GREEN BAY, Wisc. - The IUPUI basketball team will embark on a two-game road trip to Wisconsin this week, beginning with a matchup with Horizon League leader Green Bay (14-9, 9-3 HL) on Thursday morning (Feb. 1). The two teams will tip-off at 11:00 a.m. CT (12 Eastern) on Thursday inside Green Bay's Resch Center, where they're 9-1 on the season. IUPUI (6-17, 2-10 HL) comes in looking to snap a three-game skid. 

The two-game trip kicks off an arduous finish to the season as the Jaguars will play six of their final eight regular season contests away from home. 

The Jaguars had a late rally fall short in an 83-76 home loss to Wright State on Sunday as IUPUI whittled an 18-point second half deficit all the way back to two in the closing minutes. However, the Raiders found their footing late and escaped with the seven-point victory. Junior Jlynn Counter led three Jaguars in double-digits with 19 points and junior Kidtrell Blocker tallied a career-high 18 points (7-10 FG, 1-2 3's, 3-3 FT) in just 21 minutes off the bench. Sophomore Vincent Brady II added 12 points and three steals in the loss. The Jaguars committed a season-low six turnovers, including just one in the second half, but shot just a tick over 40 percent from the floor against WSU's 49 percent. 

QUOTABLE
"(We're) optimistic - feeling good. Honestly, the guys are upbeat, positive and kind of collectively coming together," head coach Matt Crenshaw said during Monday's IUPUI Coaches Show. "When you have transfers, you have new pieces, you have pieces who have been out, it just takes a minute for everybody to gel and truly understand their role."

SCOUTING GREEN BAY
Green Bay is 14-9 overall and 9-3 in the Horizon League this season. The Phoenix are 9-1 at home on the year with the lone blemish having come to Western Illinois back on Dec. 9 by a 68-59 score. Noah Reynolds (19.3 ppg, 4.6 apg) paces the Phoenix while three others average better than eight points a game in Elijah Jones (8.8 ppg), Foster Wonders (8.4 ppg) and David Douglas Jr. (8.1 ppg). As a team, Green Bay shoots 46 percent from the floor and 35 percent from three-point range while holding opponents to 42.5 percent from the field and 29.8 percent from three. 

INSIDE THE SERIES
IUPUI is 9-9 all-time against Green Bay and 4-5 in nine trips to Green Bay. The Phoenix won the earlier meeting between the two schools, 68-58, back on Jan. 10 in Indianapolis. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will close out the two-game trip at Milwaukee on Sunday (Feb. 4) at 2:00 p.m. CT on ESPN+. 

Notes and Tidbits (click here to download the full IUPUI Game Notes)
    JLYNN COUNTS
    Junior Jlynn Counter ranks among the Horizon League's top-15 in four statistical categories - field goal percentage (9th, 47.5%), free throw percentage (9th, 77.0%), scoring (10th, 15.1 ppg) and assists (12th, 2.7 apg). In league play, Counter is second in the league in free throw shooting (88.4%) and also ranks in the top-15 in assists, steals 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 had a recent 23-point showing against Robert Morris, matching his season-high and most by a Jaguar this season. The Oklahoma City-native tallied his 500th career point against Elon on Nov. 17 and enters today with 785 career points. 
    ...He's scored in double-digits 39 times in 53 career games
    ...He's hit for 20-or-more points 14 times in 53 career games

    WRIGHT STATE TIDBITS
    IUPUI is coming off a near miss against Wright State, ultimately falling at home, 83-76 on Sunday (Jan. 28). IUPUI had a season-low six turnovers (just one in the second half), which also resulted in a season-high 67 field goal attempts. However, IUPUI shot just over 40 percent and saw WSU shoot 49 percent in the victory. 
    Junior Kidtrell Blocker had a career-high 18 points (7-10 FG, 1-2 3's, 3-3 FT) in just 21 minutes off the IUPUI bench on Sunday. 

