A career night for Munachiso Okonkwo was not enough to get Upper Iowa past the Wayne State Wildcats. Okonkwo recorded a career-high 31 points as the Peacocks fall to the Wildcats 85-81. The loss drops UIU to 3-7 against NSIC competition and 6-10 on the year. 

The Peacocks got off to a hot start against the Wildcats, jumping out to a 10-5 lead to open the game. The Wildcats didn't stay quite long as they kicked off a 11-2 run thanks to a couple of key steals that helped to get themselves back in front. The two sides would go back and forth, exchanging leads six times throughout the remainder of the first half. The Peacocks would take advantage of Okonkwo's 14 first half points along with 8 from Jareese Williams to take the score into the half 34-40 in the Wildcats' favor.

Upper Iowa kicked off the second half with a 7-2 run to put themselves back within striking distance of the Wildcats. A trio of Wildcats helped WSC jump back out into the lead. Trevin Joseph led the Wayne State offense with 14 second half points and was helped by Vance Janssen and Trevor Janssen who each added 10 points. 

Trailing by seven points in the late minutes of the second half, the Peacocks mounted one last surge to try and catch the Wildcats. Led by Joe Smoldt with five points, the Peacocks scored seven unanswered which was capped off by a massive denial from Okonkwo and led to a Chris Olson layup on the other end of the floor to even the score at 81. The Wildcats went 4-4 from the line in the final minute of play to seal the game at 85-81 in Wayne's favor.

Okonkwo's 31-point performances marks the first time that a Peacock has eclipsed 30 points in a single game since Carson Parker recorded 33 points in December of 2016. Mu finished the game in the double digits for the fifth straight game and the second consecutive weekend where his scoring average is north of 20 points. Okonkwo got his 31 points on a 14-19 night shooting for an impressive 73.6 percent from the floor. In addition to his 31 points, Mu hauled in eight boards and had two huge blocks for the Peacocks.

As a team, Upper Iowa shot 52.5 percent from the field and connected on nine shots from beyond the arc. Jaresse Williams (16) and Kyle Haber (13) joined Mu as the other Peacocks to reach the double digits in scoring against the Wildcats. Williams added eight boards in the effort and Haber pulled in six defensive rebounds. 

The Peacocks will return to action next weekend for another road trip, this time to Minnesota to face Bemidji and Crookston. Upper Iowa will take on the Beavers on Friday night in Bemidji before traveling to Crookston to face the Golden Eagles on Saturday.