INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team will kickoff a quick two-game homestand on Wednesday (Jan. 10) afternoon when the Jaguars host Green Bay (9-8, 4-2 HL) inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Wednesday's game is sponsored by Allstate and will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and IUPUI Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) describe the action. 

IUPUI (5-12, 1-5 HL) is coming off a narrow miss on the road at Youngstown State on Sunday as the Jaguars took the Penguins to the wire before falling, 75-65. Vincent Brady II scored a season-high 18 points, including four treys, and Bryce Monroe added 14 points, seven assists and six rebounds in the loss. Junior Jlynn Counter came off the bench with 11 points but the Jaguars were hindered by 28 turnovers which led to 33 YSU points. 

The Jaguars were down two with just over four minutes to play until YSU reeled off a late 10-0 run to escape with the victory. IUPUI hit a season-high eight threes and dominated on the glass, but yielded far too many YSU possessions, thanks to the glut of miscues. Graduate transfer Qwanzi Samuels just missed a double-double with nine points and a career-high 13 rebounds off the bench. 

SCOUTING GREEN BAY
Green Bay is 9-8 overall and 4-2 in Horizon League play. The Phoenix come in at 3-7 in 10 games away from home with road wins at Montana State, UIC and Detroit Mercy. Reigning Horizon League Player of the Week Noah Reynolds tops the team in scoring (18.4 ppg) and assists (4.2 apg) while shooting 51.3 percent from the floor. Elijah Jones averages 8.7 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game while shooting 62.8 percent from the floor. 

INSIDE THE SERIES
IUPUI is 9-8 all-time Green Bay and 4-3 in the seven matchups in Indianapolis. The Jaguars won the most recent meeting, 68-53, inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Feb. 4 behind 16 points apiece from Brady and Jackson.  

UP NEXT
IUPUI will cap the two-game homestand on Saturday (Jan. 13) when the Jaguars host Oakland University at 2:00 p.m. The department will recognize Favorite Professors throughout the day and the first 75 fans in attendance will receive complimentary IUPUI pint glasses for their attendance. 

Notes and Tidbits (click here to download the full IUPUI Game Notes)
    BRADY BUNCH (OF NOTES)
    The past five games, sophomore Vincent Brady II is averaging 15.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 44.2 percent overall and 9-of-24 (37.5 percent) from three and 16-of-20 (80 percent) from the foul line. 
    At Youngstown State on Sunday, Brady hit for a season-high 18 points (5-10 FG, 4-6 3's, 4-4 FT), including a season-high four treys (most by an IUPUI player this season). 
    In Horizon League play, Brady is leading the team in scoring (11.8 ppg) and threes made (9) and is second on the team in rebounding (4.7 rpg). 

    MONROE EFFECT
    At Youngstown State on Sunday, Bryce Monroe hit for 14 points (6-13 FG, 2-4 3's) with a career-high six rebounds and career-high tying seven assists. 

    YOUNGSTOWN TIDBITS
    IUPUI hit a season-high eight threes at Youngstown State on Sunday, including four from Brady... graduate transfer Qwanzi Samuels just missed his second double-double of the season with nine points and a career-high 13 rebounds... IUPUI had season-highs in defensive rebounds (33), total rebounds (45) and rebound margin (+12), but saw those numbers largely negated by a season-high 28 turnovers (which led to 33 YSU points)... IUPUI got to the line just 11 times in the loss, making a season-low seven freebies.  

    #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 three Jaguars (Kidtrell Blocker, John Egbuta and Qwanzi Samuels) have appeared in all 17 games so far this season as 12 different players have missed at least one game due to injury or illness. 

    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 has started the past nine games in place of Samuels and both Vincent Brady II and DJ Jackson have recently earned six starts. Most recently, sophomore Abdou Samb moved into the starting five, replacing Nkomba ahead of the Dec. 21 game with Defiance.

    SAMB, FOR STARTERS
    In five games in the IUPUI starting lineup (2-3 overall), sophomore Abdou Samb is averaging 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds, going 14-of-19 from the field (73.7 percent). 
    The past five games, Samb's field goal percentage has risen from 55.5 percent to 63 percent since he moved into the starting five.

    ACTION JACKSON
    Sophomore DJ Jackson has started the past six games, scoring double-digits in five of those six contests. During that span, Jackson is averaging 11.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg and 1.5 steals/game while shooting 23-of-48 (47.9%) from the floor and 18-of-22 (81.8%) from the foul line. 
    Jackson had scored in double-digits just two times in the season's first 11 games. 

     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 (14.6 ppg; 10th in HL) and tied for the team-lead in assists (42) and steals (19). He ranks second on the team in rebounding (4.4 rpg). 
    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 684 career points. 
    ...He's scored in double-digits 33 times in 47 career games
    ...He's hit for 20-or-more points 13 times in 47 career games

    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 25.7 points per game from its reserves this season and has gotten at least 21 bench points in 15 of 17 games (including five games of 30+). 

    TEN MAN ROTATION
    Ten different Jaguars are playing at least 10 minutes per game, led by Bryce Monroe (29.3 mpg) down to Yves Nkomba (10.1 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.