INDIANAPOLIS - The IU Indianapolis men's basketball team cruised to a 121-77 victory over IU Columbus inside Corteva Coliseum on Tuesday (Nov. 11) for the first-ever IU Indy win for head coach Ben Howlett. The Jaguars played in front of a program record 5,568 fans on the annual NCAA 'Read to the Final Four' game, championed by Anthem.
Matt Compas scored a game-high 19 points and
Micah Davis added 17 points in the win. Sophomore
Aiden Miller pumped in a season-high 13 points off the bench and senior
Finley Woodward closed with 12 points and eight rebounds. Four other Jaguars finished with nine points in a balanced scoring effort.
Kyan Reichhoff and Jermayn Baxter each scored a team-high 18 points for the Crimson Pride.
"First half, I wasn't too happy," Howlett said. "I thought our guys responded from the halftime adjustments and I thought we cranked it up another notch and played harder. So the second half was good and it was good to get a lot of the guys in and get a lot of reps.
"A lot of these guys are going to be needed throughout the season, so it was good to get them in."
IU Indy (1-3) surged out to a 17-7 lead in the opening 4:21 as Davis made back-to-back threes, followed by a
JP Dragas triple. However, IUC countered with a 17-2 run to take a five-point lead midway through the half. Miller and Davis combined on a 10-0 run to retake a five-point lead and later pushed the lead out to 45-30 with 4:24 left before intermission when
Maguire Mitchell stroked a three.
After leading 48-38 at the break, the Jaguars methodically pulled away throughout the second half. The Jaguars' menacing defense set a school record with 25 steals and forced 36 IUC turnovers, leading to a 51-10 margin in points off turnovers. IU Indy finished the game with 92 field goals attempts, including hitting 14-of-45 (31.1 percent) from three, while IUC attempted just 56 field goal tries. The 92 field goal attempts were the most by an IU Indy team since 1990.
The Jags shot 64.4 percent after halftime to finish at 51.1 percent after a chilly opening 20 minutes. IU Indy finished with 38 assists, falling one shy of a tying a school record, and were easily the most in a game in the program's Division I era. Four Jaguars finished with five assists and 10 Jags had multiple assists.
IU Indy also won the glass by a 50-31 margin as
Jaxon Edwards grabbed seven rebounds, including five off the offensive glass.
Kyler D'Augustino finished with nine points and five assists while Mitchell had nine points, five assists and four steals. Dragas also closed with nine points, all from beyond the arc.
"I think (the win) is going to give some guys confidence," Howlett said. "Winning solves a lot of issues. It's been a locker room that's kind of been somber a little bit, but I think winning solves a lot of those issues. I think the energy will be better and we've got a pivotal game on Friday."
The Jaguars will return to action on Friday (Nov. 14) when they travel north to face Eastern Michigan at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+. That game can also be heard locally on 1430 Indy's Sports Ticket as Jimmy Cook (pxp) and Chaz Hinds (analyst) call the action.
