Yesterday was definitely a good day for IU Indianapolis. The school finally entered the 21st century by beginning the groundbreaking (or, you know, the usual “we have a convenient mound of dirt for photo opportunities” that applies to these types of ceremonies) of the upcoming James T. Morris Arena, which will allow the program to have state of the art resources as well as a proper venue for sporting events and other possible outlets for the school to earn some scratch given its modest size and proximity to downtown Indianapolis.
Seeing as the teams (at least the men) shuffle between the hilariously out of date Jungle over at the Natatorium and Corteva Coliseum, which is just way too large and out of the way for a program struggling to build a following in its own campus, never mind casual Naptowners, this will aid in building a fanbase as well as help recruiting, what with an actual weight room and fitness center instead of sharing one with the general public. Chris Schumerth, who follows the Jaguar women, laid it all out and what it means on his article.
Oh… and the Jags men won again. Yeah, that was the one game in Horizon League play on Wednesday night, with IU Indy recovering from a loss last week with renewed vigor, and defeated a very capable Detroit Mercy 80-71, this time with the Titans having key players that were absent in the previous encounter, such as Orlando Lovejoy who, spoilers, is one of my All-Horizon players of the season. This completes a season sweep for IU Indianapolis, their second this season.
Usually, the opposition gets to control the action particularly if the threes aren’t landing, but instead, IU Indy was ahead or tied 98% of the game, with Detroit Mercy’s only lead being the first basket of the game. The Jags were 11 out of 23 from downtown, compared to Detroit Mercy’s paltry 5 from 23. IU Indy also managed slightly better with the charity stripe, being 17 of 22, versus the Titans’ 12 of 16. Indy being able to mitigate the opposition with long range defense played a key factor in the victory.
For the winning effort, Paul Zilinskas (drum roll) led the team with 28 points, a career high that surpassed his 24-point outing against Missouri-St. Louis last year back when he was with the UIndy Greyhounds. Jarvis Walker had 20 points and made six threes for his part.
If there was one complaint I had about the game, it was probably the Jaguar bench, which has been unreliable for most of the season. Timaris Brown went 0-for-2 from the free throw line, while Ron Rutland III missed one shot and largely was a ghost. At least Caleb Hannah had an assist and a turnover. I get putting in players to keep your starters from tiring out (seeing as how they’ve played for 35+ minutes earlier in conference play) and utilizing them for defensive roles, but statistically, they haven’t been much help. Still, the starting line has been productive, and I’m not gonna complain about the possibility of a ten win season.
Honestly, I’ll have to go back to previous seasons in the Summit League to see if IU Indy had swept two conference foes in a single season, given they’ve also swept the Green Bay Phoenix and The Athletic darling Doug Gottlieb. Also, with the win, that makes Corsaro far more successful than his predecessor, Matt Crenshaw, who only accomplished 3 wins at most in league play in his three seasons.
The Jaguars road trip continues as THIS TIME, rectifying an error I made in a previous post, they head to Northern Kentucky over at Highland Heights, KY in the greater Cincinnati area to play against the Norse in a Sunday matinee game at 1pm. I had the Norse as my pick to rep the Horizon this year, and that has been egg on my face, but that doesn’t mean its a meaningless endeavor for both squads. Both teams are still vying for positioning in the postseason, hoping to get that coveted home game when the tournament kicks off in two weeks.
