UNIVERSITY PARK, Ill. – The Indiana University Kokomo men's basketball team opened the season Friday night with a high-scoring yet gritty 85-78 win over Governors State on their home court.

IU Kokomo advances to the Championship of the Governors State Classic, and will battle the #19 William Penn Statesmen for an early season title. The last time these two programs met was in the 2022 NAIA Tournament Round of 32, as the Cougars beat then #1 overall William Penn to advance to the 'Sweet 16.'

In his first career start, sophomore Evan Kretz rose to the occasion. The Western HS product scored a career-high and game-high 24 points to lead the Cougars to a victory, including 6/7 from three-point range. 

 Kretz made his presence felt early, scoring IU Kokomo's first nine points of the game for a 9-2 lead. He would finish the first half with 17 points, outdoing his previous career-high of 12 in one half.

Governors State would claw their way back, scoring six-straight points to cut the deficit to one at 13-12. After another pair of Kretz treys followed by a Hunter Jackson triple, the Cougars found themselves in front 24-14 with 11:02 remaining in the first half. 

The Jaguars managed to keep IUK within reach before pulling within two with 3:18 to go, but the Cougars would finish the half strong to take a 45-35 lead into the break. 

A Ty Wills jumper on the first possession out of halftime gave the Cougars a 47-35 lead before Governors State answered immediately with an 11-0 run to trim the deficit to one. 

IU Kokomo maintained a lead for the following nine minutes, however a GSU deep-ball gave them their first lead of the night at 63-61 with 7:26 remaining. The experienced Noah Harris recorded an and-one on the following possession to re-take the lead at 64-63.

The Cougars steadily built on to their lead, eventually extending the lead to 10 with 3:43 remaining. The Jaguar pressure down the stretch forced a few IU Kokomo turnovers, but the Cougars held on for an 85-78 road win on opening night.

Junior forward Max Newman impressed in his IUK debut, recording a 12 point, 10 rebound double-double. Newman also added five assists. Fellow forward Noah Harris dropped 17 points in 33 meaningful minutes for the Cougars.

Hunter Jackson scored 13 points on 3/5 shooting from deep to go along with five rebounds. IU Kokomo finished the game 10/15 from beyond-the-arc as a team.

As mentioned, the Cougars will battle #19 William Penn in the Governor's State Classic Championship game. Tip-off is set for 3:00 PM ET.

For the latest news, updates, and information on the IU Kokomo Cougars, fans can visit IUKCougars.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Cougar news by following @IUKAthletics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.