INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team nearly fully erased an 18-point deficit before falling short late to Wright State inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum, 83-76. Junior Kidtrell Blocker tallied a career-high 18 points off the Jaguars' bench and Jlynn Counter scored 19 points in the loss. Sophomore Vincent Brady II contributed 12 points and three steals. 

Trey Calvin led all scorers with 27 points and five assists and Brandon Noel had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Wright State (12-10, 7-4 HL) entered play as the nation's top shooting team at nearly 54 percent per game, closed Sunday's contest at 49 percent overall and 8-of-16 (50 percent) from deep. 

IUPUI (6-17, 2-10 HL) was held to just over 40 percent shooting and 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) from beyond the arc. However, the Jaguars committed just six turnovers and cut an 18-point second half deficit all the way back to two with under five minutes to play. However, Wright State never relinquished the lead before escaping with the seven-point win. 

"We fought," head coach Matt Crenshaw said. "I liked how hard we fought to get back into the game. We didn't turn it over, which gave us a chance to win. Even though we didn't necessarily shoot it well, we gave ourselves a chance against a really good team."

After having trailed by as many as 17 in the opening half, the Jaguars were down 59-41 with 14:24 to play after Calvin stroked back-to-back threes. IUPUI immediately responded with a 12-0 run to make it 59-53 with 9:51 remaining, capped by a Counter corner three. 

Later, IUPUI closed within two with 4:52 to play when a Counter steal led to a Brady dunk. WSU retaliated with a Calvin three-point play as his short, contested jumper hung on the rim for an eternity before dropping through. Each time IUPUI made it a one-possession game, the Raiders responded with an answer. 

Wright State finished with 20 assists on 26 buckets as Alex Huibregtse had nine points, nine assists and four rebounds for the Raiders. IUPUI relied heavily on attacking the rim as Counter finished with three of the team's six assists. Qwanzi Samuels had seven points and a team-high eight rebounds as IUPUI outscored the Raiders in the paint, 44-30. Bryce Monroe added eight points and Abdou Samb finished with seven points and five rebounds. 

The Jaguars will begin a two-game trek through Wisconsin next week, beginning at Green Bay on Thursday, Feb. 1 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+.