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Official Athletics Site of the Upper Iowa Peacocks
Upper Iowa Peacocks
Joey Woods

Men's Basketball Steven Wilson - Graduate Assistant, Sports Information

Fresh Off Big Victory, UIU Heads North For Two NSIC Contests

After a 64-63 upset over the number nine team in the central region, the Peacock will look to keep their short-lived win streak alive against two strong NSIC opponents

Concordia - St. Paul

GAME SIX || Friday, Dec. 7, 2012 || 8 PM
St. Paul, Minnesota || Gangelhoff Center
Live Options:
CU Stats || CU Video || UIU Audio
Minnesota State

GAME SEVEN || Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012 || 8 PM
Mankato, Minnesota || Taylor Center
Live Options:
MSU Stats || MSU Video || UIU Audio
This Week in Upper Iowa Men’s Basketball... After Saturday's upset victory over Winona State, the Peacocks will keep to the road this weekend. UIU will head north again this Friday, this time to St. Paul, Minnesota for a matchup with the Golden Bears of Concordia University at the Gangelhoff Center. Then, the Peacocks will travel the short distance to Mankato, Minnesota to face the Mavericks of Minnesota State at the Taylor Center on Saturday night. Both games will begin at 8 PM.

 The Series... Since becoming a member of the NCAA Division II before the 2007-08 season, the Peacocks and the Golden Bears have faced off a total of 17 times. Concordia holds the edge 11-6 in those meetings, including four straight wins over the Peacocks. The Golden Bears have won three straight at home over Upper Iowa and have not lost to UIU at the Gangelhoff Center since the 2007-08 season. Concordia is 5-2 all-time at home against UIU including 5-1 at the Gangelhoff Center. Upper Iowa has also struggled agaisnt the Mavericks since moving to Division II play six years ago. The Peacocks are 0-12 all-time against MSU.

Peacocks Shock No. 9 Warriors... No. 5 Metro State may have broken a 13-game Warrior win streak at home against non-NSIC opponents, but Upper Iowa one-upped the Roadrunners this past Saturday. A last second reverse layup from Tucker Wentzien sealed the Warriors' second loss at home in just three games this year. To put that win in perspective, WSU went 14-1 at home in 2011-12. Wentzien had 11 of UIU's final 19 points in the game and led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Joey Woods had his best game this year tallying 15 points and 3 steals. He went a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. The upset was Upper Iowa's first victory over a ranked team since the 2009-10 season. The Peacocks defeated the Vikings of Augustana College on the 15th of January in 2010, 70-67 in Fayette.

Peacocks Perfect In NSIC... Upper Iowa joins St. Cloud State, Minnesota State, U-Mary, Bemidji State, Southwest Minnesota State, Augustana and Northern State atop the conference with a 1-0 record. Each of the aforementioned teams earned a victory in their conference-opener this past Saturday against their travel partner. 

Peacocks Start 2012 Strong... UIU started this season exactly the way they wanted to - with two wins. The Peacocks claimed a 68-60 victory over visiting William Jewel College and the Cardinals' legendary coach Larry Holley, thanks to a strong performance from senior wing #Sam Elgin#.  The Center Point, Iowa native had team-highs in points (15), rebounds (8) and assists (3). Elgin then backed that up with a 16-point performance in a 70-67 victory over Truman State in Kirksville, Missouri. The Peacocks will look to get back to their winning ways this weekend against WSU.
 
Leading the Golden Bears... Terez VanPelt (19.8 ppg, 4 apg, 49% FG, 41% 3FG) || Cole Olstad (14.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 45% 3FG, 40% FG) || Isaiah Thomas (13.8 ppg, 4 rpg, 47% FG, 50% 3FG) || Nick Mabbutt (8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 39% FG)

Leading the Mavericks... Zach Monaghan (13.0 ppg, 6.6 apg, 47% FG) || Connor O'Brien (12.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.6 bpg, 59% FG) || Jarvis Williams (11.8 ppg, 2.3 apg, 7.2 rpg, 55% FG) || Assem Marei (11.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 48% FG) || Zach Romashko (10.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 55% FG)
  
Scout Team... The Golden Bears's 1-3 record heading into Friday's matchup with the Peacocks can be misleading. CU has faced two top-25 teams in No. 20 Minnesota State and No. 6 Western Washington and while its only victory was a 65-60 win over Alaska Fairbanks over thanksgiving break, all three of the Golden Bears losses were by less than 10 points. The CU offense is averaging 70.5 points per game led by sophomore guard Terez VanPelt (19.8 ppg). The No. 20 Minnesota State Mavericks, who cracked the top-25 in the region for the first time this year just this week, now 5-0 in NSIC openers since they joined the league in 2008 after a 76-71 victory over the Golden Bears of Concordia at home. The victory snapped a MSU three-game losing streak to the Golden Bears over the past season and a half. Maverick guard Zach Monaghan contributed a combined 56.7 percent of MSU's total points thanks to a game-high 23 points and eight assists. The sophomore's 23 points was the most any Maverick has scored this year. He also had three rebounds, two steals and a block.

Peacocks Ranked in the NSIC... Wentzien's 17 points at Winona State, including 11 in the final five minutes, bumped the Solon, Iowa native up three spots from last week's ranking. Wentzien sits at 13th in the conference in scoring with 14 points per game. Elgin mans down four spots in the NSIC rankings. The Center Point, Iowa native is 13th in free throw percentage, 15th in three-pointers made, 12th in defensive rebounds and Elgin is tied for 19th in the conference with Wentzien for total rebounds. This week Jake Hughes cracked the rankings for his passing ability. Hughes averages 3.20 assists per game, which is good for 13th in the conference. Hughes is also ranked 6th for a 2.29 assist to turnover ratio. Click here to view all of the conference statistics. 

Up Next... Following Saturday's matchup on the road against Minnesota State, the Peacocks will be headed home. Upper Iowa will host the Wayne State Wildcats on December 14th at 8 PM before taking on the Augustana Vikings at Dorman Gymnasium on Saturday December 15th. Click here to get your tickets now! Click here to view the full scheudle and you can hear all of the action of those matches by clicking here.

Tune In... Don't forget to click on the live option links above to follow all the of the Peacock action live! Also, keep in mind that the live video link is being supplied by Concordia and Minnesota State and will include the Golden Bears' and the Mavericks' audio broadcast. You can hear the game from a Peacock standpoint (UIU Audio), while watching the game provided by CU and MSU. 
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