KANSAS CITY, Mo. – With a convincing 88-49 conference win at Rockhurst Saturday, the fifth-ranked UIndy men's basketball team (13-0, 5-0 GLVC) kept its perfect record intact, upping its season-opening win streak to 13 games.  It marks the best start to a season for the Greyhounds since the 1996-97 team set the program record with an 18-0 start.

"We're fortunate to be in this position," said head coach Stan Gouard when asked about his team's record.  "We have a good group of guys and we don't look at the 13-0.  We just play it game-by-game.  Actually, we've talked about breaking it down into four-game stints instead of looking at the big picture.

"I try to keep our guys from watching the polls and the record books and things like that, and hopefully it's working.  I want to make sure we keep our guys grounded so they understand what the real goal is for us."
 
For the third time this season, two Greyhounds recorded double-doubles in the same game as both senior Brennan McElroy and junior Lucas Barker reached double figures in multiple categories.  Both players scored 12 points on the afternoon, with McElroy grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds and Barker dishing out a personal-best 13 assists to go with eight boards.
 
"When you get a guy with 16 rebounds and a guy with 13 assists, that's pretty special," admitted Gouard.  "Those two guys are really special for us, and I'm happy to be coaching them.  They make me look like I know what I'm doing," he joked.
 
"But they're great.  All our guys are doing a great job so far."
 
Meanwhile, senior Joe Lawson hit his average with a game-high 19 points on 7 of 9 shooting, junior Jordan Loyd added 15 points while junior reserve Salim Gloyd sank three triples to finish with 11.
 
UIndy once again got off to a strong start.  Two days after jumping out to a quick 14-0 lead at William Jewell, the Hounds built a 20-6 cushion midway through the first half Saturday, with seven early points from senior Dai-Jon Parker.
 
Down 20 with three-and-a-half minutes to go in the first half, the Hawks (4-9, 0-5) were shooting just 23 percent from the field before hitting their final three FG attempts of the period.
 
The resulting 7-0 run trimmed the margin to 13 points and gave Rockhurst the ball with a chance for the final shot of the half.  However, junior Josh Roberts missed the front end of a bonus with five seconds left.  The Hounds rebounded the missed free throw and pushed it up court.  Barker drew one last whistle before the buzzer and sank both foul shots to quell the Hawks' momentum and make it 36-21 UIndy at the break.
 
Rockhurst hung tough before the first media timeout of the second half, but a Loyd 3-pointer with 14:29 on the clock upped the deficit over 20 for good.
 
UIndy pushed the lead to 30 with a triple from senior Kendall Vieke with 7:15 to go.  It hit a game-high 40 on a late pair of free throws from freshman Eric Davidson before settling at the final margin of 39.  
 
The Greyhounds toughest challene yet could be coming next week as archrival Bellarmine comes to town Thursday night.  The game, which will be televised live locally on HTSN, will tip at 7:45 p.m.

Both teams are unbeaten in GLVC play and the Knights (12-1, 4-0) are ranked No. 6 in the latest Division II coaches poll.  UIndy and Bellarmine met a rare four times last season, with UIndy getting the best of Bellarmine in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last March.
 
 
Note: Barker, who came into the weekend as the Division II leader in assists per game, had more assists than the entire Rockhurst team (10).  His 13 dimes are the most by a GLVC player this season.