THIS WEEKEND IN MEN'S BASKETBALLÂ The Peacocks (15-16, 11-11 NSIC) will be a host site the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament for the fourth consecutive year as the #4 Peacocks welcome the #5 Huskies of St. Cloud State to Dorman Gym on Wednesday, Feb. 24 for a 7 p.m. tip. The winner will face the winner of the #1/#8 matchup of MSU Moorhead and Wayne State on Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
NOTES FROM LAST WEEKENDÂ On Friday night, a late run gave the Augustana Vikings a nine-point halftime lead and the home team took advantage of ten offensive rebounds in the to outscore the Peacocks 20-5 in second chance points on the way to a 98-77 win. On Saturday, UIU picked up its biggest win of the season, defeating the Wayne State Wildcats 89-77 on Saturday night in Wayne, Neb. With the victory, the Peacocks secured the No. 4-seed in the Northern Sun Conference South Division. Junior
Luke Lenhart scored a career-high 30 points and pulled down a team-high six rebounds in the victory. Lenhart scored 23 of his 30 in the first half and shot 9-of-14 from the floor, 6-of-10 from beyond the arc and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.
KEY NOTES TO CONSIDERÂ
1 Â Â Â 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 48-43 record at UIU.
2 Â Â Â 1,000 POINT CLUB WATCH: The race for a couple of Peacock juniors to reach 1,000 career points is heating up as the end of the season nears.
Jimmy Roth is  just 17 points away from 1,000, while
Josh Weeber is only 23 points away.
3 Â Â Â TOURNAMENT TIME: For the fourth consecutive year, Upper Iowa is a host site for the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament. The Peacocks have won each of the last three years, defeating Minot State 86-72 in 2013, Minnesota Duluth 86-81 in 2014, and Minot State again 97-85 in 2015.
4 Â Â Â THE FIRST TIME AROUND: On Feb. 6,
Upper Iowa exploded for 62 second half points on their way to a 104-85 win over the St. Cloud State Huskies. UIU had eight different players knock down a 3-pointer in the game and hit 16 trifectas as a team. The victory also marked the first time that the Peacocks had hit the century mark in Dorman Gym this season.
THE SERIESÂ
vs ST. CLOUD STATE: (4-14) - The Peacocks have taken three of the last five from SCSU, including a 104-85 win in Dorman Gym earlier this year.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTÂ
ST. CLOUD STATE: (13-15, 10-12 NSIC) - St. Cloud State comes off a 1-1 weekend on the road, falling to Minot State 97-89, but defeated U-Mary in Bismarck, N.D., 80-73. Overall, the Huskies are 2-5 in their last seven games. The Huskies are led by a pair of guards, senior Scottie Stone and redshirt freshman Gage Davis, who average over 19 points per game each. As a team, SCSU is third in the conference in scoring at 84.1 points per game.Â
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