Saturday, March 01, 2008
7:00PM ET

IUPUI Gymnasium
Indianapolis, IN
Attendance: 1,215

INDIANAPOLIS(AP) Austin Montgomery scored 18 points to lead an IUPUI team that was missing top scorer George Hill to a 72-54 win over Western Illinois Saturday night.

Hill, who averages 21 points a game, suffered a minor injury in the closing minutes of the Jaguars' win at Chicago State on Wednesday, IUPUI Sports Information Director Ed Holdaway said. Hill was held out as a precaution and will be ready for the first round of the Summit League tournament.

IUPUI (24-6, 15-3) opened the game with a 13-2 run and then never let Western Illinois (12-17, 7-11) get closer than six points before entering halftime with a 29-19 lead.

James Washington sank a 3-pointer to open the second half for the Leathernecks, but IUPUI had built a 10-point lead with just under seven minutes to play and pulled away after that.

Billy Pettiford added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Jaguars, and Jon Avery contributed 10 points. IUPUI outrebounded Western Illinois 40-26 and outscored the Leathernecks 28-20 in the paint.

David DuBois finished with 11 points and six assists to lead Western Illinois. Washington added nine points.

IUPUI ended its regular season by tying a team record for wins in a season.