INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will return to Horizon League play on Friday (Dec. 29) when the Jaguars host Detroit Mercy (0-13, 0-2 HL) inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum at noon. Friday's game will be sponsored by Lewis & Wilkins, Attorneys at Law and Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) will describe the action.

IUPUI (4-9, 0-2 HL) is coming off its most emphatic win of the season, having defeated Defiance College by a 90-67 score before the Christmas holiday. The 90 points marked the most by an IUPUI team under head coach Matt Crenshaw as junior Jlynn Counter led four Jaguars in double-figures with 18 points. Kidtrell Blocker and DJ Jackson added 15 each and sophomore Abdou Samb, making his first start of the season, tallied 11 points on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field. IUPUI shot a season-high 57.4 percent from the field, including 65 percent in the second half, and also made a season-high 32 free throws in 37 attempts. A run late in the first half helped IUPUI build a 41-28 advantage by halftime and the Jaguars were never threatened after intermission. 

The IUPUI bench scored a season-high 38 points, fueled by Blocker's 15 and eight from John Egbuta, while the Jaguars also enjoyed season-highs in rebound margin (+8) and turnover margin (+9). 

QUOTABLE
"We came out a little sluggish, but we fought hard. I was just trying to get my teammates involved. Early, I was aggressive and their ball screen coverage was a little different in the second half, so I didn't want to force anything," Counter said following the win over Defiance. 

SCOUTING DETROIT MERCY
Detroit Mercy is 0-13 on the year and 0-2 in Horizon League play. The Titans have played the 24th toughest non-conference schedule in the country, including road games at Cincinnati, Ole Miss, Northwestern and NC State. For the year, UDM is shooting 40 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from three while allowing foes to shoot 48 percent overall and 41.7 percent from beyond the arc. Jayden Stone (18.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Marcus Tankersley (13.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg) are the team's top performers while Edoardo Del Cadia (8.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg) is the lone UDM player to have started all 13 games this season. 

INSIDE THE SERIES
IUPUI is 2-7 all-time against Detroit Mercy and 2-3 in five meetings inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The Jaguars have dropped the last six meetings to the Titans, having not defeated UDM since January 2019. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will close its four-game homestand on Sunday (Dec. 31) when the Jaguars host Cleveland State at 2:00 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 (16.2 ppg),assists (2.7 apg), field goal percentage (51.0%), threes made (13), free throws made (37) and minutes played (30.0 mpg). He ranks second on the team in  rebounding (4.6 rpg) and finds himself among the Horizon League's top-10 in scoring and field goal percentage.  
    Counter, a preseason Second Team All-Horizon League pick, led the team in scoring (14.5 ppg) and assists (3.3 apg) last season. 

    COUNTER COUNT
    Counter tallied his 500th career point against Elon on Nov. 17 and enters today with 661 career points. 
    ...He's scored in double-digits 32 times in 44 career games
    ...He's hit for 20-or-more points 13 times in 44 career games

    AGAINST DEFIANCE
    IUPUI's 90 points against Defiance on Dec. 21 were the most in the Matt Crenshaw head coaching-era, topping the previous high of 84 against New Orleans last season... IUPUI set new season-highs in free throws made (32), free throw attempts (37), rebound margin (+8) and turnover margin (+9)... IUPUI had a season-high 38 bench points in that contest, paced by both Kidtrell Blocker's 15 off the bench... Blocker (15 pts, 6-7 FG, 1-1 3's, 2-2 FT) and Abdou Samb (11 pts, 4-4 FG, 3-4 FT) matched their season-highs in scoring... Derek Petersen made his season debut, hitting a pair of free throws in the game's final minute. 

    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 seven games, Samuels has hit the glass hard, averaging 7.1 rebounds per game, including a pair of double-digit rebound efforts. Samuels now leads the team in rebounding at 5.2 rebounds per game and is second on the team in offensive rebounding (1.3 rpg). 

    BENCH WORK
    IUPUI is averaging 27.0 points per game from its reserves this season and has gotten at least 21 bench points in all 13 games (including five games of 30+). IUPUI's last time out, against Defiance on Dec. 21, the Jaguars tallied a season-high 38 points from reserves. 

    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 has started the past five games in place of Samuels and both Vincent Brady II and DJ Jackson have recently earned a pair of starts. Most recently, sophomore Abdou Samb moved into the starting five, replace Nkomba ahead of the Dec. 21 game with Defiance.  
    Counter is the only Jaguar to have started all 13 games this season while Monroe has made 12 starts.

    TEN MAN ROTATION
    Ten different Jaguars are playing at least 10 minutes per game, led by Jlynn Counter (30.0 mpg) down to Yves Nkomba (11.3 mpg). 
    Eight of the 10 have scored in double-digits at least once this year.

    ONLY THE LONELY    
    Only four of the Jaguars' 15 players have appeared in all 13 games so far this season as 11 different players have missed at least one game due to injury or illness. Most recently, Bryce Monroe missed the Dec. 21 game with Defiance due to illness.  

    IN THE CLASSROOM
    Seven members of the squad topped a 3.0 grade point average for the fall semester, paced by John Egbuta (3.62) and Amhad Jarrard (3.51). Others included Vincent Brady II (3.48), Yves Nkomba (3.46), Derek Petersen (3.29), Qwanzi Samuels (3.12) and Bryce Monroe (3.00).  

    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.