INDIANAPOLIS, Ind -
The IUPUI basketball team christened its new home-away-from-home for the 2009-10 basketball season with a resounding 95-60 win over Anderson University in exhibition play inside Conseco Fieldhouse on Monday night. Senior Robert Glenn and sophomore Alex Young scored 22 points each and Leroy Nobles tossed in 13 in the victory.
Monday's game was the first of four scheduled contest inside the home of the NBA's Indiana Pacers.
"It was just good to get out and break a sweat against a team in another jersey," IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter said. "We set the tempo and did some good things, but we've got a lot of work to do. We'll take a look at the film and make some improvements and go back to work and continue to become a better basketball team.
"All in all though, I was pretty pleased. Everyone was looking to make the extra pass and at some points, I thought we might have been a little too unselfish."
The Jaguars, looking to play a more up-tempo style, handed out 26 assists on 40 field goals and forced 22 AU miscues, turning them into 23 points. Thirteen of AU's turnovers came via IUPUI steals and the Jags also swatted nine shots.
Leading 20-14 at the 9:44 mark of the first half, the Jags proceeded to rip off a 14-0 run to take control of the contest. Glenn began the run with back-to-back layups before Sean Esposito hit consecutive treys, forcing AU Head Coach Tom Slyder to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, IUPUI forced back-to-back turnovers and converted the second into a Christian Siakam layup. On the next possession, Young got loose for a two-handed dunk off the left wing to push the lead to 37-17.
AU proceeded to score seven straight to make it 37-24 but Hunter's squad took a comfortable 47-30 lead into halftime.
A 13-3 IUPUI run to start the second half ended any suspense. Both Billy Pettiford and Young scored four points during the run including a driving two-handed jam by the sophomore in front of the IUPUI student section.
Young finished with seven rebounds, five steals and four assists to accompany his 22-point night. Meanwhile, Pettiford had a busy night with nine points, eight rebounds, four blocked shots and three assists in 30 minutes work.
IUPUI's athletic front line helped the Jags shoot 51 percent from the floor and hold the Ravens to just 35 percent shooting.
"We knew we had an advantage athletically, so we wanted to make sure to get our bigs some touches," Hunter said. "Rob (Glenn) did a good job finishing inside when we got him the ball."
Glenn hit 10-of-13 shots and added eight rebounds off the bench. Andrew Jones led Anderson with 17 points and Ty Riddle added 12 points and five steals. AU hit 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) from three in the first half before going just 2-of-10 (20 percent) in the second.
"We did a better job of closing out on their shooters and making them a little more uncomfortable," Hunter said.
IUPUI will cap its exhibition slate on Saturday when it hosts St. Joseph's College inside The Jungle for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff. Live audio and live stats will be available at IUPUIJags.com.
Monday's game was the first of four scheduled contest inside the home of the NBA's Indiana Pacers.
"It was just good to get out and break a sweat against a team in another jersey," IUPUI Head Coach Ron Hunter said. "We set the tempo and did some good things, but we've got a lot of work to do. We'll take a look at the film and make some improvements and go back to work and continue to become a better basketball team.
"All in all though, I was pretty pleased. Everyone was looking to make the extra pass and at some points, I thought we might have been a little too unselfish."
The Jaguars, looking to play a more up-tempo style, handed out 26 assists on 40 field goals and forced 22 AU miscues, turning them into 23 points. Thirteen of AU's turnovers came via IUPUI steals and the Jags also swatted nine shots.
Leading 20-14 at the 9:44 mark of the first half, the Jags proceeded to rip off a 14-0 run to take control of the contest. Glenn began the run with back-to-back layups before Sean Esposito hit consecutive treys, forcing AU Head Coach Tom Slyder to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, IUPUI forced back-to-back turnovers and converted the second into a Christian Siakam layup. On the next possession, Young got loose for a two-handed dunk off the left wing to push the lead to 37-17.
AU proceeded to score seven straight to make it 37-24 but Hunter's squad took a comfortable 47-30 lead into halftime.
A 13-3 IUPUI run to start the second half ended any suspense. Both Billy Pettiford and Young scored four points during the run including a driving two-handed jam by the sophomore in front of the IUPUI student section.
Young finished with seven rebounds, five steals and four assists to accompany his 22-point night. Meanwhile, Pettiford had a busy night with nine points, eight rebounds, four blocked shots and three assists in 30 minutes work.
IUPUI's athletic front line helped the Jags shoot 51 percent from the floor and hold the Ravens to just 35 percent shooting.
"We knew we had an advantage athletically, so we wanted to make sure to get our bigs some touches," Hunter said. "Rob (Glenn) did a good job finishing inside when we got him the ball."
Glenn hit 10-of-13 shots and added eight rebounds off the bench. Andrew Jones led Anderson with 17 points and Ty Riddle added 12 points and five steals. AU hit 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) from three in the first half before going just 2-of-10 (20 percent) in the second.
"We did a better job of closing out on their shooters and making them a little more uncomfortable," Hunter said.
IUPUI will cap its exhibition slate on Saturday when it hosts St. Joseph's College inside The Jungle for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff. Live audio and live stats will be available at IUPUIJags.com.
