INDIANAPOLIS – The UIndy men's basketball defended Nicoson Hall on Thursday night, knocking off Upper Iowa, 93-80, in a battle between the top-two teams in the GLVC this season.
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Six Greyhounds finished in double figures in front of a rowdy student section, led by a game-high 22 points from
Zac Szul in 26 minutes off the bench. The team was on fire from the field, shooting 60 percent for the first time since Dec. 2022.
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David Ejah registered a whopping six blocks, adding to his 14-point and seven-rebound performance.
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INS & OUTS
The Greyhounds came to play against the top-ranked scoring offense in the conference, scoring 48 first-half points. Despite picking up two early fouls,
Jarvis Walker scored 10 points in the first 20 minutes, including his second 3-pointer of the evening to stretch the UIndy lead to double digits late in the half.
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Szul stretched the lead to 16 with a 3-ball under 15 minutes left, capping a 12-3 run to keep the energy alive.
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The Peacocks, who averaged better than 88 points per game coming into the night, came alive with a push during the middle minutes. The visitors scored 20 during a seven-minute stretch to shrink the Greyhound lead to just four. Ejah and Szul, however, refused to surrender the advantage and combined to score the next seven points.
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Just like all season, the UIndy defense clamped down when it needed to. With less than a minute left,
Josiah Tynes secured a rebound, kicked out to Szul, who found
Jesse Bingham all by himself with nothing by the rim stopping him.
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The Greyhounds limited the Peacocks to just 36.3 percent shooting – including a 29.5 percent effort after halftime – and more than 12 percentage points under their season average.
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INSIDE THE BOX
- The team's 12 blocks are the most recorded in a single game since at least the 1999-2000 season, as game-by-game data for the category ends there.
- With four assists, Tynes is now tied for 25th all-time in program history with 209 career helpers.
- UIndy outrebounded Upper Iowa, 43-20, with
Julian Steinfeld leading all players with eight boards.
- Bingham followed Ejah with a modest three blocks, while also finishing with 17 points.
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Dylan Ingram grabbed seven rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.
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MORE NOTES
UIndy held Upper Iowa's Jake Hilmer to just six points after the graduate student entered Thursday averaging 24.1 points and ranked third in DII in scoring … it was the first-ever meeting between the programs … the last time the Greyhounds scored 48 points in the first half was against Ohio Christian on New Years' Eve 2022.
CORSARO'S CREW
Head coach Paul Corsaro
"That was awesome."
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UP NEXT
The Greyhounds welcome Truman to Nicoson Hall on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip. During halftime of the game, UIndy Athletics will honor the 2024 Hall of Fame class.
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The Bulldogs edged by Lewis on Thursday evening with a one-point victory in Romeoville, Ill. UIndy leads the all-time series, 13-5, and dominated Truman in a meeting last month by a score of 86-48.
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