INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will continue its four-game homestand on Thursday night (Dec. 21) when the Jaguars host Defiance College inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum at 7:00 p.m. Thursday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Jan Boser (analyst) describe the action. 

IUPUI (3-9) is looking to snap a season long five-game skid following a near miss to Lindenwood by a 73-67 score inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum over the weekend. Junior Jlynn Counter scored a season-high 23 points and DJ Jackson made the most of his first start of the season with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting. The game was tied at 62 all with 3:43 remaining when Vincent Brady II scored on a driving layup, but Lindenwood outscored the hosts 11-5 down the stretch to secure the win.

Bryce Monroe and Brady scored seven points apiece and Qwanzi Samuels contributed six points and a game-high nine rebounds in the loss. 

Counter continues to pace the Jaguars in scoring (16.0 ppg), ranking sixth in the Horizon League. Coming off a 21-of-25 (84 percent) effort at the free throw line against Lindenwood, IUPUI has climbed to No. 1 in the Horizon League in free throw percentage at 74 percent as a team. 

SCOUTING DEFIANCE
Defiance comes in at 1-8 overall on the season, having lost seven straight entering play. The Yellow Jackets lone victory of the season was a 71-69 victory over Miami-Hamilton back on Nov. 11. Landen Swanner (12.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and Will Gehlhausen (7.0 ppg) lead Defiance in scoring as the Yellow Jackets enter play shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 33.6 percent from three-point range. Defiance is 0-5 away from home this season. 

INSIDE THE SERIES
Thursday's game marks the first-ever meeting between IUPUI and Defiance. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will continue its homestand against Detroit Mercy on Friday, Dec. 29 at 12:00 p.m. inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum.  

Notes and Tidbits (click here to download the full IUPUI Game Notes)
    MR. DO-IT-ALL
    In his second season with the program, junior guard Jlynn Counter has become the Jaguars' Mr. Do It All, leading the team in scoring (16.0 ppg),assists (2.8 apg), field goal percentage (50.3%), threes made (11), free throws made (33) and minutes played (29.8 mpg). He ranks second on the team in  rebounding (4.7 rpg) and finds himself among the Horizon League's top-10 in scoring, assists and field goal percentage.  
    Counter, a preseason Second Team All-Horizon League pick, tallied his 500th career point against Elon on Nov. 17. and enters today with 620 points in his two-year career. 

    COUNTER COUNT
    Counter tallied his 500th career point against Elon on Nov. 17 and enters today with 643 career points. 
    ...He's scored in double-digits 31 times in 43 career games
    ...He's hit for 20-or-more points 13 times in 43 career games

    AGAINST THE LIONS
    Counter is coming off a season-high 23 points (5-15 FG, 13-14 FT), including a career-high 13 made free throws, 14 attempts and a career-high four steals. 

    QWANZ SEES DOUBLE
    Graduate transfer Qwanzi Samuels recently recorded his first collegiate double-double at Minnesota (Dec. 16), having finished with a career-high 13 points (5-8 FG, 3-3 FT), 10 rebounds and four assists in 30 minutes off the Jaguars' bench. 
    It marked his first-ever double-digit scoring game (in his 96th career game) and his second career game with 10-or-more rebounds. 

    Q ON THE GLASS
    The last six games, Samuels has hit the glass hard, averaging 7.5 rebounds per game, including a pair of double-digit rebound efforts. Samuels now leads the team in rebounding at 5.3 rebounds per game and is second on the team in offensive rebounding (1.3 rpg). 

    FOR STARTERS
    After relying on the starting group of Jlynn Counter, Bryce Monroe, Kidtrell Blocker, Qwanzi Samuels and Yves Nkomba for the bulk of the season (8 games, 2-6 overall), head coach Matt Crenshaw has tried some alternatives of late. 
    Cooper Dewitt became the seventh different player to start a game this season against Northern Kentucky and Vincent Brady II then replaced Blocker at EIU last week to become the eighth different starter. DJ Jackson was awarded his first start of the season against Lindenwood on Dec. 16. 
    Counter and Monroe have started all 12 games this season while Nkomba has started 11 at center.

