Game Notes - Upper Iowa || Minnesota Duluth || St. Cloud State || Northern Sun

LIVE OPTION LINKS

Game # 25
Friday || Feb. 14
vs. Minnesota Duluth - Live Stats || Live Video
Northern Sun Conference Game
Fayette, IA || Dorman Gym || 8 p.m.

Game # 26
Saturday || Feb. 15
vs. St. Cloud 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... After four straight games on the road, the Peacocks are back inside Dorman Gym this weekend against a pair of NSIC-North teams. On Friday night, UIU will host the Bulldogs of Minnesota Duluth (10-12, 8-10 NSIC) at 8 p.m. Then on Saturday, the Peacocks will square off with the Huskies of St. Cloud State (16-6, 12-6 NSIC) at 6 p.m.

LEADING THE BULLDOGS... Peter Crawford (16.5 ppg, 52% FG, 4.2 rpg, 2.5 apg, .8 spg), Jordan Reetz (16.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.7 apg), Reece Zoelle (15.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, .6 spg), Junior Coleman (7.1 ppg, 2 rpg, .8 spg)

LEADING THE HUSKIES... Jordan Poydras (15.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.8 apg), Matt Craggs (14.7 ppg, 55% FG, 7.3 rpg, 1.4 apg, .5 bpg), Damarius Cruz (12.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.8 spg), Kevin Levandoski (10.5 ppg, 3 rpg, 3.4 apg, 2.3 spg)

THE SERIES... Upper Iowa will look to extend a four-game win streak this weekend as the Peacocks return to Dorman Gym to face Minnesota Duluth on Friday night. The Peacocks and Bulldogs have met an even eight times since the 2008-09 season. Both teams have four wins in the series, but UIU is just 1-3 against UMD inside Dorman Gym. The Peacocks are however, 5-1 against the NSIC-North this year. On Saturday, the Peacocks and Huskies will meet for the thirteenth time on Saturday night. SCSU was previously 10-0 against UIU before last season. The Peacocks knocked off SCSU twice last year, both wins coming on the road inside Halenbeck Hall. Including Division-III play, SCSU is 13-3 all-time against Upper Iowa since 1951-52.

HAVE YOU SEEN "42" YET?... After being held scoreless for the first time in his career on Jan. 31 at MSU Moorhead, freshman Josh Weeber (#42) has picked up the pace. The Dubuque, Iowa native led the Peacocks in scoring this past weekend with 18 points per game at Wayne State and Augie. He connected on 11-of-20 field goal attempts in those games for a .550 shooting clip.

AREA CODE "FOUR-FOR-ONE"... Redshirt-senior Joey Woods (#1) is currently ranked fourth in the NSIC this year averaging 17.6 points per game. Woods also holds the second spot in the league with 4.8 assists per game, while coming in seventh this year with 1.5 steals per game. The Naples, Florida native averaged 17 points, 5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals at WSC and Augie. On Saturday, Woods netted 14 of his 21 points in the final eight minutes including 9 of the team's final 11 points.

A LITTLE FEBRUARY FUN... The Peacocks are currently 3-0 in the month of February riding a 4-game win streak (all on the road). UIU has defeated its opponents by an average of 10.33 points in the leap-day month. 2014 has also been good to the Peacocks. The team in blue has posted an 8-4 record in the new year, including a 2-0 mark over NSIC-North opponents.

LAST WEEK...
For the Bulldogs... Junior guard Reece Zoelle led the way for UMD all weekend as the Bulldogs got a pair of payback victories in the NSIC North. Zoelle shot 66.7 percent (14-of-21) in Friday's 88-80 win at Northern State, including a nearly perfect 8-of-9 night from three-point range to finish with 42 points. It was the first time a UMD player had reached the 40-point threshold since 2010 and neared the Bulldog single-game record of 47 set in 1994. He followed that up by sparking UMD's offense in a 70-67 road win against MSU-Moorhead, scoring the team's first eight points en route to his second double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds. On the weekend, Zoelle averaged 28.5 points and 8.5 boards while shooting 52.5 percent, and 69.2 from beyond the arc. Senior guard Peter Crawford also had a big weekend, getting much of his production from the charity stripe. Crawford was 24-of-25 on free throws including a 15-for-16 night on Friday against Northern, marking the third time this season that a Bulldog had at least 15 free throws in a single game (Jordan Reetz, 15-of-18 vs. Northern State on Jan. 25 and Crawford, 15-of-17 vs. Sioux Falls on Jan. 10). The UMD single-game record is 17, set, coincidentally, the last time a Bulldog had 40 points by Ryan Rasmussen against St. Cloud State on Feb. 5, 2010. Crawford averaged 23.5 points for the weekend and 7.5 rebounds, adding six assists while shooting an even 50.0 percent for the weekend. Altogether, the Bulldogs shot a very efficient 45.9 percent for the weekend, including 16-of-29 on threes, while holding their opponents to 39.5 percent.

For the Huskies... St. Cloud State earned a weekend road split, losing at MSU Moorhead, 91-88, before rebounding with a 76-58 win at Northern State, keeping the Huskies in a tie for second place in the NSIC North. Jordan Poydras averaged 23.0 points and 4.5 assists in the weekend split. He shot 48.5 percent from the field and made six three-point baskets and went eight-of-nine at the free throw line.  Matt Craggs collected his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds at Northern State. He was one of three Huskies to score 20 or more points at MSU Moorhead, finishing with 20 points. He was 12-of-19 from the field over the two games for a 63.2 percent field goal percentage. Damarius Cruz rained three's on his opponents knocking down five in each of the games. He finished the weekend with 37 points, ten-of-18 from three-point range for 55.6 percent and two assists per game. Cruz played a significant role in the Huskies comeback bid against the Dragons scoring three straight three's and four of SCSU's five three's in a 34-16 run that pulled SCSU within one point of the home team late in the second half. The Huskies finish out a four-game road stretch at Winona State on Friday and Upper Iowa on Saturday. St. Cloud State is 90-42 all-time against Winona State since the 1922-23 season. The Huskies are 2-8 over the last ten games with the Warriors and won the only meeting last year, 79-78. St.  Cloud is 13-3 all-time against Upper Iowa since 1951-52 and have lost two straight to the Peacocks.

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.