Box Score LIVE OPTIONS
LIVE STATS: MINNESOTA CROOKSTON || BEMIDJI STATE
LIVE WEBCAST: MINNESOTA CROOKSTON || BEMIDJI STATE
WEEKLY RELEASES
UPPER IOWA || MINNESOTA CROOKSTON || BEMIDJI STATE || NORTHERN SUN || NSICSCORES.COM
THIS WEEKEND IN MEN'S BASKETBALL The Peacocks (11-12, 7-7 NSIC) hit the road and head north to play NSIC North Division opponents Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State. UIU split both of the cross-division weekends so far this season, defeating Northern State and falling to MSU-Moorhead, then beating U-Mary while losing to Minot State. The Peacocks play at Minnesota Crookston on Friday night at 8 p.m., followed a battle with Bemidji State on Saturday evening at 6 p.m.
NOTES FROM LAST WEEKEND Upper Iowa prevailed in overtime against the Wayne State Wildcats, 95-89, on Friday night in Dorman Gymnasium. Then on Saturday, UIU had the #2 Augustana Vikings on the ropes late, but came up just short in a 96-87 loss in Dorman Gym on Saturday night. Upper Iowa trailed by as many at 15, but had several chances throughout the game to tie or take the lead late and couldn't quite complete the comeback.
KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER 1 A CENTURY IN THE MAKING: Upper Iowa enters its 100th year of men's basketball with the start of the 2015-16 season and third year under the tutelage of
Brooks McKowen. The Fairbank, Iowa native was named the 18th head coach in Peacock men's basketball history prior to the 2013-14 season and holds a 44-39 record at UIU.
2 HUGHES THE BOSS: Jernell Hughes had the best week of his two-year Peacock career in his games against Wayne State and Augustana. The senior set a career-high with 25 points against Wayne State, including 14 second half points and another seven in overtime to lead UIU to a 95-89 victory. Then in a 96-87 loss to #2 Augustana on Saturday, the Immokalee, Florida native re-set his career-high with 32, becoming the first Peacock since last February to score 30 points in a game..
3 KNOCKING DOWN THE FREEBIES: Since the turn of the new year, Upper Iowa has had a dramatic increase in their free throw shooting percentage. UIU is 78.6% from the free throw line in 2016, while before January the Peacocks shot just 69.6% from the charity stripe.
4 NEW YEAR, NEW WEEBER: Junior
Josh Weeber has stepped up his game at home in 2016, averaging 15.5 points per game and has shot 50% (15-30) from 3-point range.
THE SERIES vs MINNESOTA CROOKSTON: (12-3) - The Peacocks have won 10 of the last 11 meetings with the Golden Eagles, including a 63-55 win in Dorman Gym last year.
vs BEMIDJI STATE: (6-11) - The Beavers have gotten the better of UIU in the last several years as BSU has won five of the last six meetings.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT MINNESOTA CROOKSTON: The Golden Eagles (3-15, 1-13 NSIC) lost both games last weekend, starting with a loss to MSU Moorhead 106-79 and forced overtime against Northern State but fell 84-80. Sophomore guard CJ Polk averaged 21.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists on the weekend and tied a career-high with 29 points against NSU. Polk's 12.9 points per game leads a trio of players in averaging double figures, along with Derrick Redd, Jr. (12.9) and Kobe Critchley (10.2).
BEMIDJI STATE: The Beavers (9-9, 6-8 NSIC) earned a last-second win versus Northern State last Friday, 90-89, before falling to #7 MSU Moorhead, 81-68, on Saturday. BSU earned their second last-second win in three games on a 3-pointer versus the Wolves. Senior guard DJ Anderson recorded his first career double-double while averaging 14 points, 9.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game over the weekend. Sophomore forward Jordan Rhodes averaged 14 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in his last two.
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