THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK MEN'S BASKETBALL…
The Peacocks (18-8, 15-5 NSIC) will hit the road for the final weekend of the regular season with playoff implications on the line. Upper Iowa heads west for a pair of NSIC South division matchups beginning with the Wayne State Wildcats at Rice Auditorium in Wayne, Neb. on Friday night at 8 p.m. UIU then will square off with the Augustana Vikings at the Sioux Falls Arena in Sioux Falls, S.D. at 6 p.m. Both games will be broadcast via live audio on the Peacock Sports Network.
 

---

 

GAME TWENTY-SEVEN	GAME TWENTY-EIGHT
AT WAYNE STATE	AT AUGUSTANA
RICE AUDITORIUM	SIOUX FALLS CENTER
WAYNE, NEB.	SIOUX FALLS, S.D.
FRIDAY, FEB. 17 || 8 PM	SATURDAY, FEB. 18 || 6 PM

 

---

PEACOCK STORYLINES...

SENIOR WEEKEND DONE RIGHT: The Peacocks picked up a pair of huge South division wins on Senior Weekend in Fayette against Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul. UIU topped MSU in overtime, 83-73, after trailing by 15 with 8:41 to play. Head Coach Brooks McKowen put his five seniors in the game, and they completed the comeback with Jordan Hay connecting on a free throw to send the game to overtime. The Peacocks outscored the Mavericks 37-12 over the final 13 minutes of game time. Upper Iowa then topped CSP, 75-61 to complete the weekend sweep. UIU finished 10-2 at home, their best record in Dorman Gymnasium in their 14-year history as a member of NCAA Division II.

POST-SEASON IMPLICATIONS: Upper Iowa is currently tied for first place in the NSIC South division standings with Southwest Minnesota State with two games to play. UIU has a better division record (10-2) than SMSU, and has two wins over the Mustangs to hold the tie-breaker. However, Saturday's matchup with Augustana could have major implications, as the Vikings sit a game back of both UIU and SMSU entering the weekend. If the three teams would all tie with the same record, Upper Iowa would still hold the tiebreaker to be the number one seed in the 2017 NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament.

FIRST REGION RANKINGS: The Peacocks are ranked seventh in the first edition of the NCAA Division II men's basketball regional rankings. The NSIC had five of the top 10 teams in the central region, with Southwest Minnesota State ranked third, followed by MSU Moorhead in fifth, Augustana in eighth, and Northern State in ninth, in the first of three rankings.

CAREER POINTS WATCH: The Peacocks are already playing with two members of the 1,000-point club in seniors Jimmy Roth and Josh Weeber. Senior Luke Lenhart is currently 29 points away from joining his teammates in the club. Redshirt senior Jordan Hay is close to a milestone himself; the Stanwood, Iowa native is just eight points away from 900 in his career in Peacock blue. Junior Carson Parker is sitting with 833 career points as well.
 

---

THE SERIES…

vs. WSC WILDCATS: The Peacocks hold a slight 12-8 edge in the all-time series, but have dominated lately, picking up seven straight wins and nine of the last ten overall.
 
vs. AU VIKINGS: The Vikings lead the all-time series 15-6 dating back to 1962. Augustana won the first seven meetings, but the series has been much closer (6-5) since 2012. Upper Iowa had dropped each of the last four games in the series before their 95-91 win earlier this season in Fayette when Parker hit a three-pointer with 0.5 seconds remaining to break the tie.
 

---

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS…

vs. WAYNE STATE: The Wildcats (9-17, 7-13) picked up a split over the weekend, dropping a close 85-82 decision to Southwest Minnesota State before topping Sioux Falls 80-68 on the road. Wayne State's seven league wins are the most for the program since the 2012-13 season. WSC's six road wins this year are more than the last three seasons combined (five). The Wildcats are led by Kendall Jacks, who is averaging 15.7 points per game, and averaged 21 PPG last weekend.
 
vs. AUGUSTANA: The Vikings (19-7, 14-6 NSIC) extended its winning streak to four with two big road victories last weekend at Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State. Augie topped USF 80-78, with four players in double-figures. Augustana then hit 16 three-pointers in their 97-79 win over SMSU, with point guard Jordan Spencer scoring a career-best 39 points, earning NSIC South Player of the Week honors. Mike Busack totaled a career-high 27 points against the Cougars on Friday. Augie is led by Spencer (16.7 PPG) and Busack (15.2 PPG) this season.