Game Notes - Upper Iowa || Winona State || Northern Sun

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Game # 12
Saturday || Dec. 21
at Winona State -  Live Stats || Live Video || Live WSU Audio || Tickets
Northern Sun Conference Game
Winona, Minnesota || 4 p.m.
 

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THIS WEEKEND IN MEN'S BASKETBALL... Following another weekend split, the Upper Iowa Peacocks will look for a little payback. UIU will head north to Winona, Minnesota to take on one of the hottest teams in the NSIC - the Warriors of Winona State (9-2, 5-0 NSIC). WSU stole a 7-point decision in Fayette early this year despite a 42-26 Peacock comeback in the final 14 minutes of regulation.
 
THE SERIES... The Warriors and the Peacocks have squared off 18 times over the past eight years with WSU owning a 16-2 record in the series. The Peacocks have however, taken two of the last six meetings between the teams partly thanks to last year's thrilling buzzer-beater on Dec. 1, 2012 in Winona, Minnesota. In that game, UIU battled back from a 12-point deficit in the final five minutes of regulation to steal the victory on the road. 64-63. WSU has since taken the last two matchups, both of which were in Fayette (1-15-13: 68-53 and 11-30-13: 93-86).
 
LEADING THE WARRIORS... Taylor Cameron (13.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.8 apg) || Riley Bambenek (11.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.1 spg) || Mark Blacklock (9.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.0 apg) || Kellen Taylor (7.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg) || Isaiah Gray (7.1 ppg)
 
FINAL GAME OF 2013... Saturday's matchup with the Warriors is the last game of the 2013 year for the Peacocks. UIU will play 16 regular season games in 2014 including eight games inside Dorman Gym.
 
REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD... Ankeny, Iowa native Grant Lang got a little revenge against his former team last Saturday night. The junior hit the game's biggest three-pointer with 1:20 to play to give his team a commanding five-point lead. The trifecta from the left wing stifled the Cougar's massive comeback and sealed the win for UIU.
 
PEACOCKS HOLD OFF COUGAR CHARGE... USF trailed the Peacocks, 65-43, at the 15:13 mark of the second half last Saturday night, but the UIU lead didn't hold. The Cougars used a 31-9 run over a 13 minute span to tie the game at 74. Robert Goffney's straight-away three put USF in front 79-78, but the Peacocks quickly regained the lead thanks to a pair of free throws from Grant Lang.  Jordan Hay followed that up with a put-back in the paint before Lang struck again, this time from deep. The junior struck a dagger in the Cougars' hearts with a three to put UIU up by five with 1:20 left in regulation. A parade of free throws from the Peacocks sealed the victory, 96-87. Jordan Stotts led all scorers with a career-high 34 points, scoring 32 of them after the break. The sophomore forward finished 11-for-14 from the floor, 4-for-6 from deep and went 8-for-11 at the stripe.
 
AVERAGE "JOEYS" GYM... Redshirt-senior Joey Woods is averaging a team-high 16.2 points, 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Against USF, Woods had 19 points, 7 assists and a career-high 5 steals marking the third time this year he's dished out 7 assists in a game. Furthermore, the Golden Gate High School product has shot at or over 50-percent from the floor six times this season and in five of those games he's added at least four assists.
 
FABULOUS FOUR... Four Peacocks are averaging double-digits this year including Woods (16.2), Lang (12.5), and freshmen Josh Weeber (12.90 and Jimmy Roth (10.6). Combined, that's 62-percent of the offensive production.
 
ON DEMAND... If you can't make it to Winona this weekend, then catch all of the action live from the comfort of your home. There will be free of charge live stats and live video links provided by Winona State Athletics.