Game Notes - Upper Iowa || Concordia || Minnesota State || Northern Sun

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Game # 19
Friday || Jan. 24
vs. Concordia, St. Paul  - Live Stats || Live Video
Northern Sun Conference Game
Fayette, IA || Dorman Gym || 8 p.m.

Game # 20
Saturday || Jan. 25
vs. Minnesota State - Live Stats || Live Video
Northern Sun Conference Game
Fayette, IA || Dorman Gym || 6 p.m.

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THIS WEEKEND IN MEN'S BASKETBALL... The Peacocks are back home for the last time in January this Friday and Saturday night. UIU hosts the Golden Bears of Concordia (4-12, 1-11 NSIC) on Friday at 8 p.m. Then on Saturday, the Peacocks will battle it out with the fourteenth-ranked Mavericks of Minnesota State (16-3, 10-2) in a 6 p.m. tip-off.
 
LEADING THE GOLDEN BEARS... Terez VanPelt (19.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.1 apg), Cole Olstad (12.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1 spg), Travon Mitchell (12.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg), Cordell Smith (9.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.5 apg), Kieth Crockett (7.9 ppg, 4 rpg)
 
LEADING THE MAVERICKS... Assem Marei (15.3 ppg, 60 FG%, 8.1 rpg, 1.3 bpg), Zach Monaghan (13.5 ppg, 7.9 apg, 1.9 spg), Gage Wooten (13.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg), Connor O'Brien (11.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.6 bpg), Tanner Adler (11.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg)

THE SERIES...  The Peacocks trail the Golden Bears in their series, 12-8. UIU has earned back-to-back wins against CU on the road, but they are just 2-7 against the Golden Bears in Fayette. The last time UIU defeated Concordia at Dorman Gym was Feb. 27, 2010 by a score of 80-77. Meanwhile, the Mavericks hold a commanding 14-1 lead in their series with the Peacocks. That lone victory came in 2012 in Mankato as Jake Hughes hit a last-second layup to propel UIU to a 61-60 victory. Cognizant of that, MSU dominated UIU at home this season, 95-56.
 
NOT OUT OF THE "WOODS" YET... Redshirt-senior Joey Woods led the Peacocks in scoring and passing this past weekend averaging 14.5 points and 5 assists per game as the Peacocks earned a split on the road. Woods has made 94 of 188 attempts from the field this season for a 50-percent clip.
 
ULYSSES S. "GRANT"... #Grant Lang# led UIU with 17 points against SMSU hitting 6 of his 10 attempts and adding three steals. The junior wing ranks 20th in the league in scoring (12. 5 ppg), 12th in steals (1.3 spg), ninth in three-point percentage (.454) and third in treys made this year (44).
 
"WEEB" KNOW IT WHEN WE SEE IT... Josh Weeber hit a season-high six three-pointers last Friday at USF. He led UIU in scoring with 19 points and bumped his average up to 13.1 ppg - good for 17th in the NSIC. Weeber  
SOUTHWEST STUNNER... Saturday's victory over SMSU was just the third win for UIU in 18 matchups against the Mustangs dating back to the 1979-80 season. Before that win, the Peacocks were 0-8 in Marshall, Minnesota and 0-6 in their previous six meetings with SMSU. UIU drained 57-percent of its three-point attempts in that game against the Mustangs adding to an impressive weekend. As a unit, the Peacocks drilled 21-of-41 treys in their two-game road trip.

LAST WEEK...
For the Golden Bears... Concordia's starting point guard and the No. 1 scorer in the NSIC, Terez VanPelt topped 1,000 career points en route to averaging 27.0 points per game last weekend. After becoming the 16th member of Concordia's 1,000 point club early in the game on Friday against Wayne State, he finished the night tying his career-high of 28 points, adding four assists, three rebounds, two steals and no turnovers while shooting 9-16 from the floor and 9-10 at the line. He added 26 points on Saturday against Augustana, shooting 9-15 from the field, hitting a season-high four three-pointers (4-7) and 4-5 at the line. For the weekend he shot 58.1% (18-31) from the floor, 50.0% (5-10) from three and 86.7% (13-15) from the line. He's topped 20-plus points four straight games and eight times in 12 NSIC contests. On the year, he averages 19.7 points but in NSIC games he leads the league with 20.8 points per game. Despite his outstanding play, the Golden Bears dropped both of their weekend matchups.

For the Mavericks... The Mavericks swept the regular season series against both Augustana (84-77) and Wayne State (76-57). With its two wins this past weekend, MSU improved to 16-3 on the season, including a 10-2 mark in NSIC play. As a team, MSU averaged 80 points and 40 rebounds per game this past weekend, as it shot 49.6% from the field. Four Mavericks averaged at least 10 points per game this past weekend, including seniors Connor O'Brien and Gage Wooten, who averaged 14 points per game each. Junior Zach Monaghan passed out 22 assists this past weekend and has now tallied at least 10 assists in the last five games.

ON DEMAND... If you can't make it to Fayette this weekend, then catch all of the action live from the comfort of your home. Click here for Live Stats or Live Video, both free of charge on demand.