Player of the Game: Leroy Nobles, IUPUI.
I would venture to say this was by far Leroy's best performance of his entire career. (Fitting that it was for his last home game.) 11-13 shooting (2-3 FT, 7-8 2P, 4-5 3P) for 28 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, a block, and an efficiency of 31.
Six Man of the Game: Bakari Lewis, UMKC.
He did everything he could to get the 'Roos back into this game. He went 6-9 (3-5 FT, 3-4 2P, 3-5 3P) for 18 points, 4 assists, and a rebound in 25 minutes off the bench.
Stat of the Game: 35-18
IUPUI absolutely wrecked UMKC on the glass. The Jaguars had 1 less offensive rebound than the 'Roos had defensive rebounds. Leroy, Christian, and Alex combined for 13 of the 14 offensive grabs, and all 10 players who saw more than eight minutes of game time had at least one grab.
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Et Cetera...
- It's going to be weird watching a basketball game that Leroy and John aren't earning tons of minutes in. They have been huge minute-earners since I got to IUPUI three years ago, and I'm going to miss watching them do their thing in The Jungle.
- Good golly, if IUPUI can play like that they'll be unstoppable. When we hit shots from the corners, the opposing defenders can't cheat into the paint to stop dribble penetration. Conversely, when we can get Christian going inside early, the defense does cheat and opens up our perimeter guys. That inside-outside style worked against Ohio State, and continued in this game.
- It seemed to me the guys aren't exactly done playing. They showed they are ready for a post-season run with this win. On to Oral Roberts!
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Team Stats: Post Game
70.9 | Points/Game | 70.3 |
68.8 | Points Against/Game | 72.8 |
54% | Fieldgoal % | 45% |
54% | 2-Point % | 67% |
55% | 3-Point % | 30% |
64% | Free Throw % | 82% |
21 | Assists | 12 |
15 | Turnovers | 11 |
35 (14 O/21 D) | Rebounds | 18 (6 O/12 D) |
2 | Blocks | 1 |
16 | Fouls | 15 |
67 | Possessions | 65 |
1.25 | Points/Possession | 1.06 |
1.27 | Points/Shot | 1.17 |
53.8% | O.Rebounds/Missed Shot | 22.2% |
77.8% | D.Rebounds/Missed Shot | 46.2% |
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| The Official Sponsor Of Student On Sports!!! |
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Post Game Standings
| Team | Record | Games Back |
| 1) Oakland | 15-1 | N/A |
| 2) ORU | 11-5 | 4.0 |
| 3) IUPUI | 11-5 | 4.0 |
| 4) IPFW | 10-6 | 5.0 |
| 5) SDST | 10-7 | 5.5 |
| 6) UMKC | 9-7 | 6.0 |
| 7) NDST | 7-10 | 8.5 |
| 8) SUU | 6-10 | 9.0 |
| 9) WIU | 2-14 | 13.0 |
| 10) CENT | 0-15 | 13.5 |
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Key Matchup: Revisited
Alex Young
vs
Jay Couisnard
IUPUI's defense did everything right, not allowing anyone to get going enough to make a major impact for UMKC. Alex had a very quiet 25 points, and tied his season high with four made superhoops.
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Keys To The Game: Revisited
1) Balance Emotions. (Yes!)
The four seniors absolutely tore it up. Leroy scored a game high 28 points, John had a game high 7 assists, Smooth was absolutely incredible in his eight minutes, including an uncharacteristic ultra-acrobatic and-1, and Nick played 12 minutes of LOCK DOWN defense. Collectively, this was the best game of the season for the four of them combined. It was truly incredible to watch.
2) But Seriously, Win. (Yes!)
Oh thank goodness. Assuming IUPUI isn't Centenary's first victory of the season, the Jaguars cannot finish lower than 3rd in the Summit League rankings. Phew.
3) Run The Ball. (Yes!)
The Jaguars got over the 65-possession hump at 67 touches, and added to the positivity of the night by scoring 1.25 points per trip. The best part to me? 21 assists on 33 buckets, that's 63.6%. WOW. They kept the ball moving to find the open man, and took advantage of a seemingly confused
4) 55% FG; 84% FT; 42% 3P. (Hey, I'll Take It.)
54% FG; 64% FT; 55% 3P.
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Video Highlights
Smooth's and-1 is around :30, look for Leroy's put back of Stephen's miss around the 1:35 mark.
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Photo Journal
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| The women's team picked up a huge victory over UMKC before the men's game started. |
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| The team captains discussed things before the game began. |
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| I absolutely love how close to the action we are. Literally just a couple feet away at all times. Great stuff. |
With regards to your last photo:
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I think I would love an arena that put me a little farther away from the action.
It'd be nice to go to a game in a facility that makes you feel like the university actually cares about the program.
Nothing against soccer, but I'm pretty sure the soccer stadium up on 16th st where IUPUI usually plays has a larger capacity.
1) We have to fill The Jungle consistently, which we absolutely do not come close to doing.
ReplyDelete2) That soccer stadium was built for an international soccer competition, so yes it has way more seats.
3) Size of an arena has nothing to do with how much an institution cares about its program. The IUPUI Athletic Department cares about basketball (especially Ron Hunter) equally (if not more) than the other sports because of the exposure they bring.
(1)IUPUI doesn't even own that stadium... the city does... the IUPUI soccer teams get to play on a field that doesn't even belong to them... must make them feel good!
ReplyDeleteThe premier stadium IUPUI owns never gets played on but once a year. why? Because they don't maintain the field at all. Its worse than junior leagure soccer field.
(2)Of course Ron Hunter cares... I didn't say anything against him. Why do you think he turned down the job offer from ball state? Because he's a class act, he belongs in indianapolis, and without him IUPUI basketball would be nothing...
I love IUPUI and the athletic program a lot more than the average joe. Clearly not as mush as you but why do you think i'm writing on your blog???
Its because its really the only IUPUI basketball coverage outside of the iupui website.
bottom line... IUPUI is a D1 school with over 30000 students and a 1215 seat basketball arena with pathetic to no locker rooms. Its embarrasing and disappointing.
If you build it, they will come.
(3)I appreciate the heated response. I expected nothing less.
U better hit me back...
ReplyDeletei understand your point, but i love watching games in the jungle more than anywhere else in the entire conference (i should know...i've been to all of them). it would be nice for the program if they got bigger names, but they seem to do pretty well without them.
ReplyDeleteand there is a reason that they're trying to play more games in conseco. they would like to make conseco the 'home' arena permanently, but there's only so much they can do when having to share it with the pacers.