Box Score
Records
Upper Iowa (16-13) || Minnesota Duluth (12-15)
Recap
Everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong for the Upper Iowa men's basketball team in the first half of Wednesday night's matchup with Minnesota Duluth. In the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament, the Bulldogs jumped all over UIU before halftime taking a 22-point lead at one point.
Yet, the Peacocks never quit. UIU scored 59 points and shot 66-percent in the second half en route to an 86-81 victory. After not hitting a single three in the first half, UIU hit seven triples and attacked the paint scoring 30 points in the lane as the 2013-14 season continues next weekend in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
With the victory, the Peacocks will take on the No. 1 seed in the NSIC-North division, MSU Moorhead on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Much like he has all season,
Joey Woods led UIU in scoring with 22 points, while
Jimmy Roth was right on his heels with a career-high 21. It was Roth's play in the final ten minutes that decided the outcome of Wednesday's game.
Down by 14 points with 16:36 to play in the game,
Jordan Hay began an improbable comeback for the home team. Hay converted a three-point play to pull UIU within eleven, 51-40, before UMD answered with an 8-2 run.
UIU then struck blood from the perimeter on back-to-back plays as
Luke Lenhart and
Bo Pagel got on the board, each hitting a trifecta from the right wing. The run continued a minute later after a Bulldog layup thanks to a jumper from
David Smith. Woods added back-to-back buckets as UIU cut the visitor's lead to single digits.
UMD's Jordan Reetz answered with a pair of free throws before Woods went back to work. The redshirt-senior connected on back-to-back field goals, pushing his point total past the 20-point plateau and pushing UIU within five. Woods was fouled on the second of two buckets, which in turn led to another layup, this one coming from Lang.
With just a three-point lead now, 63-60, UMD went back to their leading scorer, Reece Zoelle, who also broke the 20-point mark with a layup and a freebie from the charity stripe. Roth and Lang answered right back as the Peacocks would not be denied the win on their home court. The duo combined for five straight points with Lang hitting his first three of the game.
The Bulldogs added three points on their end before Pagel drove to the hoop and scored off the glass. Zoelle added another layup before Hanna converted a three-point play the old-fashioned way. Hanna's bucket kick-started a run which gave the home team its first lead since the 18:24 mark of the first half, but Roth was a big reason the Peacocks took the lead.
The freshman's bucket at the 4:12 mark tied the game at 72-all, just moments before his triple from the left wing pushed his team out in front. Another trifecta from Roth on the next possession put UIU up 78-73 with 2:59 to play. A minute later, Roth added another layup, but UMD wasn't done just yet.
The Bulldogs hit five straight points including two from the line to tie the game at 80-80. Again, Roth had an answer. The Linn-Mar High School product wanted to give the ball to Woods to get into an offensive set, but the Bulldog defense swarmed him. Instead, Roth took the ball to the hole himself using a spin to get free and earning the layup despite some contact.
Junior Coleman added a free throw for UMD before UIU came right back with two free throws from Woods. With an 84-81 lead, the Peacocks turned to their defense to seal the win. They pulled through. The Bulldogs turned the ball over, ultimately sealing their fate.
The Peacocks wrapped up the win as Ogbonna hit a layup on a fast break with five seconds to play clinching the 86-81 victory at home and advancing to the next round of the tournament.
Depite doubling-up the Peacocks through the first 11 minutes, UMD couldn't hold onto the lead. The Bulldogs opened the game shooting 70-percent from the floor, but hit just 47-percent of their shots in the second half. The Peacocks outscored their guests, 59-39 in the second half, including 30-10 in the paint. A large part of the credit goes to the ruckus crowd dressed in black. The seismic shift that propelled the Peacocks to victory began with a cheer by a rowdy home crowd and ended with the fans storming the court and hugging the players.
Stat of the Game
Upper Iowa trailed by 22 points with 7:20 left in the first half, 38-16, but the Peacocks scored 59 points in the second half to seal the win.
UIU never turned the ball over in the second half, as the Peacocks outscored UMD 13-0 in points off turnovers in the second stanza.
UIU Leaders
Woods (22 points, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 rebound), Roth (21 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal), Hanna (8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists), Lang (7 points, 1 rebound), Hay (7 points, 1 rebound).
Sounding Off
Head Coach Brooks McKowen after the game...
Overall thoughts... "It wasn't easy by any means, but our team found a way to win tonight. I give Duluth a lot of credit. They came out firing like they had nothing to lose. They've been playing like that for the last three to four weeks and they've been on a bit of a roll. We pulled it out though and we'll take the win any way we can get it."
Thoughts on the first half... "We got stops at the end of the half and that really turned it around for us. We held UMD to one point in the last five minutes of the first half - if we don't do that, then it could have been a completely different outcome. I told them at halftime, 'You guys had a horrible first half - maybe the worst 15 minutes of basketball we've played all year long, but you still have a chance in this game. You're not going to get it back on one shot or one play. Just get stops and be patient offensively.' Our offense has been good all year and we know we can score in bunches."
Individual performers... "Joey Woods fought through some adversity tonight. They tried to take him away all night and they succeeded early on. But he continued to battle and attack their defense. He got to the rim for us late and he added seven assists, so I am proud of him tonight. Then there's Jimmy. For a freshman to step up like that is
big. It's like I have said all year, 'You never know who's going to step up for this offense and this team.' Tonight it was Jimmy - he was able to drive to the hoop and hit some big shots for us. That takes guts."
Thoughts on the second half... "We knew that we couldn't make a 20-0 run on a good team like this. They continued to answer our offense with scoring of their own, but we just tried to make an even bigger run on our next series. The key was that we played solid defense for the majority of the second half. We got after them and the crowd really fed our itensity on defense. We made everything difficult for them on our end then we were aggressive on their end."
Up Next
The Peacocks will head to Sioux Falls as the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament continues this Saturday. UIU will take on the top seed in the North, the Dragons of MSU Moorhead at 2:30 p.m. in the Pentagon.
