GAME TWENTY-SEVEN
VS #2 AUGUSTANA
DORMAN GYMNASIUM
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2015 || 8:00 PM 
LIVE STATS || LIVE VIDEO 

GAME TWENTY-EIGHT
VS WAYNE STATE
DORMAN GYMNASIUM
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2015 || 6:00 PM
LIVE STATS || LIVE VIDEO
WEEKLY NOTES

UPPER IOWA || AUGUSTANA || WAYNE STATE || NORTHERN SUN 
THIS WEEKEND IN MEN'S BASKETBALL
 
The Peacocks (15-11, 11-9 NSIC) wrap up the 2014-15 regular season this weekend with a pair of home games against Augustana and Wayne State. The Vikings are ranked #2 in the country with a 25-1 record this season with a 19-1 mark in conference. The Wildcats check in at 7-19 overall and 4-16 in NSIC play.

KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER
 
1     REBOUNDING FROM A LOSS: The Peacocks squeaked out a 86-84 victory against Concordia-St. Paul last Friday to avoid losing back-to-back games, which they have done just once all year. In the game after a loss, UIU is now 9-1, including wins over Sioux Falls, Concordia-St. Paul, Winona State and Wayne State by more than 10 points. 

2     BOOST OFF THE BENCH: Upper Iowa ranks third in the NSIC in scoring at 82.9 points, with over 40% of those points coming from off the bench. The Peacocks outscored their opponents this weekend 86-38 in bench scoring, including a +38 scoring difference in their 86-84 win over Concordia-St. Paul. This weekend helped stretch the Peacocks bench scoring margin for the season to nearly 300 points, 940-655, averaging 36.2 bench points per game compared to 25.2 for their opponents.
 
3     CELEBRATING SENIORS: UIU will celebrate the ending of the collegiate playing careers of Bo Pagel and Grant Lang this Saturday evening against Wayne State. The duo has played in a combined 197 games and made 117 combined starts. They have scored over 1,600 points, grabbed more than 500 rebounds, dished out more than 260 assists and snagged nearly 150 steals. Over the last four years, these two have been a part of 61 wins and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2013.   

4     IT'S A SLAM DUNK, DON'T DRIVE DRUNK: The NSIC is proud to partner with the TEAM Coalition for the third annual "It's A Slam Dunk, Don't Drive Drunk" campaign. Started in 2013, the campaign commemorates Drake Bigler, the five month old son of Southwest Minnesota State University's Men's Basketball Coach Brad Bigler, who was killed by a drunk driver. During designated basketball weekends, NSIC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) members will be collecting signatures from fans pledging not to drive drunk.  Pledge stickers and window decals will be handed out to fans that pledge to join in this initiative. The institution which collects the most pledges and the institution with the greatest percentage of pledges based on total attendance will each receive a check for $500 that will be donated to Make-A-Wish. Over the past two years, NSIC SAAC members have collected over 20,000 signatures from fans pledging not to drive drunk. The NSIC encourages fans to support this effort and to always drive responsibly.

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THE SERIES...

VS AUGUSTANA: (5-12) - The Vikings beat the Peacocks earlier this season in Sioux Falls, S.D. to take control of the series record in the Northern Sun Conference play at 6-5. The Peacocks have won the last three of the last four games against Augustana in Dorman Gym, including a 104-100 overtime thriller last season.

VS WAYNE STATE: (8-8) - UIU tied up the all-time series against the Wildcats with a win in Wayne, Neb. earlier this season. The Peacocks have now beaten Wayne State in six of the last seven games and are looking for their second straight season sweep of the Wildcats.

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ABOUT THE OPPONENTS... 

AUGUSTANA: The #2 Vikings are 25-1 overall this season and 19-1 in the NSIC. Augustana beat the Peacocks back on Jan. 24 as part of their current 18 game winning streak. The Vikings have four players who average scoring in double figures, led by NSIC scoring leader junior Daniel Jansen (20.5 points per game). Juniors Casey Schilling (18.5 ppg) and Alex Ritcher (15.6 ppg) also rank in the top 10 in the NSIC for scoring. Redshirt freshman Jordan Spencer wraps up the top scorers for Augustana at 11.0 points per game. Augustana is tops in the conference in scoring at 88.1 points per game and is fifth in defense, allowing just 69.5 points per game.

WAYNE STATE: The Wildcats are 7-19 and 4-16 in conference this year. When Upper Iowa defeated Wayne State on Jan. 23, the Wildcats had falled to 3-16 on the season. Since that point, WSC has gone 4-3, including a weekend sweep of Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State in Wayne, Neb. last weekend. Senior Patrick Kurth leads the Wildcats in scoring (12.6 points per game), rebounding (5.5 per game) and blocks (27). Freshman Trae Vandeburg is the only other Wildcat averaging double digits in scoring at 10.7 points per game.