Upper Iowa set out to upset the #11 Minnesota State Mavericks but came up just short on Friday night, falling to the Mavericks 89-78. A #Josh Weeber three pointer put the Peacocks up 65-64 with 10:13 remaining in the game but then went ice cold. Over the next eight possessions, the Peacocks went 0-for-2 from the floor, 1-of-6 from the free throw line and had four turnovers. During that time, the Mavericks were 6-of-11 from the floor and went from down 1 to up 11.
In an exciting back and forth first half that saw three dunks and an even more spectcular missed dunk, the Peacocks took a 43-41 lead into the halftime break. Both teams shot 50-percent from the field in the first half, with UIU shooting 7-of-12 from three and MSU shooting 13-of-19 inside the arc. The Mavericks high shooting percentage can be attributed to great passes from senior guard Zach Monaghan and easy buckets inside by senior forward Aseem Marei. Monaghan led all players with 8 assists in the first half, while Marei was 6-of-8 from the field for 12 points. UIU had five players connect from three point range.
The Mavericks came out in the second half with 9-2 run to take the early lead. Upper Iowa came back with a 5-0 run of their own to tie the game at 50-50 with 16:37 left in the game. Neither team would take more than a three-point lead and a total of five ties until MSU took a four point, 70-66 lead with eight minutes left. The Mavericks used a 9-0 to stretch that lead to 11, 77-66, before the Peacocks were able to stop their four-plus minute stretch without a field goal. The Peacocks got back within 6 points with plenty of time left on the clock, but couldn't break through the Maverick defense.
Minnesota State senior Connor Miller scored a career-high 30 points, with 22 coming in the second half, to lead all scorers. Monaghan finished with 12 points and 12 assists, while Marei finished with 18.
The Peacocks had four in double figures, lead by Weeber's 14 on 4-of-8 shooting from three point range.
Bo Pagel and
Jace Hanna had 13 each and
Grant Lang finished with 10 points, despite being held scoreless in the second half. Hanna led all Peacocks with four assists and
Carson Parker had a career-high seven rebounds.
UIU will look to rebound when they return to Dorman Gymnasium against Concordia on Saturday. The game will tip off at approximately 6:00 p.m. and can be seen live on KCRG 9.2.
