Upper Iowa defeated Minnesota State University - Mankato by a score of 92-88 in Saturday night's showdown. The win was the first time Upper Iowa swept a pair of conference opponents since December 2018 during last season's home slate versus Concordia University, St.Paul and Minnesota State. The victory was Upper Iowa's first game that extended past regulation this season. Upper Iowa also had a season-high six double-digit scorers on the night. With the win, Upper Iowa improves to 6-5, 3-2 in conference play. Minnesota State falls to 3-7 (1-3 in the NSIC) following the loss.
The Peacocks and Mavericks were a fairly even match in the first half of play. Upper Iowa went on a 7-0 run to go up 19-17 with 11:35 left in the frame. The stretch was fueled by five points from Lucas Duax. The two teams went toe-to-toe until the break where the score stood at 40-35 in favor of Minnesota State.
The Mavericks' advantage in the paint led to their first half lead, they outscored the Peacocks 22-12 in that area. Upper Iowa had success scoring from the three-point line as they went 6-16 (37.5%) from long range compared to just a 2-10 (20%) count posted by Minnesota State. UIU's depth showed in the half as their bench outscored MSU's 13-0.
Jake Hilmer led the Peacocks in the first half with eight points. Duax was a big contributor as well scoring seven and grabbing two boards in the first frame.
Minnesota State extended their lead to 11 with 16:31 to play (52-41). However, that was the last time the Mavericks would lead by double-digits. Jackson Joens emerged as a threat early on in the half, scoring 12 points in under four minutes (16:45-12:53). A three-pointer from Joens ignited a 13-1 run that put UIU ahead 61-59 with 8:13 remaining in regulation.
As the teams battled down the stretch, Jareese Williams played a crucial role. Williams had two three-pointers that regained the lead for Upper Iowa. One to put the Peacocks ahead 68-66 with 3:50 to play and another to go up 73-72 with 1:23 remaining. Following the second three-pointer, Hilmer hit two clutch free throws to increase the Peacocks' lead to three. A three-point play from Minnesota State with 0:21 on the clock evened things up at 75. The ball was once again was in Williams' hands for a potential buzzer beater but he was unable to connect as time expired.
Duax hit a momentum shifting three with 1:33 to go in overtime that put the Peacocks ahead 85-81. The bucket capped off a 10-6 Upper Iowa scoring advantage in overtime and was Duax's fifth point of the stretch. After MSU retaliated with a layup, Joe Smoldt hit four shots from the charity stripe that were split by a Mavericks three-pointer putting the game at 89-86. Minnesota State then hit a pair of free throws of their own to decrease Upper Iowa's lead to 89-88. Williams again showed his composure hitting three out of four free throws within the game's final moments. Minnesota State missed their last second field goal attempt sealing the victory at 92-88.
STATS OF THE GAME…Â
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Upper Iowa held the advantage from long distance, 11-27 (40.7%) to 5-18 (27.8%) and from the charity stripe, 21-28 (75%) to 11-18 (61.1%).
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The Peacocks out rebounded their opponent (41-35) for the third time this season.
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UIU had the advantage in bench points (32-0) and second chance points (25-8).
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Upper had six double-digit scorers: Williams (20), Hilmer (16), Duax (14), Joens (12), Jones (10), and Smoldt (10).
PEACOCKS OF THE GAME…Â
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In addition to scoring 20, Williams had seven boards on the night and went 9-12 (75%) from the free throw line.
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Hilmer scored 16, dished out seven assists and came down with five rebounds.
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Duax scored his 14 points by hitting 6-8 field goal attempts including a perfect 2-2 from beyond the arc. He also had four rebounds, two assists, and three steals in the game.
QUOTABLE...
UP NEXT… Upper Iowa will hit the road towards Winona, Minn. where they have a rematch against the Warriors of Winona State University on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 4 p.m. Live stats, audio and a webcast will be available at UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE. The game will also stream live on the NSIC app through Roku and Fire devices, as well as Apple and Android TV.
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