ROCHESTER, Mich. - The IUPUI basketball team will close out its current two-game roadtrip on Saturday (Feb. 17) when the Jaguars face Oakland (17-10, 12-4 HL) at 3:00 p.m. inside the Athletics Center O'rena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. 

IUPUI (6-21, 2-14 HL) is looking to snap a seven-game skid following Wednesday's road loss at Detroit Mercy. Sophomore DJ Jackson scored a team-high 17 points in just 21 minutes off the bench and junior Kidtrell Blocker contributed 11 points. Junior Jlynn Counter closed with 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for his 40th career double-digit scoring game. In addition, his seven assists were a season-high and matched the most by an IUPUI player in a game this season. 

Counter currently ranks in the top 15 in five Horizon League statistical categories - steals, field goal percentage, assists, scoring and free throw percentage.

However, IUPUI was plagued by the charity stripe as Detroit Mercy made 24 foul shots - the most by an IUPUI foe this season.

SCOUTING OAKLAND
Oakland checks in at 17-10 overall and 12-4 in Horizon League play, tied atop the league standings. The Golden Grizzlies have won four of their past five contests and are 11-2 since Dec. 31. OU shoots 44.7 percent from the floor and 34.7 percent from three-point range while outrebounding foes by 1.1 rebounds per contest. Trey Townsend (16.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg) is one of four OU players averaging double-digits, followed by Blake Lampman (13.9 ppg, 69 3's), Jack Gohlke (11.3 ppg, 87 3's) and Chris Conway (10.2 ppg). 

INSIDE THE SERIES
Oakland leads the all-time series 33-20, including 20-4 in 24 meetings in Rochester. IUPUI has dropped five straight in the series. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will take on Northern Kentucky on Sunday (Feb. 25) at 2:00 p.m. in Highland Heights, Ky. 

Notes and Tidbits (click here to download the full IUPUI Game Notes)
    DETROIT LEFTOVERS
    IUPUI fell to previously winless Detroit Mercy on Wednesday, 81-66, inside Calihan Hall... sophomore DJ Jackson had a team-high 17 points (5-7 FG, 2-3 3's, 5-6 FT) in just 21 minutes off the bench and Kidtrell Blocker added 11 off the bench... junior Jlynn Counter finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the loss... Counter's seven assists were a season-high and tied for the most in a game by an IUPUI player this season... Counter had his 40th career double-digit scoring game on Wednesday and made his 50th career start... IUPUI yielded a season-high 24 made free throws to the Titans as they were whistled for 23 personal fouls. 

    JLYNN COUNTS
    Junior Jlynn Counter ranks among the Horizon League's top-15 in five statistical categories - steals (t-9th, 1.4 spg), field goal percentage (10th, 46.8%), assists (t-11th, 2.9 apg), scoring (13th, 14.6 ppg) and free throw percentage (13th, 76.9%). In league play, Counter is second in the league in free throw shooting (87.2%).
    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 792 career points. 
    ...He's scored in double-digits 40 times in 55 career games
    ...He's hit for 20-or-more points 14 times in 55 career games

    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
    Since the calendar turned to 2024, forward Qwanzi Samuels is a combined 34-of-52 from the field and is now shooting 52.7 percent from the floor this season. 
    His field goal percentage has climbed from 41.6 percent to 52.7 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 15 games in the IUPUI starting lineup (3-12 overall), Samb is averaging 6.9 points and 3.5 rebounds, going 44-of-69 from the field (63.8 percent). 
    Samb's field goal percentage has risen from 55.5 percent to 61.5 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 27 games so far this season as the other 14 players have missed at least one game due to injury or illness. Only three others have played in 26 games - Bryce Monroe, Vincent Brady II and DJ Jackson. Everyone else has missed at least two games this campaign. 

    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. 

    FOR STARTERS
    With the glut of injuries and sickness, head coach Matt Crenshaw has found himself shuffling his starting lineup, using 10 different combinations this season. 
    No IUPUI player has started every game (Monroe leads the team with 25 starts) and 10 different players have started at least four games. Counter is second on the team with 21 starts.  

    NINE MAN ROTATION
    Nine different Jaguars are playing at least 11 minutes per game, led by Bryce Monroe (30.4 mpg) down to Cooper Dewitt (11.5 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
    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 early season 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.