INDIANAPOLIS - The IU Indianapolis men's basketball team will return to its home hardwood on Thursday night (Jan. 9) when the Jaguars host Detroit Mercy at 6:30 p.m. inside the Jungle. The Jaguars enter play looking snap a seven-game skid following a tough 67-61 road loss at Cleveland State on Saturday. 

The Jags led 56-55 with 5:29 to play after Timaris Brown drilled a three, but made just two field goals down the stretch to fall to the Vikings. Brown had a season-high 19 points and seven rebounds off the bench and Jarvis Walker added 13 points in a return to the starting lineup. Alec Millender contributed 10 points and Sean Craig closed with nine points and seven rebounds. 

The Jags finished that game down two starters as Julian Steinfeld was in street clothes and top scorer Paul Zilinskas missed the final 17-plus minutes due to injury. 

Zilinskas (17.8 ppg) and Walker (15.9 ppg) continue to lead the team in scoring while Craig nearly averages a double-double at 9.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. 

GAME SPONSOR
Thursday's game is sponsored by Meijer.  

SCOUTING DETROIT MERCY
Detroit Mercy enters play at 6-11 overall and 2-4 in Horizon League play with victories over Purdue Fort Wayne and Robert Morris. The Titans are 2-8 away from home on the year with road victories at Ball State and Eastern Michigan. Junior guard Orlando Lovejoy leads UDM in scoring (16.1 ppg), rebounding (4.9 rpg), assists (69) and steals (31). Emmanuel Kuac checks in at 9.1 points per game and a team-high 21 made threes while 6-foot-8 junior Legend Geeter is averaging 8.5 points per game. As a team, UDM shoots 41 percent from the floor and 34 percent from three while holding foes under 31 percent from beyond the arc. The Titans also win the glass at +2.0 rebounds per game this season. 

SERIES HISTORY
Detroit Mercy leads the all-time series 8-3 and the Jaguars are 3-3 in six meetings in Indy. The two teams split last year's regular season series with each school winning at home. 

UP NEXT
The Jaguars will hit the road to face Oakland on Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 7:00 p.m. in Rochester on ESPN+.