the bulk of his damage off the bench. Enaruna also leads the team in rebounds (6.2 rpg) and Williams grabs 6.0 boards per game. CSU hangs its hat at the defensive end, holding foes to 65.9 points per game and keeping opponents to 41.5 percent shooting. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will continue the homestand against Oakland on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7:00 p.m. at the Coliseum. It will be Favorite Professor Night inside the Coliseum as faculty and staff from all over campus will be honored for their work with student-athletes. Fans can purchase tickets by clicking here. 

Tidbits heading into Saturday's game (click here for full game notes (.pdf))
    OSTEN POWERS
    In the four games in the 2023 calendar year, graduate transfer Chris Osten has been nothing short of awesome. In those four contests, Osten is averaging 16.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting a nearly ridiculous 78.4 percent (29-of-37) from the field. Osten had a career-high 21 points (8-10 FG, 5-7 FT) at Robert Morris on Monday (Jan. 9).
    Osten is currently shooting 65.8 percent for the season, chasing the school record for single-season shooting percentage (Jon Avery - 67.9 percent in 2008-09). 
    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 17 games this season, Osten has hit double-figures nine times and registered four
double-doubles.

    THREE TIMES
    IUPUI freshman Vincent Brady II has won the #HLMBB Freshman of the Week Award three times this season, tops in the league. Brady, a 6-foot-4 guard, is second on the team in scoring (9.8 ppg) and leads the squad in minutes played (30.2 mpg) and threes made (29).
    Brady comes in having made at least one three in 12 straight games and in 15 of the team's 17 games this season.   

    FRESH DUBS
    It would appear that Brady will be hovering around double-digits in scoring all season long as he's hit for double-digits in seven of IUPUI's last 10 games after failing to do so in the season's first seven games. 
    The Dec. 5 Green Bay game was his 4th 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 in '08. 
    Freshmen scoring in double-digits has been a rarity for the IUPUI program as just two have done so in the program's Division I-era. Young went on to score 2,286 points in his four-year career and Hill scored 1,619 points in three-plus seasons before being drafted in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft. 
    Alex Young - 10.8 ppg (2008-09); George Hill - 10.7 ppg (2004-05)

    TOPS IN THE COUNTRY
    IUPUI is tops in the nation, having had 12 different players miss at least one game due to injury or illness, 10 of whom are scholarship student-athletes. Highest on the list are Zach Gunn (out for the season), Bryce Monroe (14 games missed) and DJ Jackson (11 games). Other scholarship student-athletes who have missed multiple games this season include Armon Jarrard (6 games), John Egbuta (5 games),  Cooper Dewitt (3 games) and Amhad Jarrard (3 games).
    Behind IUPUI, Wyoming, Vanderbilt and Iona have all had eight student-athletes miss time and both Dayton and Texas State have had seven miss time.  

    SOLID AS A ROC
    Jlynn Counter, known as Roc, had a fantastic two-game Indiana Classic just 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. 
    The Oklahoma-native is No. 14 in the Horizon League in scoring (12.9 ppg) and sixth in field goal percentage (49.2%). 

    ALL DAY-LAN
    Quietly, junior Daylan Hamilton has scored in double-digits in four of IUPUI's last six games, averaging 9.2 points per contest during that span. Hamilton had scored in double-digits just twice in the season's first 12 games before doing so in four of the past six. 

    COMEBACK EFFORT
    At Robert Morris on Monday (Jan. 9), IUPUI trailed 44-29 at halftime, but rallied to come all the way back in the second half. The Jaguars tied the game at 61 all and again at 63-63 before being outscored 14-7 over the game's first five-plus minutes in the 77-70 loss. 
    IUPUI outrebounded RMU by nine for a season-high rebounding margin. 

    IN LEAGUE PLAY... QUICK HITTERS
    In seven Horizon League games, IUPUI is outrebounding opponents by 2.3 rebounds per game as Chris Osten (6.4 rpg) and Vincent Brady II (4.7 rpg) lead the way. 
    The flip side - IUPUI's turnover margin in league play has been astonishing as the Jaguars turn it over nearly seven times more than their opponents (-6.42 to/gm) and turn it over 16.9 times per game. Jlynn Counter (26 ast/25 to), Amhad Jarrard (16 ast/12 to) and DJ Jackson (4 ast/2 to) are the only three regulars to have more assists than turnovers in league play.
    The three-point line has continued to be problematic in league play as well as the Jaguars are making just 4.1 treys per game in the league and yielding 9.9 threes per game in the seven games. 
    Brady (11.9 ppg), Counter (11.0 ppg) and Osten (11.0 ppg) are all scoring in double-digits in league play. 

    MAGIC MARLON
    On New Year's Eve against Northern Kentucky, Marlon Taylor took full advantage of a rare opportunity for extended action. Coming into the game, Taylor had exactly seven points and eight rebounds in his collegiate career, which began as a walk-on at Indiana State in 2018. He had made 16 prior appearances for the Jaguars and actually took two years away from basketball from 2020-2022. Suffice it to say, he likely wasn't on the scouting report. 
    With virtually half the active roster sidelined with injuries, Taylor was awarded 26 minutes of action and responded with a career-high eight points (4-8 FG), nine rebounds and two assists. 
    He later had a career-high 10 points (4-4 FG, 2-2 3's) at Youngstown State on Jan. 7, doing so in just 11 minutes of work.  

    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, and returned to game action on Dec. 31. 
    Here's a look at how the four have performed so far this season.     
Vincent Brady: 30.2 mpg (leads team), 9.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 30 3's made (leads team)
Amhad Jarrard: 22.9 mpg (5th on the team), 5.7 ppg, 2.1 apg (3rd on the team), 7 steals
Armon Jarrard: 17.5 mpg (7th on the team), 4.3 ppg, 7 3's made (2nd on the team), 15 steals
DJ Jackson (7 games): 16.9 mpg, 4.1 ppg, 2.0 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. 
    A fourth freshman, DJ Jackson, made his first collegiate start on Dec. 31 against NKU. 

    TIGHTEN UP
    In the win over 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. 

    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 currently sidelined indefinitely.  

    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.