The Upper Iowa men's basketball team will take on the Winona State Warriors Saturday at 4pm in the first NSIC game of the 2018 season. Both the Peacocks and the Warriors will be heading into Saturday's matchup with three-game win streaks. Upper Iowa picked up a pair of wins last weekend at the Drury Thanksgiving Classic.

On Black Friday, the Peacocks squared off against the Drury University Panthers and earned their second win of the season with an 83-78 victory. Upper Iowa knocked down a season high 18 three-pointers, including six from Joe Smoldt who had his second 20-point performance of the season. The Peacocks also saw the arrival of Jackson Joens who hit four shots from beyond the arc in his collegiate debut.
Upper Iowa picked up their third straight win as they topped the Missouri S&T Miners 91-87 last Saturday. For the fourth straight game, the Peacocks had at least four players reach double-digits. Chris Olson paced the Peacock offense with 22 points and recorded his first career 20-point game.

The Peacocks have continued their success from deep in both of their victories over the weekend. In each of their last three games, UIU has hit at least 15 three-pointers with a season high 18 coming against Drury. Over that three-game span, the Peacocks have knocked down 50 deep shots and recorded a .490 three-point percentage.  Upper Iowa's success from beyond the arc puts them atop the NSIC with 12.6 three-point field goals per game and ranks them sixth in the nation.

So far this season, Upper Iowa has had some difficulty off the glass, being outrebounded in four of their five games. However, the Peacocks have still been able to win half of the games in which their opponents hauled in more boards.

About the Opponents…

Winona State Warriors… The Warriors have gone 3-2 through their first five games and have won each of their last three. Winona's offense is led by senior Mason Domask who is averaging 10 points per game for the Warriors. Another weapon at Winona's disposal is sophomore Devin Whitelow. Whitelow has recorded 16 assists while only committing one turnover, which ranks him first in the nation for assist-turnover ratio.

The Warriors have been very efficient from the charity stripe this year, hitting an NSIC leading 82.1 percent of their free throws. However, the Peacocks are one of the more disciplined teams in the NSIC committing just 74 fouls through their first five games.

Upper Iowa trails the all-time series against Winona 23-6. The Peacocks will be looking for payback after the Warriors swept the Peacocks in the season series for the first time 2013-14 season.