INDIANAPOLIS - The IU Indianapolis men's basketball team unloaded more than a month's worth of frustration into a 40-minute thrashing of Detroit Mercy inside the Jungle on Thursday night (Jan. 9), drilling the Titans 95-61. The 34-point win was the program's largest winning margin over a league foe since a 38-point Summit League victory over UMKC back in February 2010. 

Jarvis Walker led six Jaguars in double-digits with 20 points, including six threes, and was able to observe the final eight-plus minutes with the game well in-hand. Sean Craig added 19 points, seven assists and five rebounds and freshman DeSean Goode had a monster double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, 11 off the offensive glass. Alec Millender had 15 points and six assists and tallied the 1,000th point of his collegiate career in the closing moments of the victory.

"I thought we did a really good job. We came together. We're a little banged up right now without two starters and I thought guys stepped up - next man up mentality," head coach Paul Corsaro said. "I care about defense and that was the best defensive effort we've had. The basketball Gods are usually rewarding to people who play the right way and tonight I think they were rewarding to our defensive efforts.

"We need to get healthy, but this was really good. We've been playing good basketball. These guys deserve to win. I don't think the record is indicative of how they've been playing and they deserved this."

"It feels amazing to get back in that win column," Millender said. "We've been so close in so many games, so it was time to get over that hump and it feels amazing. The icing on top was to get that 1,000 points is a great feeling."

Freshmen Ron Rutland III (11 points) and Keenan Garner (10 points) also finished in double-digits. Rutland connected on 3-of-4 three-point attempts while Garner also added six rebounds and two steals.

Grant Gondrezick II had a game-high 21 points for Detroit Mercy (6-12, 2-5 HL) in the loss. IU Indy (6-12, 2-5 HL), with their top sniper Paul Zilinskas, sidelined due to injury, responded with an 18-of-38 (47.4 percent) shooting night from beyond the arc, falling one made three shy of tying the program record. The Jags made four threes in the opening four-plus minutes to build a quick 13-6 lead and never relinquished the advantage. 

A 15-2 run turned a 15-14 game into a 30-16 advantage, fueled by a pair of Walker threes. The lead grew to 45-29 by the break as the Jaguars closed the first half with three straight Goode putbacks. The opening six minutes of the second half saw the Jaguars extend the lead beyond 30 as they outscored the Titans 21-6 to start the stanza. The Jags led by as many as 43 and outscored Detroit Mercy by 39 points from beyond the arc. 

And when shots didn't fall, they frequently cleaned up the misses, grabbing 17 offensive rebounds and owning a 24-7 margin in second chance points. IU Indy finished the game shooting 46 percent from the floor and limiting UDM to under 42 percent. 

"Shots weren't falling outside, but everything inside was feeling good, so I felt like that's what I could do to help my team and that's what I did," Goode said of his second career double-double. 

Beyond the six in double-digits, Ajay Holubar was the only other IU Indy player to score, contributing a career-high five points in eight minutes off the bench. Corsaro only had 10 players see action as Zilinskas and 7-footer Julian Steinfeld were both sidelined due to injury. 

The Jaguars will return to action next Wednesday (Jan. 15) when they travel north to face reigning Horizon League champion Oakland University at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+.