THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK MEN'S BASKETBALL…
The Peacocks (22-10, 16-6 NSIC) will head to Maryville, Mo. for the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on Saturday, Mar. 11 at the Bearcat Arena. Upper Iowa finished as the #8 seed in the Central Region and will play the #1 seed and region hosts Northwest Missouri State Bearcats in the third of four first-round matchups. UIU finished as one of five at-large teams in the region, and will make its second-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday evening, and the game will be available via an online audio broadcast on the
Peacock Sports Network.
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| GAME THIRTY-THREE |
| #1 NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE |
| BEARCAT ARENA |
| MARYVILLE, MO. |
| SATURDAY, MAR. 11 || 6 PM |
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PEACOCK STORYLINES...
TITLE GAME RUN: The Peacocks made a run all the way to the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament Championship Game in Sioux Falls, S.D. last week. Upper Iowa put together a dominant performance over the #3 St. Cloud State Huskies, 81-61, to advance to the semifinal round. UIU then made a late 17-4 run to close out the #4 Minnesota State Mavericks, 63-55, to clinch a berth in their first-ever NSIC Tournament title game. The Peacocks struggled on offense against the region's second-ranked SMSU Mustangs, dropping 71-58 in the championship game to end the run at the Sanford Pentagon.
Jordan Hay,
Carson Parker, and
Luke Lenhart all made history, each being named to the All-Tournament Team, the first Peacocks ever to be named to the NSIC All-Tournament squad.
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SECOND TRIP: Upper Iowa is making its second trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament, and its first since the 2012-13 campaign. The Peacocks earned a #6 seed that season, falling to #3 Augustana in the first round. This season, Upper Iowa broke the program record at the Division II level with 22 wins, and finishes as the #8 seed.
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VIP STATUS AT THE CLUB: The current Peacock roster has VIP status to the 1,000-point club in men's basketball history.
Jimmy Roth and
Josh Weeber each joined the exclusive club at the end of the 2015-16 season, and Lenhart recently joined the party as well. Lenhart needed just 18 points heading into the conference tournament, and during the quarterfinal game against St. Cloud State, hit a three-pointer to become the 25th member of the club. Hay is looking to be the fourth member on the active roster to enter; the Stanwood, Iowa product is just 16 points shy of 1,000 in his career.
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CAREER POINTS WATCH: Roth ranks 8th in program history with 1,404 career points, while Weeber is currently 13th all-time with 1,288 points in the record books. Hay has totaled 984 career points, while Parker, in just his junior season, recently crossed the 900-point mark, and has tallied 913 in his career.
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DOMINANT FORCE: Opposing defenses are having issues with Hay right now inside. The Peacock forward has now scored in double-figures in five straight games, including all four conference tournament affairs. The redshirt senior tallied 16 points and 15 rebounds in the championship game against SMSU, and totaled 20 points in the quarterfinal matchup with SCSU. Hay became the first Peacock since Ernest Addae in 2006 to record 15 or more rebounds in a game.
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ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS: The Northern Sun Conference handed out their awards at the end of the season and Parker and Hay were honored by the league. Hay was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-NSIC Second Team, while Parker was named to the All-NSIC First Team following the regular season as well. Hay is the first Peacock ever to earn NSIC Defensive Player of the Year, while Parker is the first player to earn first-team honors since Joey Woods in the 2013-14 season.
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THE SERIES…
The Peacocks are playing the Bearcats for the sixth consecutive season, and are looking for their second-ever win over NMSU. UIU trails the series 7-1, with the first game dating back to the 1940-41 season. Upper Iowa upset #14 NMSU in Oct. 2015, 76-72, but fell this season to the then-#6 Bearcats, 87-52, in the season opener.
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ABOUT NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE…
The Bearcats (29-1, 18-1 MIAA) secured the MIAA's automatic bid and the NCAA Central Region's top seed in the tournament, and is making its 17th appearance all-time and the fifth appearance under head coach Ben McCollum (6-4 overall). McCollum, who is in his eighth season, was named the MIAA Coach of the Year for the third straight year after leading the Bearcats to a fourth-straight MIAA regular season title and second-straight MIAA Tournament title. Justin Pitts was named the MIAA Player of the Year for the second straight year and earned first team All-MIAA honors.
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