INDIANAPOLIS - The IU Indianapolis men's basketball team will bring in the new year by hosting Youngstown State (9-5, 4-0 HL) inside Corteva Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Wednesday (Jan. 1) at noon on ESPN+. The game marks the second of three home games the Jaguars will host inside Corteva Coliseum this season. 

Wednesday's game will be a Paul Corsaro Camp Reunion Game and students from IPS schools can claim a FREE ticket to the game with the purchase of an adult ticket. 

The Jaguars (5-10, 1-3 HL) come in looking to snap a five-game skid while Youngstown State comes in having won seven-in-a-row. Corsaro's squad has had a string of tough losses during the current skid, including a pair of two-point losses in Horizon League play. The most recent defeat came at preseason favorite Milwaukee as the two teams were tied with 2:57 to play before the Panthers closed by outscoring the Jags 16-9 to end the day. Sean Craig had a team-high 22 points, eight rebounds and a career-high four steals while Paul Zilinskas chipped in 21 points in the loss. Jarvis Walker came off the bench to contribute 12 points and four assists in just 18 minutes. 

The Jags enter play among the nation's best three-point shooting teams, ranking 25th nationally with 10.5 made threes per game. Zilinskas is tops in the Horizon League in both threes made per game (3.1/game) and three-point percentage (43.5%) while ranking second in the league in scoring (18.7 ppg). Walker checks in at fourth in the league in scoring (16.3 ppg).  

GAME SPONSOR
Wednesday's game is sponsored by Indianapolis-based Connor Painting. 

QUOTABLE
"I thought we really competed in a tough road environment. They're a really good, really balanced team and we were right there with them. We still need to figure out how to finish off games. We've proven that we can compete with really good teams, but now we need to get over that hump and finish them off," Corsaro said following Sunday's loss at Milwaukee. 

SCOUTING YOUNGSTOWN STATE
The Penguins come in at 9-5 overall and 4-0 in Horizon League play, having won seven straight dating back to Nov. 30. Most recently, YSU defeated Detroit Mercy 73-64 at home on Sunday behind 16 points from EJ Farmer and 12 points and four blocked shots from Gabe Dynes. YSU has been strong defensively all season long, holding opponents to 40.4 percent from the floor and 29.4 percent from three-point range. Farmer (13.8 ppg) and Nico Galette (13.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg) lead YSU in scoring and Ty Harper is next in line at 9.3 points per game. The Penguins are 5-4 away from home this season with true road wins at Chicago State, Robert Morris, Wright State and USC Upstate.  

SERIES HISTORY
IU Indy is just 2-21 all-time against YSU and 0-9 in nine meetings in Indianapolis. The Penguins have won the last seven meetings in the series dating back to 2021. 

UP NEXT
The Jaguars will be back on the road to face Cleveland State on Saturday (Jan. 4) at 3:00 p.m. on ESPN+.