    BIG. ROAD. DUB. 
    IUPUI earned its best win of the season at Purdue Fort Wayne on Jan. 17, 85-79. The Jaguars had their best offensive game of the season, shooting a season-high 59.3 percent from the floor. The Jaguars scored a season-high 58 points in the paint, including making 18-of-22 (82 percent) shot at or near the rim. 
    Here are some other notes from the win: 
    -It marked just the second home loss for Purdue Fort Wayne this season
    -It was the first time all season IUPUI had five players score in double-digits
    -IUPUI had a season-high six dunks (Samb 4, Samuels 2); Samb had four dunks all season long before finishing four in that contest
    -IUPUI's five three-point attempts were the team's fewest since also attempting four against Denver on Feb. 14, 2015

    HOT QWANZ
    The past eight games, forward Qwanzi Samuels is a combined 24-of-35 from the field and is now shooting 51.6 percent from the floor this season. 
    His field goal percentage has climbed from 41.6 percent to 51.6 percent during that span. 

    THAT'LL DOU    
    Sophomore Abdou Samb had his best offensive output of the season, scoring a season-high 13 points (6-10 FG) at Purdue Fort Wayne, including four dunks. 
    In 11 games in the IUPUI starting lineup (3-8 overall), Samb is averaging 6.9 points and 3.9 rebounds, going 31-of-49 from the field (63.3 percent). 
    Samb's field goal percentage has risen from 55.5 percent to 60.5 percent since he moved into the starting five.

    #SCTOP10
    IUPUI players were featured on ESPN's SportsCenter Top 10 Plays twice in three days on Dec. 29 and Dec. 31 with a pair of dunks. 
    Against Detroit Mercy on Dec. 29, Kidtrell Blocker's one-handed dunk from the right side was the No. 8 play on SportsCenter. 
    Two days later, Vincent Brady II's one-handed dunk from the left baseline was chosen as the No. 4 play in the country that evening. 

    ONLY THE LONELY    
    Only one IUPUI player (Qwanzi Samuels) has appeared in all 23 games so far this season as the other 14 players have missed at least one game due to injury or illness. The most recent to have been sidelined is John Egbuta, who missed two games due to illness before returning last Thursday night against YSU. 

    FOR STARTERS
    With the glut of injuries and sickness, head coach Matt Crenshaw has found himself shuffling his starting lineup. After relying on the starting group of Jlynn Counter, Bryce Monroe, Kidtrell Blocker, Qwanzi Samuels and Yves Nkomba to start the season (7 games, 2-5 overall), Crenshaw has tried some alternatives of late. 
    Cooper Dewitt started 14 straight games before recently being replaced by John Egbuta. Both Vincent Brady II and DJ Jackson were recently awarded a string of starts and sophomore Abdou Samb moved into the starting five, replacing Nkomba ahead of the Dec. 21 game with Defiance. 
    No IUPUI player has started every game (Monroe leads the team with 21 starts) and 10 different players have started at least one time. 
    IUPUI has used 10 different starting combinations this season. 

    QWANZ SEES DOUBLE
    Graduate transfer Qwanzi Samuels 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. 

    BENCH WORK
    IUPUI is averaging 24.5 points per game from its reserves this season and has gotten at least 21 bench points in 17 of 23 games (including six games of 30+). 
    Nearly 37 percent of the team's offensive production has come from reserves this season. 

    NINE MAN ROTATION
    Nine different Jaguars are playing at least 12 minutes per game, led by Jlynn Counter (30.0 mpg) down to Cooper Dewitt (12.0 mpg). 

    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. 

    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. 

    SISTER BALLERS
    Two current Jaguars have sisters who have made their marks in Division I basketball. 
    Vincent Brady's older sister, Trinity, played four seasons at Nebraska, graduating last year. She started all eight of her appearances last season before missing the final 25 contests of the year due to injury. 
    Qwanzi Samuels' younger sister, Qadence, was ranked as the No. 41 recruit in the country last season and is an important reserve as a freshman at UConn, averaging 6.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting 46 percent from the floor.