Upper Iowa fell to Missouri Southern State University 98-73 in Saturday afternoon's showdown. The game was Upper Iowa's first loss this season with a scoring differential larger than two possessions. Upper Iowa moves to 3-3 on the year heading into conference play while Missouri Southern State improves to 4-1. 

The Peacocks got out to a hot start and a 9-4 lead with 17:02 remaining in the first half thanks to three quick scores from Jake Hilmer. Missouri Southern State was then able to break away on a 21-6 run to go ahead by 25-15 with 8:30 left to play in the first half. Cam Martin scored 11 of his 30 points during the stretch. 

Upper Iowa was able to get back within two possessions of the Lions when Max Duax scored a pair of unanswered buckets to put the game at 33-27. The Lions followed up with a 20-7 run to close out the half putting them up 53-36. 

Jake Hilmer scored all 15 of his points in the first half. Hilmer shot 5-8 (62.5%) from the field and 3-5 (60%) from three point range in the first half. He additionally, was able to grab three rebounds and dish out two assists. 

Upper Iowa (44.8%) and Missouri Southern State (47.2%) were fairly even from the field in the first half. The Lions were able to get ahead by drawing over twice as many trips to the free throw line (16) and made free throws (13) than Upper Iowa (6-7). However, Upper Iowa (85.7%) was more accurate than Missouri Southern State (81.3%) from the charity stripe in the first half. The Lions were also able to out rebound the Peacocks 22-15. Upper Iowa's bench outscored Missouri Southern State's bench 13-8 in the half.

Upper Iowa came out of halftime ready to compete. They were outscored by just eight points in the second half compared to the 17 point deficit they accumulated in the first frame. 

A big component of the Peacocks second half success was rebounding. The two teams were even down low with 17 boards apiece despite the Lions trio of big men that are all 6'9" or above. Eight of the Peacocks rebounds were on the offensive front. 

Upper Iowa played well but their efforts were not enough to overthrow the Lions resulting in the 98-73 loss.

POWERFUL PEACOCKS … 

• Jake Hilmer had 15 points on the day shooting 5-10 (50%) from the field and 3-5 (60%) from beyond the arc. He additionally came down with four rebounds and dished out two assists.

• Joe Smoldt emerged as the second leading scorer for the Peacocks with 14 points. Smoldt was also 5-10 (50%) from the field.

• Josh Carter made his presence felt in the paint grabbing a team him eight rebounds. Carter also had 12 points shooting 6-11 (55%) from the field and snatched two steals.

• Last but certainly not least, Lucas Duax shined for Upper Iowa in the second half. Duax had 10 points on the day shooting 4-7 (57%) from the field.
   

QUOTABLES...

STATS OF THE GAME … 

• The Peacocks outscored the Lions 40-38 in the paint.

• Missouri Southern State outscored Upper Iowa 13-25 (52%) to 6-24 (25%) from long distance.

• The Lions were from 19-24 from the free throw line compared to Upper Iowa's 7-9. 

• UIU's bench outscored MSSU's bench 24-23.

UP NEXT … The Peacocks will start NSIC play and take on Winona State University on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 4 p.m. in Dorman Gymnasium. As always you can follow along via live options at UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE. The game will also broadcast live on KCRG-TV 9.2 and stream live on the NSIC app through Roku and Fire devices, as well as Apple and Android TV.