MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - The IUPUI basketball team will close out a quick two-game road trip on Monday (Jan. 9) when the Jaguars take on Robert Morris (7-9, 2-3 HL) at 7:00 p.m. inside the UPMC Events Center. Monday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+. 

IUPUI (3-13, 0-5 HL) put four players in double-digits in its last outing in Saturday's 105-74 loss at Youngstown State. Graduate transfer Chris Osten registered his fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Jlynn Counter chimed in with 11 points and matched his career-high with seven assists. Both Daylan Hamilton and Marlon Taylor closed with 10 points apiece with the latter going 4-of-4 from the field. 

The Jags shot 48.2 percent from the floor and 7-of-14 from deep, but saw the Penguins shot 59.4 percent from the field and connected on 18-of-34 three-point attempts. Nine different YSU players made at least one try with freshman John Lovelace Jr. made 4-of-6 hoists for 16 points off the bench. 

Freshman Vincent Brady II, who's earned three #HLMBB Freshman of the Week honors this season, ended the game with nine points on 3-of-3 shooting. Fellow freshman Amhad Jarrard added four points, five assists and two boards off the bench. 

QUOTABLE
We need to put this one behind us and focus on Robert Morris. We had too many turnovers today and gave them too many open looks. They're a hard team to guard because they play fast and they shoot it so well, but we also missed some assignments today and it cost us. I thought Chris was really good on the inside today and we had some others guys give us a lift. We just need to get everyone going at the same time," head coach Matt Crenshaw said following Saturday's loss at Youngstown State. 

SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS
Robert Morris is 7-9 on the year and 2-3 in Horizon League play. The Colonials are 4-2 on their home court this season. Enoch Cheeks leads RMU in scoring (17.4 ppg) and steals (25) and Kahliel Spear is tops on the team in rebounding (7.4 rpg) and blocked shots (21) while ranking second on the team in scoring (13.5 ppg). Josh Corbin also scores in double-figures at 11.7 points per game and has drilled 51 threes. Michael Green III pilots the offense with a team-high 4.8 assists per game to go along with his 6.7 points per contest. Collectively, RMU shoots 44.9 percent from the floor and holds foes to 42.5 percent overall. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will open a four-game homestand on Thursday (Jan. 12) when the Jaguars host Purdue Fort Wayne at 7:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Thursday's game will be First Responders & Healthcare Appreciation Night and also Jag-a-Thon Night inside the Coliseum. Fans can purchase tickets by clicking the link. 

Tidbits heading into today's game (click here for full game notes (.pdf))
    THREE TIMES
    IUPUI freshman Vincent Brady II has now won the #HLMBB Freshman of the Week Award three times this season, including this past week. Brady, a 6-foot-4 guard, is second on the team in scoring (9.9 ppg) and leads the squad in minutes played (29.7 mpg) and threes made (27).  

    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 eight 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 - below is a list of all the rookies who averaged 10-or-more a game in their rookie campaigns. Only Young and Hill do so at the NCAA Division I level.
    Alex Young - 10.8 ppg (2008-09)
    George Hill - 10.7 ppg (2004-05)
    Chad Pate - 14.0 ppg (1991-92)
    Aldray Gibson - 14.7 ppg (1983-84)
    Eric McKay - 12.8 ppg (1981-82)
    Ron Angevine - 10.6 ppg (1979-80)

    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 missed nearly eight weeks to an injury. Monroe is out indefinitely, hoping to potentially return in February.   
    In addition, Jonah Carrasco, Jlynn Counter, Cooper Dewitt, Amhad Jarrard, Armon Jarrard and Marlon Taylor have each missed at least one game due to injury or illness.
    Only three players - Chris Osten, Vincent Brady II and Daylan Hamilton - have appeared in all 15 games this season and only Osten has started all 15 times. 

    SOLID AS A ROC
    Prior to a recent injury, sophomore 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. 
    Given the recent output, he's climbed to No. 13 in the Horizon League in scoring (13.1 ppg) and sixth in field goal percentage (48.5%) among qualified players. 

    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 have 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. For the season, the South Bend-native now has 13 points and 13 boards in his 65 minutes of work. 
    He's now coming off a career-high 10 points (4-4 FG, 2-2 3's) at Youngstown State on Saturday, 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: 29.7 mpg (leads team), 9.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 27 3's made (leads team)
Amhad Jarrard: 22.1 mpg (5th on the team), 5.8 ppg, 1.7 apg, 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 (5 games): 15.0 mpg, 3.2 ppg, 2.2 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
    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. 

    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.  

    OSTEN POWERS
    Graduate transfer Chris Osten is shooting an absurd 63.6 percent from the floor this season with 16 of his 63 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 16 games this season, Osten has hit double-figures eight times and registered four
double-doubles. He's scored a career-high 19 points on two different occasions and had back-to-back 14-point, 10-rebound double-doubles against Denver (Nov. 23) and New Orleans (Nov. 24).

    LOOK AT THE ARC
    The three-point line has been a tell as to IUPUI's success, or struggles, this season. 
    As a whole, IUPUI ranks No. 340 (of 352) nationally in three-point percentage (28.2%) and No. 349 in threes made per game (4.3). 
    In IUPUI's 13 losses, opponents are shooting 40.6 percent from three and connecting on 8.9 threes per game, while outscoring the Jags by 13.8 points per game from deep. 
    In IUPUI's three wins, opponents are shooting just 13.3 percent from deep and connecting on just 2.6 threes per game. IUPUI is outscoring foes by five points per game from three and shooting a respectable 34.2 percent from beyond the arc. 

    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.