AMES, Iowa – The IU Indy men’s basketball team will face its stiffest test of the young season on Monday night (Nov. 18) when the Jaguars take on No. 7 Iowa State (2-0) at 7:00 p.m. CT (8 Eastern) on ESPN+. The Jaguars have never defeated a ranked opponent in the program’s Division I era, spanning back to 1998.
The Jaguars are coming off a tough 74-71 defeat to Eastern Michigan inside the Jungle on Thursday night (Nov. 14), despite a 25-point outing from graduate transfer Paul Zilinskas. On the heels of a career-high 27 on Tuesday, Zilinskas backed it up with 25 more, hitting 7-of-17 shots, including three threes in the loss. The Jags trailed by as many as 13 after intermission and made it a one possession game down the stretch, but never fully drew even with the Eagles. The Jags shot a meager 26.7 percent from the floor and just 8-of-33 (24.2 percent) from three in the loss.
Junior Sean Craig had his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 boards and freshman Keenan Garner added 11 points and eight rebounds. Fellow transfer Jarvis Walker added 11 points in 39 minutes, but was harassed into a 2-of-16 shooting night.
Zilinskas has emerged as the team’s top weapon, averaging 19.3 points per game while shooting 47 percent from the field and 48.1 percent from deep. Walker is averaging 14.8 points per game and Craig is averaging a double-double with 10.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. Off the bench, Nathan Dudukovich has been a key asset, averaging 10.0 points per game and shooting 45 percent from three.
As a team, the Jaguars are shooting 36.2 percent from three and pouring in 87 points per game through four games.
QUOTABLE
“I’ve never questioned this team’s fight. We need to do a better job not spotting that amount in the first half. [There were] a lot of self-inflicted mistakes tonight that unfortunately cost us the game. I felt that if we would have controlled the controllables we could have gotten that win, however, I think there’s a lot to grow from tonight. I’m proud of our guys’ fight and I felt our togetherness. I hate losing, but I know we will grow from this and get better,” Corsaro said following Thursday night’s home loss to Eastern Michigan.
SCOUTING IOWA STATE
Iowa State is 2-0 to start the year, having thrashed both Mississippi Valley State and Kansas City by a combined 65 points. The Cyclones are shooting nearly 48 percent from the floor while holding their opponents to just 35 percent overall and under 21 percent from three-point range. Five different ISU players are averaging between 11-13 points per game with Keshon Gilbert (13.0 ppg, 6.5 apg) and Milan Momcilovic (13.0 ppg, 6 3’s) leading the way.
SERIES HISTORY
IU Indy is 0-1 all-time against Iowa State, having dropped an 88-39 outcome to the Cyclones on Nov. 7, 2022.
UP NEXT
The Jaguars will travel to Huntsville, Ala., for the Bulldog Bash as they’ll face Coastal Carolina (Nov. 22) and South Carolina State (Nov. 23) on back-to-back days.
