The Peacock men's basketball team got back on the winning side of things on Saturday night out west in Wayne, Neb. at Rice Auditorium against the Wildcats of Wayne State College. Upper Iowa shot a season-best 67% (11-16) from the three-point line en route to their 84-76 victory to snap its two-game losing streak. UIU shot 54% from the floor in total, and 17-21 from the free throw line to get the win. With the victory, the Peacocks improve to 11-12 overall and 4-10 in the Northern Sun Conference. Wayne State drops a game closer to UIU in the standings, and drop to 11-11 overall and 6-8 in league play.

Early on in the game, senior Carson Parker reached a new milestone in his illustrious career. The point guard scored 18 for the game, and surpassed former teammate and current student assistant coach Josh Weeber for 13th on the all-time scoring list. CP3 has now totaled 1,310 points to move up the scoring list. Parker finished with 18 on 7-11 from the field, and added five rebounds and a game-best four assists. Freshman Joe Smoldt led the way on Saturday, posting his second career 20-point effort with 21 total on 5-10 from the field including 3-3 from behind the arc. The Reinbeck, Iowa native hit all eight free throw attempts as well.

Redshirt freshman Jareese Williams had the breakout game of his young career, scoring a career-best 18 points on 6-8 from the floor including 4-6 from behind the arc. Queintin Blaue also had one of his best outings as a Peacock with 14 points on 5-7 shooting. Kam Rowan added nine points off the bench, while Dennis Austin III chipped in with four to round out the scoring.

The three-point shot proved to be the difference in a very close contest. Upper Iowa held multiple 8-9 point leads throughout the game, but could never completely separate from the home team on Saturday. Wayne State's 7-28 shooting from behind the arc could not get them completely back in the game, but they were dangerous to stay afloat. The teams tied in the rebounding category, 32-32, and UIU is now 8-1 this season when they tie or outrebound their opponents.

The Peacocks opened up a nine-point lead in the first half right away, as Smoldt started out hot for the visitors. UIU extended their largest lead of the first half to 17 points, 40-23, with 1:49 to go in the opening period. Upper Iowa led 41-31 at halftime, and continued to put pressure on WSC as the game moved along.

Wayne State looked to complete the comeback in the second half, as they look their only lead of the period, 56-54, at the 10:04 mark of the half. However, Upper Iowa immediately reclaimed the lead with a Williams three-pointer, and UIU would never trail again. A key 22-9 run highlighted by Parker, Smoldt, and Williams led the visitors to a big lead, and the Wildcats would never recover. WSC never got closer than six the rest of the night, as UIU pulled within two games of the Wildcats in the standings in the NSIC South division with one game left to play against the 'Cats.

Upper Iowa's road trip will end next weekend, but not until they make their longest trip of the season. UIU will head way up north to Bismarck, N.D. and Minot, N.D. to battle the Marauders of the University of Mary and the Beavers of Minot State University on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 26-27. Friday's game will begin at 8 p.m., while Saturday's game will 6 p.m.