Box Score Records
Upper Iowa (5-13, 4-10) || Minnesota State (13-5, 10-5 NSIC)
Recap
After being upended by the Golden Bears last night, the Upper Iowa men's basketball team knew they had a tall task at hand if they were going to upset the fourteenth-ranked Mavericks of Minnesota State. MSU entered Saturday night's battle having just lost to Winona State and they played as if they had a chip on their shoulder.
The Mavericks hit 58-percent of their shots en route to a 95-78 victory over UIU inside Dorman Gym.
Joey Woods led the Peacocks in scoring with 21 points and added five assists, while
Bo Pagel came off the bench and chipped in 16 points, hitting four of his six triples. Despite Pagel's hot hand from beyond the arc, the Peacocks managed just one other three in the game going 5-of-18 from long range.
MSU, on the other hand, hit seven of its 16 trifectas including a perfect 3-for-3 clip from Gage Wooten, who had a game-high 25 points. In fact, the Peacocks could do little to slow Wooten down. He finished 10-of-12 from the floor and nearly earned a double-double, collecting 9 rebounds.
Wooten hit his first three two minutes into the game to give MSU a 7-0 lead. Yet the early hole didn't slow the Peacocks down as UIU bounced right back to tie the game at 11-11 five and a half minutes in.
Josh Weeber put UIU on the board first, but Pagel's presence on the court provided an instant offensive spark. The junior guard hit two buckets to pull the home team even.
The Peacocks then took their first lead of the game, 13-11, as
David Smith drove to the hoop and converted a layup. It didn't last very long though as MSU responded with back-to-back buckets. Woods answered with two of his own as his fifth and sixth points of the game gave UIU a 17-15 lead with 10:42 left in the opening period.
MSU tied the game 32 seconds later with another bucket from Wooten and the Mavericks never looked back. Assem Marei – MSU's 6-foot-9 post – pushed the visitors lead to four points, 21-17, after four straight free throws and the Mavericks never trailed again.
Woods added another layup and Weeber sandwiched a Marei bucket with a three, but MSU was just getting started. The Mavericks used the next four and a half minutes to go on a 15-5 run with Upper Iowa's points coming off two free throws and a three from Pagel.
Now down, 38-27, with 3:20 left in the first half, the Peacocks went back to Woods, who had a team-high 12 points at the break. The redshirt-senior hit back-to-back buckets for UIU, but MSU used another run to close out the period. Again it was Wooten, who had 18 points in the first 20 minutes. He scored the final six points of the opening half to give the visitors a 46-31 lead at the break.
The Mavericks were shooting 52-percent as a team at that point and Wooten was 7-of-9 from the floor, but he didn't miss another shot for the rest of the night.
Wooten hit a three to begin the second half and MSU was right back on the gas pedal.
Jace Hanna earned a trip to the charity stripe and put UIU on the board in the second half with two freebies before Marei answered with back-to-back buckets.
UIU started to inch its way back into the game thanks to an 11-7 run that spanned nearly four minutes, but MSU still had the momentum. After a
David Smith three-point play, Wooten capped a 7-3 run for the Mavericks to put the visitors out in front by 20, 67-47, with 13:02 left in regulation.
That's when UIU made its final push at a comeback. UIU outscored MSU 24-16 over the next 10 minutes, but the Peacocks never pulled within single digits.
MSU hit its final five free throw attempts to earn the 95-78 victory inside Dorman Gym.
Stat of the Game
In their last five games, the Peacocks have allowed one player from the opposing squad to record at least seven field goals in a night. Tonight, Gage Wooten was 10-of-12 from the floor for a game-high 25 points.
UIU Standouts
Woods (21 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block), Pagel (16 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block), Weeber (10 points, 2 rebounds),
Jimmy Roth (6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block)
Sounding Off
Head Coach Brooks McKowen After the Game…
Overall Thoughts… "I'm proud of the way our guys battled tonight. Other than the one stretch in the first half when they took a four-point lead to a 15-point lead, we hung with them. When you play good teams, you can't have a stretch where you turn the ball over three or four times in a row. They will take advantage of it and they'll capitalize on it. But like I said, 'I'm extremely proud of the way our guys battled.'"
On the Low Shooting Percentage Over the Weekend… "That's just the way basketball is. You're going to have those nights when you feel like a lid is covering the hoop. It's nothing to do with what our guys did. We just couldn't buy a basket. We made both of those games close because we defended and never gave up."
On Bo Pagel's Performance… "He had a great weekend. Top to bottom, he did what we needed him to do. He shot the ball at a high rate and he scored when we needed him to, but I was the most pleased with his defensive effort. He defended really well and he was aggressive on the glass. He also got a couple of timely offensive boards. He said in practice that, 'he found his niche.' When he goes up strong on the offensive glass, he comes down with the ball more times than not. He's strong, athletic kid and I hope he keeps this rhythm going."
On the Week Ahead… "It doesn't' get any easier for us and it gets colder. We have Moorhead and Northern on the horizon and those are two quality teams. We have to put in a good week of practice and try to steal a couple of wins up north."
Up Next
The Peacocks will face two NSIC-North opponents this next weekend as the Peacocks face MSU Moorhead and Northern State. Friday night's battle with the Dragons will begin at 8 p.m.
