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Western Illinois University Athletics

Mike Miklusak FP
WIU Visual Productions Center
71
Western Illinois WIU 4-9, 1-1 Summit
89
Winner IUPUI IUPUI 7-8, 1-0 Summit
Western Illinois WIU
4-9, 1-1 Summit
71
Final
89
IUPUI IUPUI
7-8, 1-0 Summit
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Western Illinois WIU 39 32 71
IUPUI IUPUI 47 42 89

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Men’s Basketball Concludes League Road Trip with Loss at IUPUI

Mike Miklusak finished with a career-high 23 points as well as a team-high 5 assists

INDIANAPOLIS – Western Illinois jumped out to an early double-digit lead but IUPUI was able to battle back and eventually defeat the Leathernecks, 89-71, Saturday afternoon (Dec. 31) in Summit League play.
 
After the loss, WIU sits 1-1 in Summit League action and 4-9 overall. The Jaguars of IUPUI are 1-0 in league contests and 7-8 overall.
 
"I thought, overall, our kids came out ready to play. That was something I was not concerned about, but we had a watchful eye over with a great emotional win Thursday night and a quick turnaround to Saturday afternoon," said head coach Billy Wright. "We got off to a great start at 16-5 and just couldn't sustain it. I thought their pressure really disrupted our offensive flow and rhythm, and they got a lot of second chance points and points in the paint, and that's just off of dribble penetration."
 
Senior Mike Miklusak led Western with a career-high 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. His five triples tied his career best. The Dyer, Ind. native also led the team with five assists and grabbed five rebounds.
 
Fellow Senior Garret Covington also scored more than 20 points, tallying 22. Jalen Morgan was the only other Leatherneck to score in double figures finishing with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
 
Sophomore point guard Delo Bruster added eight points and four assists, while freshman Jeremiah Usiosefe pulled down a team-best six rebounds.
 
The Leathernecks came out firing during the first four minutes of the game, making 6-of-7 from the field, 4-of-4 from three, and jumping out to a 16-5 lead thanks to an 11-0 run.
 
IUPUI would answer with a 9-0 run that would cut WIU's lead to just two points before the Jaguars tied things up 22-22 midway through the first half.
 
A 7-0 Jaguar run right before halftime gave IUPUI its largest lead of the opening half, and the Jags took a 47-39 advantage into the break.
 
Early in the second half WIU put together a 10-2 run to cut its deficit to two points, 54-52, but IUPUI again responded with a 14-4 run that put WIU down 12 points, 70-58, with less than eight minutes to play.
 
Western was unable to steal the momentum and the Jags finished their Summit League opener with an 18-point victory.
 
IUPUI's Darell Combs led all scorers with 28 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field. Matt O'Leary and Kellon Thomas added 20 and 15 points, respectively.
 
"To our kids' credit, they competed all weekend. This is a tough league. The Summit League is a great league with a lot of great coaches and a lot of great players. Anytime you can walk away with a split, we'll take that. Now it's time to go back home and protect our home court," concluded Wright.
 
The Leathernecks return home for a pair of league games next week inside Western Hall, playing host to South Dakota State on Wednesday (Jan.4) and Oral Roberts on Saturday (Jan. 7).
 
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