    TEN MAN ROTATION
    Ten different Jaguars are playing at least 10 minutes per game, led by Jlynn Counter (29.8 mpg) down to Cooper Dewitt (10.9 mpg). 
    Eight of the 10 have scored in double-digits at least once this year.

    ONLY THE LONELY    
    Only five of the Jaguars' 15 players have appeared in all 12 games so far this season as 10 different players have missed at least one game due to injury or illness. Most recently, both Vincent Brady II (illness) and Abdou Samb (injury) were among those to miss the game at Minnesota on Tuesday. 

    SEEING RED
    It's likely that both Amhad and Armon Jarrard will redshirt this season. Amhad missed the entire summer and preseason after suffering an injury last season and Armon was limited to just three games this season while playing through an injury. He was shutdown after trying to play at Indiana State on Nov. 14. 
    The Jarrards are one of 21 sets of brothers playing for the same team this season and one of nine sets of twins in Division I basketball. 

    FIRST TO TIP
    IUPUI was the first team in the country to tip-off the 2023-24 season, starting at 11:00 a.m. on Nov. 6 in front of a crowd of 4,867 on the annual NCAA 'Readers Become Leaders' Day at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. 
    The 4,867 represented a new home attendance record for the Jaguars, eclipsing the previous mark of 4,114 from last year's similar event. 

    ROAD KILL 
    The road win at Valpo was a welcome event, marking IUPUI's first road win since winning at Robert Morris on Feb. 17, 2022. It was the first road non-conference victory since winning at South Florida on Nov. 13, 2019 at the Cayman Islands Classic. 

    BENCH WORK
    IUPUI is averaging 26.1 points per game from its reserves this season and has gotten at least 21 bench points in all 12 games (including four games of 30+). 

    FIRST MAN OFF
    Sophomore Abdou Samb (4.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg) has been IUPUI's first man off the bench in eight of his 10 appearances this season, including seven straight before Jackson was the first reserve against NKU on Dec. 2. 

    ARC ISSUES
    IUPUI has struggled with the three-point line this season, both offensively and defensively. 
    Offensively, IUPUI ranks 362nd (of 362) in the country in three-point percentage at 22.9 percent. The Jaguars' 3.3 made/game rank 361st nationally. 
    Defensively, IUPUI is No. 346 nationally in allowing opponents to shoot 37.7 percent from beyond the arc. 

    DEEPER DIVE
    In IUPUI's three wins, opponents are shooting just 19.0 percent from three and making just 2.7 triples per game. 
    In IUPUI's nine losses, foes are shooting 41.3 percent from deep and making 8.4 triples per game. 
    IUPUI is 3-0 this season when making more threes than the opposition and 0-9 in games in which opponents make more threes than the Jags. 

    RETURNING CREW
    The IUPUI roster enjoyed considerable continuity from a season ago, bringing back 10 letterwinners from a season ago, including three primary starters in Jlynn Counter, Vincent Brady II and DJ Jackson. 
    Counter was a 3rd Team All-Horizon League selection while Brady and Jackson were voted to the Horizon League's All-Freshman Team. 
    Other key returners include John Egbuta, Armon Jarrard and Amhad Jarrard.  

    NO FRESHIES
    IUPUI was responsible for nine Horizon League Freshman of the Week Awards a season ago as Vincent Brady II (4x), DJ Jackson (3x) and Armon Jarrard (2x) had a stranglehold on the award. However, this season, it was be a complete stunner if an IUPUI player received the award as redshirt walk-on Braden Allen is the lone rookie on the roster. Head Coach Matt Crenshaw has no true freshmen on this year's roster and no players younger than 20 years old.