Both teams were already locked into their Horizon League tourney seeds, and the No. 8 Raiders will host the No. 9 Jags at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
But the rematch wasn’t on coach Clint Sargent’s mind afterward.
Coming off a comeback win against Cleveland State and with a chance to take some momentum into the tourney, his team fell flat.
It was out-rebounded 38-29, giving up 17 offensive boards, while having a 13-game winning streak in the series come to an end.
“There’s no excuse for it. It’s just not good enough. This type of response for our team is not good enough,” he said on his post-game radio show.
“I don’t care if it’s the last game of the regular season. I don’t care if it’s the first-round of the (tourney). I know March matters. I know what happened last year. I’ve been here. This crap just isn’t good enough.”
The Raiders finished 18-14 last year, beating Northern Kentucky in their final regular-season game but falling to the Norse in their opening tourney game at the Nutter Center, 99-97, in overtime.
“This type of effort and heart and chemistry, its not good enough. I don’t care what game it is. I know we’re going to see them again, and I just don’t care. I’m sick of this,” Sargent said.
The Raiders, who finished the regular-season 14-17 overall and 8-12 in the league, led by as many as 10 in the first half and had a 44-37 lead at halftime.
But the Jaguars (10-21, 6-14) won the second half, 54-40, and they took a 66-63 lead with 8:50 to go on a 3 by Sean Craig.
They stretched the lead to 82-74 on Craig’s tip-in with 3:25 to go.
Brandon Noel’s 3 made it 82-77, and Alex Huibregtse’s 3 made it 82-80 with 2:35 left.
But IU Indy’s Paul Zilinskas scored inside at 1:27 for a four-point lead, and Huibregtse misfired from 3.
Michael Imariagbe made a steal with a minute to go, but Huibregtse missed another 3 as the Raiders’ hopes expired.
Noel had 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting, but he was limited to four rebounds.
Huibregtse scored 13 of his 19 points in the first half, going 7 of 18 from the field and 5 of 13 from 3.
Imariagbe had season highs in points with 18 and rebounds with 11. He went 8 of 10 from the field.
The Raiders shot 34 of 64 (53.1%), but after making 7 of 15 threes in the first half, they made only 5 of 16 after halftime.
TUESDAY’S GAME
Horizon League Tournament
IU Indy at Wright State, 8 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
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