Box Score Upper Iowa defeated the University of Central Oklahoma 83-70 in Sunday afternoon's matchup. The game was Upper Iowa's largest scoring differential of the 2019-20 season. Upper Iowa improves to 2-2 on the year after splitting their games at the Fairfield Inn Classic while Central Oklahoma falls to 1-4 in 2019-20.
Upper Iowa came out ready to play in the first half. After suffering back-to back losses by slim margins in which UIU trailed by four points or fewer at half, the Peacocks were ready to change the narrative and take the lead early on. Neither team led by more than two scores until Upper Iowa broke away from Central Oklahoma late in the first half. The game was tied at 30 with 5:45 to play when Upper Iowa went on a 16-2 run to end the half ahead by double digits. The run was fueled by two baskets from Jareese Williams and four points from Dylan Jones. The stretch put the Peacocks up 46-35 at halftime.
Williams was on fire in the first half of play. He led all scorers with 16 points in addition to shooting 4-5 (80%) from three point range and 6-7 (85.7%) from the field. Williams also grabbed four rebounds in the half. Jones was a perfect 3-3 from both the field and the charity stripe which led to his nine first half points. Jones also came down with a team high seven rebounds and dished out two assists in the first half.Â
The Peacocks first half success can be attributed to their efficient shooting from the field and free throw line as well as their rebounding. Upper Iowa out shot Central Oklahoma 54.8% to 45.8% on field goal attempts in the first half. The Peacocks were a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line. A place they have struggled to get to early on in the season as they had zero free throw attempts in the first half of Saturday's game against Central Missouri. The Peacocks also outrebounded Central Oklahoma 18 to 11 in the half.
Upper Iowa brought the momentum they accumulated into the second half. Upper Iowa got out to a 15-point lead with 16:30 to play. The Peacocks started the second half outscoring the Broncos 8-4 putting Upper Iowa ahead 54-39.
With 10:46 left to play, the Broncos cut their deficit to eight. An 11-4 run fueled by two scores from Cam Givens put the game at 62-54.
Upper Iowa went up big again with 4:27 to go. A 15-6 run highlighted by three baskets from Cade Moritz put Upper Iowa up 77-60, the largest lead of the day.
Central Oklahoma could not overcome the large deficit resulting in a 83-70 victory for the Peacocks.
TURNING POINT … Upper Iowa's 16-2 run to end the first half broke the tie with Central Oklahoma and the Peacocks never looked back. After the 2:07 remaining in the first half, the Peacocks were ahead by at least eight points for the rest of the game.
PEACOCK OF THE GAME … Jareese Williams had a dominant performance for the Peacocks as he was leading scorer in the game with 24 points. Williams couldn't miss, he was 9-11 (81.8%) from the field and 6-7 (85.7%) from long distance. Williams also grabbed a team high eight rebounds in the contest.
STATS OF THE GAME …Â
- Upper Iowa had four double digit scorers: Williams (24), Joshua Carter (16), Moritz (16) and Jones (12).
- Jake Hilmer had five assists, keep his average on the year at 5.0 which is the third highest in the NSIC.
- Cade Moritz and Joshua Carter were efficient scorers down low, both players were 7-9 (77.8%) from the field.
- Both teams had 38 points scored in the paint.
- Upper Iowa committed 12 turnovers, Central Missouri had 10.
- Upper Iowa out shot Central Missouri from the field (51.7% to 47.2%), three point range (40% to 25%)Â and the free throw line (86.7% to 76.2%).
- Upper Iowa out rebounded Central Missouri 36 to 22.Â
UP NEXT … Upper Iowa will host Iowa Wesleyan University for their home opener on Tuesday, November 19 at 12 p.m. in Dorman Gymnasium. Follow along via live options at UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE.
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