Box Score Records
Upper Iowa (2-4) || Missouri Western (4-3)
Recap
Head Upper Iowa Men's Basketball Coach
Brooks McKowen knows his team has to compensate for being undersized in the post this season. For the last two games, they've done just that with hustle and solid fundamentals. Yet, that stiff defense started to cave on Monday night as the Peacocks faced the Griffons of Missouri Western State University. UIU was outscored by 20 points in the paint, 46-26, as the Griffons held a lead for 67 minutes of action en route to a 84-79 victory at home.
The Peacocks were affected by a slow start as the Griffons jumped out to an 8-3 lead just two minutes into the game. A jumper from
David Smith, and back-to-back buckets from
Jimmy Roth quickly turned the tables as UIU took a 9-8 lead with 16:20 left in the first half. Yet, that's when the Peacocks went ice cold.
UIU made just one free throw over the next six minutes of action and during that stretch, the Peacocks missed 7 shots and turned the ball over three times.
Bo Pagel stopped the bleeding with a layup at the 10:21 mark, but MWSU owned a 19-12 lead at that point.
Three minutes later, the Griffons owned a ten-point lead, 30-28, before the Peacocks cut into the MWSU lead. Thanks to free throws from
Joey Woods, a three from
Josh Weeber and another three from
Grant Lang, the Peacocks cut it to a two-point game, 33-31. That was as close as they would ge though as MWSU closed the half on a 9-8 run. The Griffons shot 58-percent in the first half and entered the break with a 42-39 lead.
Despite some first half momentum, the Peacocks had another slow start after the intermission. MWSU extended its lead to double-figures after Dareon Jones hit a three with 17 minutes remaining in regulation. Jones' three pushed the Griffon lead to 56-45.
It took UIU until the 12-minute mark to cut the lead back to single digits. The Peacocks bounced back with back-to-back three pointers from Lang who cut it to a seven-point lead, 64-57. Weeber drove to the hoop for a layup before Lang connected on another trey. The Ankeny, Iowa native's third long-ball in less than two minutes pulled UIU within four, 66-62.
Lang added two more free throws at the 7:33 mark to make it just a two-point game. That's when Weeber hit the Peacocks' biggest shot of the game. The freshman connected on a bomb from downtown to give the Peacocks their first lead since the 16:20 mark in the first half, 67-66.
Despite all that momentum, there was still six minutes left in the game and MWSU bounced back quickly and regained its lead. Ryan Devers hit three consecutive free throws and the Peacocks were ice cold again.
MWSU pushed their lead to six points, 73-67, with less than four minutes left in regulation, but UIU still had one last chance. The Peacocks pulled within two points of MWSU with just 40 seconds left after a layup from Woods, but the Peacocks would never retake the lead again.
UIU's defense couldn't hold up as the Griffons consistently attacked the rim and slowly pulled away to earn the 84-79 victory. The loss drops UIU to 2-4 and concludes the Peacocks non-conference schedule.
Stat of the Game
For the first time this season, the Peacocks did not allow a 20-point scorer. Ryan Devers and Cedric Clinkscales led MWSU with 16 points each.
UIU Standouts
Lang (20 points, 5 rebounds), Woods (15 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal), Weeber (15 points, 6 rebounds), Pagel (9 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist).
Sounding Off
Head Coach Brooks McKowen After the Game…
Thoughts on the Game… "It was just another one of those games where we dug ourselves too big of a hole. The biggest thing that upset me was the 46 points we gave up in the paint. We weren't able to contain the basketball tonight defensively and we gave way too many transition buckets. Our guys have to realize that we need to get better as a team to win these types of games on the road."
On UIU's Defense… "We had a couple of mistakes here and there and they were able to get to the hoop. It wasn't so much hustle, it was more communication. I never question our effort, we just get caught out of position every once in a while."
On Grant Lang's Team-High 20 Points… "Grant's been playing very well for us on this trip. I give him a lot of credit – his shot wasn't falling early in the season, but he got in the gym a lot and he's gotten better. Right now, he's playing with a ton of confidence and it looks like every shot that he lets go of is going in. When he was open tonight, he knocked down the shots."
On Weeber's Big Three… "One of our guys drove and kicked it to him on the wing. He knocked it down and it was a big momentum swing. But to their credit, they bounced back with a quick bucket and retook the lead. We had all the momentum at that point and I thought we would have enough to keep the lead for the rest of the game, but it didn't happen. We battled to the end, but it was too little, too late."
This Week's Mindset… "The guys are working and the effort is there, we just have to buy into every possession and defensively we need to just get stops. I believe that we've gotten better after every game, but we have to continue to work and give ourselves a chance to win."
Up Next
With the non-conference schedule under wraps, the Peacocks will now begin conference play in the NSIC this weekend. UIU will host Winona State inside Dorman Gymnasium on Saturday at 6 p.m. following the women's game.
