Box Score
Sioux Falls, S.D. – On Saturday afternoon – less than 15 hours after a painful loss in Marshall, Minnesota and just 3 hours before tip-off against the University of Sioux Falls – the seniors of the Upper Iowa men’s basketball team held a players-only meeting. Whatever was said behind closed doors worked to perfection as the Peacocks shot just under 60 percent on the road on Saturday night. 
 
UIU had four players score in double-figures, Sam Elgin earned his first career double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds and the Peacocks shot an eye-popping 70.8 percent in the second half against the Cougars en route to a 82-74 conference victory.

The win left the Peacocks with a weekend split and pushs their record to 14-6 overall and 10-4 in the NSIC.
 
“I thought the guys showed a lot of character and resiliency to bounce back after last night’s performance,” head coach Brian Dolan said. “Just to come out with that kind of energy and excitement – I was proud of them for that.”

The Peacocks didn’t start off on fire, though.

Doing their best to protect their home court, the Cougars came out firing and it was evident who they wanted to go to. Using a high screen, Derek Holand nailed three consecutive three-pointers to give USF an early 9-6 lead.
 
It was also pretty clear what the Peacocks wanted to do with their first three possessions.  A night removed from a 21-point performance, Tucker Wentzien didn't miss a beat on Saturday night. He used his 6-foot-8 frame to establish position in the paint as he converted the Peacocks first three buckets.
 
“I thought I could keep my momentum going from last night and help us out as much as possible,” Wentzien said.
 
The strong post presence kept UIU in the game, but Wentzien got in foul trouble and sat on the bench for the final six minutes of the first half. In that time, the Cougars went on a 12-8 run and took a 32-28 lead into halftime.
 
Coming into the game, the Peacocks were just 1-6 in games when they trailed at halftime, but that didn’t affect them in the second half of Saturday’s game. Still feeling burned by Friday night's loss, seniors Jake Hughes, Wentzien and Elgin fueled the Peacocks' stunning shooting performance. 

“Personally, I didn’t put it behind me,” Elgin said about the loss to Southwest Minnesota State. “I put it in the back of my mind to fuel me. I think that’s what we all did. But the one thing we couldn’t do was let it affect us tonight.”
  
A 48 percent shooting average in the first half was impressive, but the Peacocks missed only seven of 24 shots in the second period – a 70.8 percentage, tying their highest output this season. UIU also shot 70.8 percent in the second half of last Saturday's game against Bemidji State University.
 
“We have guys who can make plays, but their teammates need to help them,” Dolan said. “I think the difference tonight was our energy. We guarded the full 94 feet and that helped our offense.”
 
The full-court press-defense led to seven steals and 13 Cougar turnovers and what was a four-point lead for USF at the half quickly turned into a four-point lead for UIU less than five minutes into the second half.
 
Wentzien nailed five of his 12 second-half points over the first three Peacock second half possessions.
 
The Solon, Iowa native’s 17 points and Elgin’s double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds helped UIU outscore the Cougars 54-42 in the second period. It was Elgin’s first double-double at UIU and the 12 rebounds was a career-high for the Center Point, Iowa native.
 
“That's great, but the reason we won tonight wasn’t because of that,” he said. “It was a good team win and we executed exactly what we wanted to do to get back on track.”
Hughes was the final senior to score in double-figures for UIU and it could not have come on a better night. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native turned twenty-two years-old on the day. He also collected five rebounds and dished out two assists without turning the ball over once. 

Kierre Ogbonna also finished in double-figures for the second night in a row and for the third time over his last four games.
 
The Peacocks will try to keep their new-found win streak alive next weekend against two tough NSIC-North opponents. UIU will host MSU-Moorhead on Friday night inside Dorman Gym at 8 PM before facing Northern State on Saturday night.

“We learned this weekend that we can bounce back,” Dolan said. “It was our first Friday loss of the year and we were able to bounce back and get the split on the road.”

Despite the split, Wentzien (pictured below) finished the weekend with 37 points on 17-of-24 shooting to go with his 11 rebounds and two steals.