MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – The ninth-ranked UIndy men's basketball team (9-0) kept its perfect record intact by coasting to a 78-51 win versus Division II Daemen College Thursday night at the Cruizin' Classic, held at on the campus of Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla.
 
The Greyhounds snapped Daeman's four-game winning streak while increasing theirs to nine.  UIndy was in front the final 38 minutes of the game, leading by as much as 30 points late in the second half.
 
Junior Jordan Loyd was again the high man for the Greyhounds, racking up a career-high 27 points to lead all scorers.  The Atlanta, Ga., native, who is averaging 20 points over the last four games, shot 11-for-14 from the field, including nailing four 3-pointers.
 
"We have a number of guys who can get on fire like Jordan has this week," said UIndy head coach Stan Gouard, "but he's had a really good couple of days down here in Florida.  He got it going tonight, and we ran a couple play calls for him.
 
"It's a nice little run he's having right now.  It started at Saint Joe's a couple weeks ago.  He really got himself going and it's carried over here in Florida and hopefully he can keep it up going into conference play."
 
After falling behind 5-2 early, the Greyhounds put the hammer down with nine unanswered points, capped by a rare four-point play from Loyd.  The surge was part of a crushing 33-10 run that sent the Wildcats (6-3) reeling.
 
A big fueling factor for the Hounds was their assist total.  The Crimson and Grey assisted on 21 of its 32 buckets, with a game-high eight assists from point guard Lucas Barker.
 
Said Gouard: "We have a lot of unselfish guys on this basketball team, and we did a great job of sharing the basketball tonight.  I thought our defense got us off to a very good start, but our guys are really unselfish.  You look at the assists to turnovers: 21 assists, 14 turnovers.  So our guys really did a great job of sharing the basketball and that's one thing I'm proud to see."

UIndy has had six games with at least 20 assists this season, compared to just six such games all of last year.
 
Loyd added eight rebounds and three assists to supplement his impressive point total.  Salim Gloyd came off the bench for 13 points, nine boards and three steals; Joe Lawson had 11 points and three assists; while Brennan McElroy went for eight points and nine rebounds.
 
One night after recording a triple-double versus St. Thomas that included a ridiculous 12 blocks, Wildcat senior forward Gerald Beverly amassed with 13 points and eight blocks but only three boards.

The Greyhounds get a couple weeks off for the holiday season, starting with a three-day Caribbean cruise this weekend.  UIndy returns to GLVC play right after the New Year when defending-region-champ and 12th-ranked Drury University comes to Nicoson Hall Friday, Jan. 2.


Notes:  The Hounds doubled Daemen's rebounding total, 42-21 ... UIndy is now 4-0 on neutral courts this season.