EDWARDSVILLE, lll. – The offense came alive in the second half for the No. 13 UIndy men's basketball team (24-5) earned an 80-68 victory over the seventh-seeded Southwest Baptist Bearcats in the GLVC quarterfinal Thursday night.

Cory Miller Jr. scored a game-high 20 points in the win, while Jacob Polakovich chipped in 12 tallies and seven boards.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Greyhounds struggled offensively in the first half, shooting 39 percent from the field as Southwest Baptist grabbed a four-point lead at halftime. However, the Hounds led by as much as six in the first 20 minutes before SBU regained its advantage, with Marcus Latham joining Miller Jr. with a team-high nine points at the break.
 

?? | Latham...AND-1!@UIndyMBB trails Southwest Baptist by 4?? at halftime in the #GLVCmbb quarterfinal. pic.twitter.com/qUhRg0HuLT

— UIndy Athletics (@UIndyAthletics) March 6, 2020

It was another story in the second half, with a Latham and-one near the end of the first sparking the offensive turnaround. Jordache Mavunga drilled a pair of 3-pointers to complement Miller Jr.'s strong penetration game, before Polakovich put the game away late in the paint.
 
Despite not drilling a 3-pointer for just the second time this season, Trevor Lakes flirted with a double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds. The junior is now just 33 points from 1,000 in his UIndy career.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Five Greyhounds finished in double figures Thursday night, with Miller Jr. recording his third straight 20-point contest.
- SBU shot nearly 50 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, making six from deep. The Greyhounds tightened up on the perimeter in the second half as the Bearcats missed all seven of their 3-point attempts.
- Jimmy King handed out six assists in the win, and is now just 11 from tying the program record of 547 helpers.
- The UIndy defense forced 18 Baptist turnovers in the win, scoring 14 points on those extra possessions.
 
HOUND BYTES
Head coach Stan Gouard...
"You can be really good in this league and still come up short. That's how good the GLVC is; it is the best league in DII basketball. I am proud of our young men playing through our offensive woes. We didn't shoot well in the first half, especially from 3-point range, but it was our defense that got the job done for us down the stretch."
  
MORE NOTES
UIndy is now 4-1 all-time against Southwest Baptist … the win marks the Hounds' first of the postseason variety since the 2018 GLVC quarterfinal against Maryville … the Greyhounds are now just two wins from tying the program's single-season record of 26.

UP NEXT
UIndy awaits the winner of tomorrow night's Truman/Rockhurst contest. Saturday's semifinal is set to tip at 9:30 p.m. ET from First Community Arena at Vadalabene Center on the campus of Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville.