Box Score There were a lot of questions surrounding the Upper Iowa men’s basketball team coming into Friday night. How would they handle the 15-5 Dragons of MSU Moorhead? How would they slow down Anthony Tucker and Alex Novak who were averaging 20 and 13 points per game, respectively?

Well, the Peacock defense made a statement inside Dorman Gym as they held Tucker and Novak to 7-of-23 combined shooting and UIU claimed a big 71-62 conference victory.

The win gives the Peacocks a 15-6 overall record and a 11-4 mark in the NSIC, while the loss drops MSUM to 15-6 overall and 9-6 in the conference.

“It’s a big win for us,” Head Coach Brian Dolan said. “They’re one of the top-two teams in the North division. They’re a very good basketball team.”

The Peacocks wasted no time going to their post at the start of the game. Tucker Wentzien had six of UIU's 13 points in the opening five minutes as the Peacocks stormed out to a 13-5 lead. Bo Pagel also nailed a three-pointer in that span and broke a 0-for-11 drought from downtown.

“January was a rough month for me,” Pagel admitted. “All week I just focused in on my shot a little more. Finally, tonight I got it going a little bit.  I felt really good after watching that [first] one go in.”

Novak responded for the Dragons with back-to-back buckets to pull the lead to four, 13-9, but Wentzien went right back to work. The 6-foot-8 senior found the bottom of the net on a three-pointer at the 12 minute mark and the Peacocks were back up, 16-11.

Six minutes later, Grant Lang came off the bench and hit a trey from the corner to give UIU a 23-18 lead and keep the Dragons at bay.

“I got in there with a lot of confidence, which is big when you’re shooting the ball – it’s mainly mental,” Lang said. “I went in there and did what I could for the team.”

UIU would hold onto their slim three-point lead as the teams headed into halftime.

Wentzien nearly matched his point total with his ten minutes of action in the first half. The Solon, Iowa native had a team-high nine points on 4-of-7 shooting in the first half. Wentzien contributed to a 4-of-13 shooting performance from beyond the arc for the Peacocks at halftime, as did Lang who was 2-of-4 from deep at the break.

“We made shots tonight,” Dolan said. “We have to make shots when teams sag off of us. I’ll take 7-of-17 from the three-point line every night and if we keep doing that, then we’ll be just fine.”

What was more impressive than the Peacock offense was the Peacocks’ defense which held Tucker to just one point in the first half on 0-for-4 shooting and 1-of-2 shooting from the free-throw line. Tucker did however have four assists in the first stanza, the last of which came with just one second remaining in the first half as Tucker found Novak for a slam to bring the Dragons within three, 32-29, at the break.

Wentzien and the Peacock offense went right back to work in the second half as David Smith drove to the hoop and drained a layup before Wentzien hit a turnaround-jumper to push UIU's lead to seven.

Less than five minutes into the second period, Jake Shonka subbed into the game and nailed a layup almost automatically. The big man nailed two of his five total points at the 15:21 mark and gave the Peacocks their largest lead of the night, 42-33.

The Dragons battled back, though. MSUM pulled within one-point three times late in the second period. Eric Olsen hit a bucket at the rim the first time before Bo Pagel knocked down a trey from downtown to put the Peacocks back up by four, 49-45.

Tyler Vaughan then nailed a three-pointer at the 8:30 mark before Pagel hit another bucket from beyond the arc. In all, Pagel was 3-of-4 from deep and finished with 11 points – his third double-digit game of the season.

Dolan was proud of Pagel and Lang after the game since both have struggled to find their rhythm over the past month.

“They both did a great job and we need that from them, especially moving forward,” Dolan said. “We have to shoot better from the perimeter and consistently from the perimeter. Both of those guys are sophomores and both are going to be mainstays in this program for years to come.”

MSUM wasn’t finished though. Tucker drove to the hoop to connect on just his second bucket of the game and the Peacock lead was back to one, 46-45, with 2:42 left.

“We went into the game thinking he was going to get his 20 [points],” Dolan admitted. “Our goal was to try to get him to take a bunch of shots and I was worried about his field-goal percentage, not his total points at the end of the night. Three-for-thirteen – I can live with that.”

The Peacocks held Tucker without a field goal for nearly 29 minutes of Friday’s game and it showed on the scoreboard. Despite all five Dragon starters scoring in double-figures, MSUM could failed to take the lead in the second half.

UIU drained its free throws late in the game and sealed the big victory at home, 71-62.

“[This win] definitely gives us a lot of confidence moving forward,” Lang said.

While Lang finished with 10 points off the bench, Wentzien led the way for the Peacocks with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting and added five rebounds and two blocks. Despite just 1-of-9 shooting, Sam Elgin - the team’s second leading scorer – made an impact elsewhere. The senior collected eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks in 39 minutes of action.

The Peacocks defense made a statement when they held the third-ranked scoring offense in the NSIC (76.1 ppg) to just 62 points.

The Peacocks will now carry a two-game win streak into Saturday’s battle with Northern State. The Wolves enter Dorman Gym with a 16-6 record, including a 11-4 mark in the conference. NSU has also claimed wins in 12 out of its 13 matchups with the Peacocks over the last eight years. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. Click here to view the preview.