CINCINNATI - The IU Indianapolis men's basketball team put up an impressive fight before ultimately falling on the road at Xavier on Friday night (Nov. 8), 94-80. Jarvis Walker led three Jaguars in double-digits with 20 points, all in the second half, and Paul Zilinskas finished with 17 points. Alec Millender closed with 12 points and six assists off the bench. 

Ryan Conwell led Xavier (2-0) with 19 points and both Dayvion McKnight and Zach Freemantle added 17 each. 

"I'm really proud of our guys," head coach Paul Corsaro said. "I really believe in this group. They have a lot of grit and a lot of character. I knew that we have a lot of guys inexperienced at this level. So I knew that the crowd level and the bright lights and the noise when (Xavier) went on a run would be a little bit new, but we never went away. We controlled the first 16 minutes and then they got hot in the second half and we chipped away (at their lead). 

"That's a BIG EAST team that we hung 80 points without our 7-footer. If we play like that, we're going to be just fine at our level and have a really good season."

After a sluggish start caused by equal parts Xavier's size and shellshock of the environment, the Jaguars finally settled in, thanks in large part on back-to-back threes from Zilinskas to calm some nerves. Later in the first half, an 8-0 Jaguar run turned an 11-8 deficit into a 16-11 lead, capped by treys from Nathan Dudukovich and Millender, forcing a Xavier timeout. The Jags led by as many as eight before intermission when rookie DeSean Goode rattled in a corner three at the 6:39 mark. 

However, the Musketeers outscored the Jaguars 21-8 over the final six-plus minutes to take a 38-33 lead at the break. Much of the damage came on second chance points as the Musketeers converted six offensive boards into 14 points in the opening half. 

The second half saw Xavier impose its will on the interior as the Jaguars struggled to get defensive stops. The hosts shot better than 79 percent from the floor in the second stanza, including 6-of-8 from long distance, finishing the game at 56 percent from the floor and beyond the arc. The Jaguars shot a respectable 47 percent from the floor and canned 14-of-28 (50 percent) from three. 

Xavier built a 20-point lead with 10:57 to play when McKnight connected on back-to-back triples, but the Jaguars fired back with a Millender trey and Craig layup. And while the Jaguars never cut the lead back to single digits, Corsaro's team hung tough late, outscoring Xavier 13-5 over the final four-plus minutes. 

Craig finished with eight points and grabbed double-digit rebounds for the second straight game with 10 caroms. Dudukovich scored eight points in 17 minutes off the bench in a homecoming trip and the duo of Garner and Goode combined on 11 points and seven rebounds in their second collegiate games. 

Xavier finished with a 33-26 rebounding edge and 44-26 gap in points in the paint. 

The Jaguars will return home to host Goshen College on Tuesday night (Nov. 12) inside the Jungle at 6:30 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear white that evening and can purchase tickets by clicking here as the department goes to exclusively digital tickets this season. Additionally, fans are advised to purchase and download their tickets prior to arriving on-site. Tuesday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Greg Rakestraw (pxp) and Hall of Famer Bob Lovell (analyst) describe the action from courtside.