DETROIT - Coming off the bye week, the IU Indianapolis men's basketball team will hit the road to face Detroit Mercy (8-19, 4-12 HL) in Horizon League play on Wednesday night (Feb. 19) at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+. The two teams come in tied for the No. 10 spot in the Horizon League standings with the Jaguars having won the earlier meeting between the two, 95-61 on Jan. 9 in Indianapolis. Both teams are looking to snap a three-game skid.
The Jaguars have continued to rely heavily on the three-point line, ranking No. 22 in the country in threes made per game at 10.2. Graduate transfer
Paul Zilinskas leads the Horizon League in threes made (78), threes per game (3.0/game) and three-point percentage (41.3%) to pace the attack. Behind him, fellow transfer
Jarvis Walker is coming off a season-high 26-point effort against Oakland, including hitting five of the team's 12 treys in the defeat. Zilinskas pumped in four triples as part of his 14-point night and
Alec Millender made a pair. The Jaguars' starting five accounted for all 67 of the team's points.
Walker had a team-high 20 points when the Jaguars first met Detroit Mercy this season and
Sean Craig chipped in 19 points and seven assists. Freshman
DeSean Goode finished with a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds (11 offensive) and leads the team at 7.4 rebounds per game in Horizon League play.
QUOTABLE
"We did leave a lot of points on the (scoreboard). We were one of the top-40 best shooting free throw teams in the country up until the last three weeks and we've kind of gone through a slump. We need to get back to being who we are from the line. That was a big problem tonight. If we would've shot better from the line, especially in the first half, that eight-point deficit at half would've been a two, three or four-point deficit. We missed a lot of wide open looks. Granted, we are tired - we have a lot of guys who are banged up and we've had a lot of injuries this season. This bye week couldn't come at a better time for us. Our kids are playing hard, but we didn't secure rebounds when we needed to and that's where I really thought the game got us. Oakland is a mature, physical team that you need to capitalize when they give you those opportunities and tonight, we didn't capitalize in those key moments," Corsaro said following last Wednesday's home loss to Oakland.
#HLMBB STANDINGS
| School |
Conf |
CPct. |
Overall |
Pct. |
Streak |
| Cleveland State |
12-4 |
.750 |
18-9 |
.667 |
L2 |
| Robert Morris |
12-5 |
.706 |
20-8 |
.714 |
W4 |
| Youngstown State |
12-5 |
.706 |
18-10 |
.643 |
W4 |
| Milwaukee |
11-5 |
.688 |
18-9 |
.667 |
W2 |
| Purdue Fort Wayne |
11-6 |
.647 |
18-10 |
.643 |
L2 |
| Oakland |
9-7 |
.562 |
12-15 |
.444 |
W2 |
| Northern Kentucky |
7-9 |
.438 |
12-15 |
.444 |
L1 |
| Wright State |
7-10 |
.412 |
13-15 |
.464 |
L2 |
| Detroit Mercy |
4-12 |
.250 |
8-19 |
.296 |
L3 |
| IU Indy |
4-12 |
.250 |
8-19 |
.296 |
L3 |
| Green Bay |
1-15 |
.062 |
3-24 |
.111 |
W1 |
SCOUTING DETROIT MERCY
The Titans are 8-19 on the season and 4-12 in Horizon League games. The Titans are 6-5 at home this year, including recent wins over Green Bay and Northern Kentucky. Orlando Lovejoy (16.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and Mak Manciel (12.9 ppg) lead the Titans offensively while 11 different players average more than 11 minutes per game. As a team, Detroit shoots just 40.7 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from three, but holds opponents to 43 percent overall and 32 percent from beyond the arc. The Titans also win the glass by 1.7 rebounds per game with 11 different players grabbing more than three boards per contest.
SERIES HISTORY
IU Indy is 4-8 all-time against Detroit Mercy and 0-5 in five trips to Calihan Hall.
UP NEXT
The Jaguars will close out the regular season road slate at Northern Kentucky on Sunday (Feb. 23) at 1:00 p.m. inside Truist Arena.
