INDIANAPOLIS - The IU Indianapolis fell just shy of shutting down the Jungle with a victory as the Jaguars dropped their 2025-26 regular season finale to Purdue Fort Wayne, 87-81. Freshman Maguire Mitchell scored a team-high 20 points, including six threes, and sophomore Micah Davis closed with 18 points off the bench. 

Corey Hadnot II paced Purdue Fort Wayne (17-14, 11-9 HL) with 17 points and Mikale Stevenson added 14 points and three steals. 

The visiting Mastodons jumped out to a quick 9-4 lead but saw the Jaguars retaliate with an 8-0 run, punctuated by an Aiden Miller three-point play to take the lead. The first half featured six ties, the final coming at 16 before the Jags led the final 10-plus minutes. The lead grew as large as nine, but the Mastodons had a late 6-0 run fueled by a technical foul, leading to four straight Maximus Nelson made free throws. 

IU Indy ultimately led 43-40 at halftime after Stevenson rattled in a trey as the first half horn sounded. 

The game stayed close throughout the second half before the Mastodons scored eight straight points to build an 81-71 advantage with 4:43 to play. The Jags clawed back within five when Kameron Tinsley splashed a three with 2:23 left and had a chance to make it a one-possession game, but missed the frontend of a one-and-one with 1:56 to play. In fact, both teams went scoreless for two minutes after Tinsley's make at the 2:23 mark before the Jaguars had to foul Stevenson with 22.7 seconds to play. 

The Jags missed four field goal attempts inside of the final two minutes before Matt Compas scored a garbage time bucket with 0.4 seconds to play. 

IU Indy (7-24, 3-17 HL) shot a respectable 49 percent from the floor and 12-of-30 (40 percent) from three while also outrebounding the Mastodons 34-32. However, an uncharacteristic 14 turnovers led to 16 Mastodon points and the guests also benefited from a parade to the free throw line, outscoring the Jaguars 21-7 at the charity stripe. 

Three IU Indy starters fouled out as the Jags were hit with 21 personals and drew just 11 whistles. 

"I think we've got to do a better job coaching these guys and put ourselves in a position where you don't foul as much," head coach Ben Howlett said. "Sometimes I don't really understand some of it, but we just got to do better job coaching."

Sophomore Aiden Miller closed with 13 points off the bench and Tinsley finished with 11, including three threes. The team's top scorer, junior Kyler D'Augustino, finished with nine points, five rebounds and four assists, while playing just 29 minutes due to foul trouble. Senior Finley Woodward added two points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in his final home game. Fellow senior Ajay Holubar was also recognized before Saturday's contest and was on the floor as game's final seconds ticked away. 

The Jaguars will now participate in the Horizon League Tournament Play-In Game on Monday night at No. 10 Cleveland State at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+.